Horizon Forbidden West's Aloy is still in Genshin Impact, and it's still weird as hell

gamesradar.com:

Remember when Aloy, the protagonist of the Horizon franchise that's become a tentpole open-world IP for PlayStation, was abruptly added to Chinese RPG Genshin Impact as a free playable character? We're coming up on two years since this bizarre crossover, which has recently resurfaced thanks to the message Aloy sent to Genshin players today, April 4, to mark her birthday, and I can still hardly believe it. 

"I just finished taking some of those huge machines apart and started resting in my camp when I realized that today's my birthday," alternate-universe Aloy writes, apparently applying her dino-robot experience to Genshin's mech golems. "Since I'm not familiar with anyone else in this world, I guess you're the only one who can wish me a happy birthday." 

Aloy's presence in Genshin Impact has always been strange, and it's only gotten weirder over time because she's still the only crossover character to come to the game. Like, at all. From any franchise. The roster is 67 original characters and... Aloy. When her release was announced in 2021, players expected Hoyoverse to add more crossover characters in the future, but that prediction hasn't materialized. The studio hasn't even added characters from its other games, which seemed like an easy sell. 

You also can't acquire Aloy anymore, and I truly cannot imagine the whiplash you'd get from starting Genshin Impact right now, getting to know its core cast of irresponsibly attractive gods and heroes, and then seeing Aloy From Horizon casually sidle into co-op. 

I guess Aloy does make some kind of sense as a PlayStation ambassador. Genshin Impact is primarily a mobile game, and it's also available on PC, but it's still a PlayStation console exclusive despite a promised Switch