Has anyone here ever heard of Genshin Impact? What are your thoughts on it?

[GalacticCapybara]

First off, sorry if I'm posting to the wrong group. I'm new here, and kinda had this on my heart. Feel free to move this thread, obviously.

Genshin Impact is a Chinese video game. I used to play it, but recently stopped because I felt I was potentially doing something wrong by playing? I'm not saying it is immoral (I'm not judging you if you do play it), but I personally felt nervous. Perhaps this was my Scrupulousity.

Here's some stuff that made me nervous (I might ramble, so feel free to skip this): the characters often wear skimpy clothes, there's a mechanic in the game where you're supposed to click a button labelled "worship" on a statue of a fictional god, there's loads of magic (including a playable witch and a playable astrologist), etc. Also, the game some fictional gods, aka Archons. These playable Archons are all (so far) named after demons from the Lesser Key of Solomon (one is Barbatos, another is Beelzebub), and are portrayed overwhelmingly sympathetic. Finally, it's Gacha and can be addictive, financially.

Has anyone here ever heard of it? I used to love this game, and devoted many hours (and many dollars) to it. My siblings still play it. Before I stopped playing, I suggested it to some people. This game is pretty big, as far as the fanbase goes.

I'm not trying to make this game sound all bad. It has beautiful graphics, a fairly amazing storyline, and engaging characters. They quote the Bible twice in this game (I can't decide whether that's good or bad, but considering this game is based on Gnosticism, that might be bad?). Just, there's some weird stuff going on... I have theories on where this is heading, but I can't say for sure.

What are your thoughts? Would you personally stay away? I thought I'd try to start a discussion and see where it goes.

I've been tempted to start playing again, but I think I'll personally stay away.

 

[Yttrium]

Genshin Impact is my favorite video game. I used to play MMOs a lot, but I'm very introverted. I always thought that if there was a single-player game built like the MMOs I like, that's what I'd be playing. Huge world, regular updates and expansions. It has an anime style I like, and it's free to play. Just perfect for me.

As you yourself pointed out, the gods are fictional. They're not even all-powerful creators of the world. They're just very powerful beings who govern (more or less) regions of the world. You're in no danger of actually worshiping false gods here. They bear no relationship to anything in our world.

Anything referred to as a "witch" in the game really bears no resemblance to what Christians envision witches to be. There are no Satan worshippers in the game. The Chinese developers don't really know much about Christianity and just like to use interesting names like Baal and Beelzebul, without thinking about their deeper meaning. The characters with those names are in no way representative of the versions from Christian lore. Astrology in the game is also a fictional version.

The gacha system can have addiction issues, but players can do just fine even if they don't spend a dime on the game. You earn in-game currency for the gacha system just by playing the game. The game has to make money somehow, and gacha just happens to be a very successful method. People who are willing to spend a lot of money pay for the game for the rest of us. If they can afford it, great. If they can't afford it, then they'll need some help with their addiction.

Costumes in the game are very colorful and attractive. Some are a little revealing, but nothing nearly as bad as a bikini, which is something common to see at a beach. The game is designed for players 12 and up, so the developers do actually make some effort to avoid making characters look too risqué (especially with recent censorship standards in China).

 

[Nithavela]

Been playing it since release and still do. Good game, lots of fun, don't have to spend a lot of money to get everything you want.

 

[GalacticCapybara]

Genshin Impact is my favorite video game. I used to play MMOs a lot, but I'm very introverted. I always thought that if there was a single-player game built like the MMOs I like, that's what I'd be playing. Huge world, regular updates and expansions. It has an anime style I like, and it's free to play. Just perfect for me.

As you yourself pointed out, the gods are fictional. They're not even all-powerful creators of the world. They're just very powerful beings who govern (more or less) regions of the world. You're in no danger of actually worshiping false gods here. They bear no relationship to anything in our world.

Anything referred to as a "witch" in the game really bears no resemblance to what Christians envision witches to be. There are no Satan worshippers in the game. The Chinese developers don't really know much about Christianity and just like to use interesting names like Baal and Beelzebul, without thinking about their deeper meaning. The characters with those names are in no way representative of the versions from Christian lore. Astrology in the game is also a fictional version.

The gacha system can have addiction issues, but players can do just fine even if they don't spend a dime on the game. You earn in-game currency for the gacha system just by playing the game. The game has to make money somehow, and gacha just happens to be a very successful method. People who are willing to spend a lot of money pay for the game for the rest of us. If they can afford it, great. If they can't afford it, then they'll need some help with their addiction.

Costumes in the game are very colorful and attractive. Some are a little revealing, but nothing nearly as bad as a bikini, which is something common to see at a beach. The game is designed for players 12 and up, so the developers do actually make some effort to avoid making characters look too risqué (especially with recent censorship standards in China).

Hey, I appreciate hearing your pov. I was worried about my siblings playing it, but I honestly feel a bit better now. Maybe I'll start playing again someday, but I might have to think on it more.

 

[Nithavela]

Hey, I appreciate hearing your pov. I was worried about my siblings playing it, but I honestly feel a bit better now. Maybe I'll start playing again someday, but I might have to think on it more.

I don't think that you should play anything that makes you feel uncomfortable. After all, games are supposed to be fun.

On the other hand, if you reject everything fun that someone tells you is un-christian, you won't be left with not much to do for fun, because you'll always find someone who condemns it.

I can't really comment much on the faith part, but I'd like to point to Matthew 15:11.

"What goes into someone's mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them."

In other words, as long as you don't adopt the things appearing in the game like magic or beating up people (which I think is far more dangerous than practicing magic), but only consume it as entertainment and put it down when you're done, you'll be fine.