Raphael’s Final Act from BG3 got some competition from Genshin Impact's "La vaguelette"

As far as surprise musical numbers go

If you like surprising musical performances in your video games, then 2023 has been a blessing. Baldur’s Gate 3 contains a number of songs, but the most surprising one is Raphael’s Disney villain routine when he shows up to confront the player in the House of Hope – it’s not just a great musical device to signal to the player that this is a difficult fight, it’s perfectly in character for the devil to stage his own intro music as he brings down the claws on some pesky mortals.

Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail developer HoYoverse has been using songs in its own games for several special moments this year, really giving Larian Studios a run for its money: Players worldwide freaked out when the Cocolia boss fight in Honkai: Star Rail started to blast the song Wildfire in the second phase of the battle, perfectly in sync with the big bad throwing a meteor at the party. Later in the same game, a song accompanies a cutscene in which Imbibitor Lunae parts the sea Moses-style to clear the path to that story arc’s boss.

Raphael's musical numbers is a fantastic surprise, but it's got competition now / Larian Studios

This week, the studio launched Genshin Impact 4.2, which brought to conclusion the story arc in Fontaine. Players have been calling this the best narrative arc in the game so far, especially for a particular character – Furina. Without spoiling too much, some emotional stuff is revealed about her, which pretty much changed everyone’s opinion about her in an instant.

In this context, a cutscene showing Furina staging a performance appears in the game, with the character’s singing performed by French musical actress Cécilia Cara. Written by HOYO-MiX composer Dimeng Yuan, “La vaguelette” is a beautiful piece expressing Furina’s feelings about the role she’s played and moved a lot of players upon hearing it.

It’s not the first time HoYoverse has brought a full song into Genshin Impact. Back in 2022, the character Yun Jin, who is inspired by traditional Chinese opera, debuted in the game, performing a full-blown opera song during an in-game quest.

Dear game developers: Keep them coming, because we're kind of into it!

For more on the newest update to Genshin Impact, check out our Genshin Impact 4.2 Archon Quest explainer, though beware of spoilers in there!

Genshin Impact 4.2 banners: Furina and Charlotte debut