Newly revealed Genshin Impact character Shikanoin Heizou has taken the community by storm for a few different reasons. Heizou represents a lot of firsts for characters in Genshin Impact, which naturally created to a lot of excitement among long-time players. Yet, it is what Heizou represents about HoYoverse as a developer which could be the most intriguing thing about him.
Heizou is Genshin Impact's first male catalyst user. He is also the first male 4-star Anemo character, and he is also the game's first melee catalyst user. Heizou has a lot of firsts to his name, which makes the idea of playing as him interesting since the experience could feel refreshing to a lot of players.
All of these firsts are representations of more possibilities that could come from HoYoverse in regards to future Genshin Impact characters. His game design - being a melee catalyst - seems to be a window to all that could be revealed in the game's future, especially with breadcrumbs of some Sumeru characters beginning to see some leaks. Heizou sparks the question of the kinds of things that are down the road for Genshin Impact, and the possibilities are exciting.
What Heizou's Game Design Means For Future Genshin Impact Characters
Since Heizou is a melee catalyst user in Genshin Impact, it shows that HoYoverse is willing to experiment outside of its initial idea for the weapon type, which could broaden other weapon types in Genshin Impact as well. The possibilities are practically endless, but there is a lot that HoYoverse can do with future characters to keep them all feeling as fresh and unique as Heizou is. There could be a ranged sword user that fires magic from their sword instead of physically striking the enemy with it; HoYoverse could create a bow user that has shrapnel shots for AoE damage as their base attack; or, simply enough, HoYoverse could also be using Heizou to show players that catalyst users are simply the wildcard characters of Genshin Impact and that the ceiling for creativity with catalysts is endless. While catalysts do have more potential to implement unique ideas, limiting the uniqueness to just catalyst users in Genshin Impact would be a wasted opportunity.
Heizou's design could also be hinting that Genshin Impact could potentially be seeing new weapon types in the future. Heizou could be HoYoverse's experimentation with characters striking enemies with punches and kicks, and Arataki Itto already has a kick animation during his normal attacks. Potentially, HoYoverse is considering adding gauntlets as a weapon type to Genshin Impact, which would be a refreshing and thrilling addition to the game since the weapon designs could be extremely unique, and HoYoverse could implement all kinds of real-world fighting styles as inspiration for many different characters' attack animations.
While all of this is pure speculation, Heizou's unique game design and skills say a lot of positives for Genshin Impact's future. Something as interesting as a melee catalyst wasn't even saved for a 5-star character (since Heizou is a 4-star), meaning that HoYoverse could have a lot of unique ideas for future 5-star characters. As always, though, players will simply have to wait and see if future Genshin Impact characters after Heizou will meet increasing expectations.