Genshin Impact - Yes, I'm Still Obsessed

So, it's been about a year since I wrote up my first Genshin Impact post, which means I'm way overdue for the next!

I'm clearly still addicted to Genshin... I mean, Sony's 2021 update said I played 1062 hours last year (and that's just on Playstation - I may have made a second account on my computer, but I haven't played that one too much - heh). At least my addictive personality gloms onto games instead of more destructive pastimes?

Oh, and I've kicked Summoners War to the curb (it was fun while it lasted, though). I still try to squeeze in some time for Everquest, and I also play Epic 7 (super casually) and Castle Cats on a regular basis. I've been making my way through Persona 5: Royal (which makes this the third time I've played Persona 5 - haha) as far as normal console games go.

Wow, that was a tangent. I should really post more often about gaming!

The rest of this post will be tons of Genshin Impact screenshots because... all the awesomeness. I'll make a note for each one. Enjoy, and happy hunting!

I figured I'd start with the Lantern Rite festival, since we're currently in the middle of it, in-game. This shot was from last year.

Yes, I got Xiao last year! And this is me releasing a bunch of lanterns with him.

This is during the Windblume festival. All the flowers! Lumine here is the female protagonist/main character (you get to choose her or her brother Aether to play at the beginning).

Pretty waterfalls!

The Unusual Hilichurl. He's in a different spot each day - always fun stumbling across him... and then attacking him to work on my achievement. ;) He always disappears into a suitcase, leaving some cabbages behind.

So, this squirrel was bugged and wouldn't run away per usual. I decided to have some screenshot fun. Doesn't it look like Keqing is reading to the squirrel? Lol.

Zhongli at the end of one of his questlines. He's still my favorite character to use, and he's a bit of a crutch for me. I think I have a thing for meteors (I still love all the meteor spells in Everquest, too).

This is Ayaka from the end of her main questline. And yes, I got her! She is wicked DPS, too. Hubbie kind of wishes he would have gotten her as well.

Here we have Yoimiya. I don't have this character, but Eldest does. I just couldn't pass up posting this awesome screenshot.

Oh, look at Dragonspine. So cold and foreboding, no?

Here's Albedo - this was during the winter event on Dragonspine. Fun storyline! Currently Hubbie is the only one in the house with this character.

Do you want to build a snowman? That's one of the things we got to do during the winter event!

Arataki Itto, the One and Oni (yes, he really says that). I love, love, love his personality. And bashing creatures with him, as well. As a plus, the voice actor is the same one who does Ryuji in Persona 5! There was no way I wasn't going to grab this awesome character.

Entering Enkanomiya, the latest area added to Genshin.

Going up, up, up in the Jade Chamber! That's Paimon, Lumine, and Shenhe. Paimon is your ever-present travel buddy. And yes, I managed to get Shenhe, too.

I was so thrilled I actually got this shot, as I thought I missed it. That's Keqing and Ganyu leading the troops!

Finally, sad Shenhe. This scene was even more beautiful to witness live. MiHoYo does do an excellent job with all the cutscenes - just awesome graphics, in my opinion.

And that's all for my waifu and husbando worship for now! Do you play Genshin Impact? If so, who are your favorite characters, and have you gotten any cool screenshots while playing?

Genshin Impact - My Newest Addictive Game

OK, so this post is likely just going to be mostly screenshots, and a little bit of my own art. PICTURES. That's about where my brain is today anyway. Processing words = hard (I haven't been sleeping well lately so, yeah...).

As many of you already know, I'm a gamer. Yes, I still play Everquest and Summoners War, but now I have a new addiction. Actually, it's kind of a family addiction since Hubbie and Eldest play as well!

Last October, the three of us started playing Genshin Impact, by MiHoYo. The biggest thing that drew us in at first was that it was available for free on Playstation 4 (it's also available on PC and Mobile, and it's in the works for Nintendo Switch).

As a warning, though it's available on a console, it's still a gacha game. But oh man, have they brought that genre of games to a whole new level! It plays like a normal console/PC fantasy RPG. There's a huge and beautiful world to explore. Chests (some hidden insanely well), puzzles, adaptability in game play, fleshed out characters (the ones we've received stories for at least), and a great overarching story. When I grind in this game, I feel like I'm playing Everquest (fantasy MMORPG) instead of Summoners War (fantasy gacha). Take a look at some world screenshots below.

We have paid in a little bit of money to it, but we're looking at what we've spent as pretty much a monthly subscription for the game (which we pay in Everquest still). The best deals to make the game a little easier but not spend too much is going for the monthly Welkin Moon ($5 USD) and the lower tier of the Battle Pass ($10 USD every six weeks). The Battle Pass especially has helped us with being able to partially build a few more characters to experiment with.

Of course, the characters are the biggest gacha draw, especially if you want some of the 5-stars. Though, if you're patient, you will gather enough Wishes to get a 5-star without spending a penny. The rates are pretty low, but they have a pity system built in, so you're guaranteed a 5-star after so many Wishes.

Here's one of my favorites that I pulled last month. ♥ Yes, I have fallen into the world of waifus and husbandos - lol.

So, me, Hubbie, and Eldest have decided to do some challenges with each other in Genshin Impact as well. It's a PvE game (so no PvP content at this time), but you can group with up to three other people to tackle some things together if you'd like. Our first challenge, though, had us killing as many monsters as we could in our own worlds. We had six categories of monsters to slaughter in an hour. I decided to make some "trophies" for these categories. So I drew some Genshin Impact cards! They're still in pencil only, but the front of the cards are below, and what's on the back of the cards is to the right.

Finally, we eventually plan to do a challenge in one person's world, only using one character each, and each type of mob will be worth different points. I made a big primogem for the trophy for who gets the most points (kind of similar to a wrestling title, it will be handed to whoever the current champion is, as we plan to do this challenge more than once). This one I colored already, but scanning it in dulled some of the colors. It's posted below.

So, what do you think? Am I crazy as usual? (Yes, probably.) Am I playing too much Genshin Impact? (Oh, definitely.) Have you tried Genshin? If so, what do you think? (Hit me up for a friend request if you enjoy the game and plan to continue playing!).

And you do know you'll all be seeing more screenshots from me in the future, right? Happy gaming!