Coming-of-age is a Vantage column where staffers share their opinions on a specific beat. From in-depth analyses of TV series to miscellaneous musings in music (and everything in between), this monthly column is an avenue to spread and inspire thought-provoking ideas.

In this column, Vantage Magazine staffer Jana breezes through finding her peaceful ele-mental state in Genshin Impact’s fantasy world, Teyvat.

No amount of boxes ticked before 9 AM can ever make up for the dopamine-rush from a morning of idling around “Teyvat.” The world of miHoYo’s Genshin Impact is a microcosm untouched by productivity propaganda’s get-100-things-done-today and little room for failure.

One can opt to save a quest for tomorrow, or next week, or next month. There are barely any time restrictions for quests. Challenges are short-term and minor stressors. Wish events can only be frustrating if there’s a five-star character that you’ve been yearning for. “Desire is the source for all suffering,” or so they say; I have little desire when playing the game—save for finally getting Beidou and Dilluc. At present, my only major desire is to meander in “Liyue” longer, and for time to pause the same way Mondays don’t exist in “Teyvat.”

I may have dropped emails and résumés while flying around “Huaguang Stone Forest.” My mind is never empty during meditation but “Qingce’s flower terraces” are a visual cleanser for the mind. A quest presupposes my presence in the “Wuwang Hill” village, but a few failed challenges behind Qingce’s waterfalls tell me my stats are too low–leveling up can be done tomorrow.

In “Teyvat,” forgiveness comes in the form of a try again—start the challenge again, revive a character—but also it doesn’t have to be right away. Genshin Impact taught me much more about self-forgiveness than real life did. Of course, it’s difficult to live with a “try again” mentality when, in reality, consequences can be macabre.

Initially, I was just pressing buttons with no target in mind, following the explosive sounds and colors of elemental attacks. I found out late that you could level up your characters with the Character EXP Materials that you get from chests; I was fighting level 20 enemies with one-digit level characters. I kept failing time-bound challenges. None of it affected me because I knew I could just try again.

At this point, you probably know I don’t play games much. My game library, currently, is a rota of Genshin Impact, Stardew Valley, and Rune Factory 4. I am more of a reader, an INFP whose love affairs are with immersive worlds.

This must be painful to read for anyone who’s been taking the game adventure-rank-above-30 seriously. It’s not that I haven’t. I go around doing tasks that would boost my adventure rank—but only casually. My defense: miHoYo made the graphics so immersive the grass even parts when you run through it. It can’t just be a part of the background. Genshin Impact’s environment enriches the gameplay, and I just love basking in that specific aspect of the game experience.

The rustic pixel open-world, however, did not just give me a virtual great outdoors I can explore in lockdown. Ever since I started playing, I’ve been more resilient towards rejection and failure, quicker to recover from an emotional obstacle.
There’s no divorcing reality, that much I acknowledge, and I can’t be in “Teyvat” forever. But as a work-related notification pops up in the corner of my screen, I’m letting myself run through the “Guili Plains” just a little longer.