I gotta say it was a solid 4/5, I didn't say I came back dissapointed.
In a general conclusion, it felt like they didn't had much to show for the runtime established so they stretched some parts.
Now for a more detailed opinion, mandatory spoiler alert.
Well, the ending was the part I was worried the most, I was too worried that they'll replicate HI3rd Flame Chaser's ending (They all die), and they kinda did, but at the same time they didn't.
All the Flame Chasers had to be erased to eliminate the Destruction's influence on Amphoreus and Irontomb, so they had to be left behind, but they, alongside all of the Amphoreans, are still kept alive in a memory zone. The Amphoreus' restoration is in process, and there's still hope for us to see Amphoreus' as a planet again, maybe at 3.6< >5.6 we'll get an event to witness Amphoreus coming back to life.
The reveal that Cyrene was the Demiurge felt completely planned, like always happens in Hoyoverse games, they have a satisfactory way to deal with revelations, it's clear there's not much improvisation between updates, or at the very least they manage it well enough for it not to have plot holes.
Her revelation as Fuli's (possible) true self pre-ascencion was interesting, and while she didn't die, the fact that we will no longer have Mem on our side hits hard, I was hoping for at least her to join the Astral Express as our Paimon.
Lygus kept the composure till the end (He can't make expressions after all) since he was one hell of a boss fight on 3.5 I was expecting a bit more of action on his part, but even though we had him at his lowest it still felt natural for the plot.
As mentioned before, there where parts that I felt like they were a bit more stretched than needed, or straight up only brought to the story to make time, like the part where we check on each chrysos heir before the fight against Khaslana, and a bit the exploration of The Herta and Screwlum for the Demiurge and the Cyrene reveal as the possible Aeon of Remembrance.
To add to the filler, we had a lot of cameos on the main story and the post credit scenes (the bubbles on the astral express that activates some cutscenes).
We've had:
Feixiao (Finally voiced again).
Jing Yuan.
Yao Guang, via call (Have no idea who this is, apparently another Xianzhou general).
Seele (She came back after so long).
Bronya.
Serval.
Fu Xuan.
Robin.
Aventurine.
Jade.
Topaz.
Polka Kakamond (I feel like she's been given a lot of protagonism lately, playable Polka soon?).
Acha (I have no idea who she is, nor seems to have much info on her either here on the wiki, so same as Polka, seems like foreshadowing of new characters soon).
Dr. Primitive (This one really was not on the list on which Genius I thought would join the Herta's video call, like, it straight up feels like all we knew about him wouldn't lead to him being compliant).
Boothill.
Sparkle.
In the scene where we see Sparkle, Boothill tells her not to come around their boss, and that Sparkle will uses us as the main character on her next spectacle, Does that mean we'll see the Galaxy Ranger's boss and Sparkle on the next planet?
In a second note, I liked that they seemingly make reference to the Amphoreus' alt bad endings, to justify those endings as possible case scenarios that're not unrelated, like Herta-tomb and the Xianzhou seeking the power of Nanook's golden blood, probably to oof Yaoshi, which kind of explain why not going to Amphoreus ends with Jingliu taking Propagation Lightning Lord to fight Weeping Willow, it was because Amphoreus' would secure a weapon for Xianzhou to use and not relly on Luocha's coffin.
A proper ending for the long journey since 3.0.
