Playing 'Genshin Impact' Again After So Long

(source)

A week or so ago, I got an email saying that my Genshin Impact account would be suspended if I did not input my birth month and year since apparently I was not asked to do so earlier. I went and did that at the eleventh hour then downloaded the game on my MacBook.

Released in 2020 by miHoYo, a Chinese game developer, Genshin Impact became a commercial success almost overnight, likely exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic keeping many people cooped up at home. Some have compared it to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for its open world and visuals. I don't know how popular it is now, but l am aware that it was subject to some controversy a while back due to some characters' skin tones and the English voice actors' strike. (In fact, the other day I noticed that there was a character who should have had spoken dialogue but did not, which makes me wonder if that's somehow related.) To that I say, "Screw identity politics! It's a fantasy world, and I'm here to have fun!"

It has been a long while since I played the game, the main reason being I couldn't play it on a Mac. I briefly used the family Windows desktop to run it which was slow as molasses. The RPG does not work on MacOS as of now, but it does run on iPhones and iPads. I downloaded a program called PlayCover that allows you to play iOS games on Macs. So essentially, I'm playing the iPad version on the computer.

So far, I'm enjoying it just as well as if not better than before. I never finished part one of the story, so it was satisfying to finish that arc and move on to the second region. Someday I hope to catch up, so long as my Mac's storage won't have to suffer for it!

I Bought a New MacBook Pro!

My new laptop. Sticky notes contain school info and are thus redacted.

I finally got fed up with my old MacBook Pro from 2012 for being slow and having a crappy battery life when unplugged. I got a refund check from college, so what better way to use it than to buy a new computer with some accessories?

All in all, everything cost over $3,000. My new Mac is a 16-inch 2023 Space Black model with the M3 Max chip and one terabyte (TB) of storage, which is roughly equivalent to 1,000 gigabytes (GB). In addition, I bought an adapter that connects to my speakers, keyboard, and mouse; a carrying case; and an HDMI cord so I can connect it to the big monitor on my desk. Thank God Apple created Migration Assistant, so all my important files were intact when transferring my data. So far it has impressive speed and an even more impressive battery. Here's hoping this machine is still running smoothly for at least the next 10-20 years.