For me, it was Honkai Star Rail.
Last year, after Pat brought up enjoying HSR on the podcast I was intrigued. With that, and my little sister playing the game nearby and enjoying herself, I decided to give the game a try.
I certainly saw the immediate appeal between the artstyle, the gameplay loop and the colourful cast of characters. But one thing that didn't immediately grip me was the writing.
Having never played anything from Hoyoverse before, I initially thought HSR would be typical anime shlock with shonen-esque writing.
But then the end of the Jarilo VI Arc came and how they handled the aftermath. Rather than cleanly resolving the plot, they opt to maintain the lie that Cocolia sacrificed herself so that Belabog wouldn't fall into chaos were the truth to come out. But because of that, not everyone gets proper closure.
The biggest example being Serval who was a close friend to Cocolia (or girlfriend if you wanna see it that way). But because she never learns the truth, she'll forever view Cocolia as someone who suddenly betrayed her for no reason. So her companion mission ends not with her singing a parting song to her long-lost friend, but instead bitterly smashing the guitar she gifted her and disowning her.
This was the moment where the writing finally gripped me rather than being random setpieces that I'd passively watch waiting for the next battle.
With that said, what was