One thing people don’t talk about is how much the holiday dynamic changes over time. When you’re young, you’re running around the family house chasing each other and pretending to be Power Rangers or what have you.
But as you get older, that feeling does change. You become adults, or at least people who desperately want to be adults. You want to figure out who you’re going to be, and that often means that anyone you don’t see on the regular is going to get pushed out, until all your conversations are just a series of cycling through your rolodex of polite smalltalk.
Many people think that this is the be-all end-all of any relationship- that once you drift apart, there’s no going back. But the beauty of adulthood is a certain freedom to make things up as you go along, and sometimes that leads to something fun and exciting.
Mommies Over Meta
Surprisingly, mobile games have been a big part of reconnecting with a lot of people in life. While my more gamer-centric circles are divided by their PC specs, consoles et cetera, the Diablo guy was right: everyone has phones. The popularity of Genshin Impact opened my world to suddenly having something to talk about with a lot of people. My non-capital-G-gamer cousins suddenly had something in common with me, as we talked about upcoming banners, team comps and pulls.
There’s a certain magic to having that shared interest that you wouldn’t get otherwise: there’s no hierarchy, no politeness to be had. Instead someone you only see once every three months can become a bosom friend as you lament failing your 50/50s, or even criticizing their taste in waifus.
One year, there I was sat- me, my brother and my cousins. On an ordinary day all five of us in total would be walking extremely different paths: I’d probably be in a cushy office while they’d be in a workshop or uni. But today, I found myself at the bottom of a verbal dogpile.
“What do you mean you’re still using Lisa?”, my cousin asks. “She’s a starter character, why haven’t you found a better main DPS”
“What can I say, I just like her”, I smile back.
“No, you don’t understand, his entire team is just mommy characters,” my brother piles in with the team kill. When someone outs themselves as a waifu player not even the water of the womb can save you.
“Mommies is one thing but at least pick one that came out this year”, my cousins all laugh back.
For the record, I know Lisa is not objectively terrible. With the addition of Hyperbloom for a while she was actually pretty good. But considering the synergy I run her with is a physical-spec Rosaria and Yanfei with Jean on support, let’s just say I built a car that dared to question how round wheels really need to be, then told investors the bumpy ride was an aesthetic choice.
It’s not just them either- even in my friendgroups, the ones who play Genshin Impact will always circle back to the same question, which tends to follow the tune of “why couldn’t you be thirsty for an actually-useful character”
Elemental Resonance Of Waifu Shame
When your only connection is people online, you’d probably think every Genshin player was a all-star Spiral Abyss clearing F2PBTW beast. But it’s the little conversations like this that remind you the truth: this is a game, and sometimes the best way to enjoy it is to just have other people to share your stories with.
One surprising way I’ve found to do this was the A Joyful Reunion event at Sunway Pyramid, celebrating the Raya season with plenty of Genshin Impact events like on-site Commissions, World Boss challenges and even exclusive merch.
It’s a very special feeling having that many Genshin Impact fans in one space together because you get to bond with complete strangers over the same games you play- one person had overheard me talking about how much I love Rosaria and Lisa, and that spawned a whole conversation about our favorite characters and what kind of collabs we’s hope to see them in in future.
Meanwhile, the mini Adventurer’s Guild setup is a stunning recreation of the game, complete with a cosplaying Katheryne to give out players quests to do. Mixed with the two NPCs complete with quest icons on their heads, it’s a great way to have the IRL Genshin experience.
Of course, nothing quite hits the homey feel like gathering around the stage for the World Boss challenge. If you’re competing it’s a great way to experiment with new characters- since you’re not using your own account you can, yourself test out what an ideal Neuvilette comp can do before awaiting his rerun.
Meanwhile, the audience itself is full of people excitedly watching, happy to see their game of choice being played on a big screen. All through the crowd you can see people farming their own dailies, or just showing their lineups to new friends made at the event. It’s all the coziness of a convention without nearly as much crowding- and a genuinely nice way to celebrate both the festive season as well as Genshin Impact.
There’s even a watch party for Spiral Abyss challenges- meaning you can watch pro players take on some of the game’s hardest content to see what it looks like when you don’t build your teams entirely based on their looks.
The event will be running until April 7th, so be sure to stop by if you yourself want to have a fun day out with the other Genshin Impact players in your life.
Just imagine the abject horror as you, the unmarried eldest cousin ask your younger cousins to help you take a photo next to a standee of characters like Collei. It’s the necessary tanking to your self-esteem you’d need to grant the whole family something to talk about for months to come. And considering you’re not giving them a new cousin-in-law any time soon, I suppose that’s just the least you can do.
