Genshin Impact Update 2.0: Inazuma region, gardening, more

The moment Genshin Impact fans have been practically waiting since the game’s release is finally here. Inazuma, a long-awaited and widespread play area inspired by Japan, launches July 21. Not only that, it comes with such an important update that Chinese developer Mihoyo has seen fit to upgrade the game’s version from 1.6 to 2.0.

Inazuma is the centerpiece of the upcoming update, a brand new region similar in size to the game’s two previous main areas, Mondstadt and Liyue. Where the first has some kind of Breath of the wild-meets-high-fantasy vibe and the latter pays homage to many elements of Chinese culture, Inazuma is the anime-inspired game’s first move to a region overtly inspired by Japanese lore.

The teaser isn’t subtle about it, with architecture and archetypes (shogun, samurai, ninja) screaming Japan out loud, as well as a multitude of cherry blossoms. That said, everything is beautiful in Genshin Impactlush artistic style, to the point that fans are basically lose your mind at present. The soundtrack of the new region, meanwhile, was recorded in collaboration with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, to give it an authentic flavor.

A new region means a lot of new things to do, including a “massive” number of new Archon quests and side quests. There will also be three new playable characters: Ayaka, who wields a katana and ice powers, Yoimiya, who uses a bow and fire (and who will hopefully be better than his fire / bow colleague Amber, notoriously the worst of the game), and Sayu, a wind ninja.

In addition to all that, Genshin Impact adds cross progression between the PS5, PS4, PC, Android and iOS versions of the game. Also: gardening! Once version 2.0 launches, you will be able to collect and plant seeds in the Kingdom’s Fields located in your Serenitea Pot, which is essentially the player housing system in the game.

The update will arrive, with new events and a bunch of systemic changes, in less than two weeks. Guess that means I should probably start my daily quests all over again, huh.