At first, I assumed Genshin impact was an anime themed
Breath of the Wild clone with gacha elements. And. I was
largely right??... But how did Mihoyo manage to turn
something that sounds on it’s surface so derivative and
exploitative into something that genuinely transports me
into a place I like to inhabit, think about, and has me
coming back even after long periods of breaks? The love/hate
relationship I have with this game is... Embarrassing.
At the beginning of my playtime, it filled the exploratory
itch left behind from other left behind videogame worlds. It
also helped that as I played, there was a steady rollout of
interesting context all around me... As well as a lot of
little things to discover that kept my dopamine starved
brain lighting up in the way it likes to. While my time in
Genshin has definitely settled into a more passive
visitation whenever there’s new updates, it’s become a
“comfort food” in a way that I hadn’t predicted.
But like any comfort food, it’s not always what I need, just
tasty, comfortable, and easy. I’ve had a backlog of games
that I want to get around to for a long time, not to mention
A Life that, at some point, I must partake in (I
guess), and Genshin has a way of eating time like
I’ve never seen. I’m wondering if this isn’t a new
phenomenon brought on by Genshin’s playstyle, but the
natural continuation of the MMO, “games as a service
concept”, with a focus on getting you hooked and keep on
coming back. This gives me pause to think about whether this
is fun of my own free will or “I am being actively exploited
because of how my brain works”... And I don’t have the full
answer! Because my instinct is to say “Genshin Impact is
delightful, I haven’t even spent a cent, and I’ve progressed
through the time just as well as mild spenders or even
whales, and the lore is surprisingly gripping.”... But have
I really not spent a cent or has what I’ve been spending
been time?
Genshin Impact doesn’t have an ‘hours played’ counter and
I’m thinking it’s probably by design. Because if I saw the
ungodly amount of time I spent running errands for fantasy
people back and forth, I’d probably feel bad. Maybe
reconsider some of that time spent.
I’m not sure if this thought is even just about Genshin
Impact anymore?? This is how I feel about most products,
services, ads, ect... It’s in every companies best interest
to maintain that ‘Top of Mind’ mentality which is, at
it’s core, manipulative... And, iunno, I guess that’s just
capitalism, baby, but I’m honestly exhausted trying to
discern my own true thoughts from thoughts carefully
inserted into my brain by companies, and Genshin is just the
latest thing that’s made me think about this...
... ... ... Okay, let me take a step back from a moment.
What was supposed to be a chill review of Genshin Impact is
now Completely Unhinged. Let me start over...
Genshin Impact is good :)
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