31 thoughts on “What Does "Genshin Impact" Actually Mean?”
I didn't know that the translation in English was Allogene, in Portuguese it is Translated as Genshin, the way Venti says his dialogue actually makes things a lot more clear with his translation in Portuguese.
Just gonna add real quick that they likely went with the Japanese pronunciation and not the Chinese due to the fact that the studio is full of weebs. One look at their official name art, which btw you had up near the start of the video, and you'll see under the name, "miHoYo" you can see it says, "Tech Otakus Save The World".
So the answer is just that simple, they just love Japanese culture despite being a Chinese studio. Hence why Honkai and Genshin not only both use the Japanese Kanji pronunciation but also why both games mimic the Japanese Anime art style. Its definitely no coincidence.
a shame that we lose the "impact" of venti's title drop thanks to translation weirdness. would have actually been a memorable moment instead of something that gets mentioned once and never again (at least for now)
Why is it called Genshin Impact rather than by it's Chinese name? 1. MHY are weebs 2. Western audiences are more familiar with Japanese media compared to Chinese 3. Sidestepping anti-Chinese connotations. Ties in with 2, as many uninformed consumers would see the game and just assume it's Japanese. Hell, even now there are people that are ignorant enough to not really understand there's a difference between the 2 cultures and would probably just lump all of East Asia together. I suppose they probably wouldn't play a game like this though. 4. "Allogene Impact" doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. 5. For that matter, for most Westerners neither does Yuanshen.
i was wondering lol, it seems weird i think the impact is to make it sound cool. or like "hey, this is an impactful game! new and cool and open-world" or something
never rolled my eyes so hard at how they play with their make up names for such "gods". it's the topic that annoyed me the most about genshin. hate me all you want but they could've gone with heroes or leaders or something smh (though i respect they've gone for archons, i think i made it clear that i dont have to "worship" their lifeless statues to make me stronger. their concept of god(s) is merely fucked up
I think Genshin impact has Impact added to the name because in the west it's easy to make an association to Honkai Impact and the company that way. In resume, it's a subtle way to mark it as a product made by Mihoyo. After Genshin, if a new game comes with the word Impact I know there will people questioning if it's made by the same company that made Honkai Impact and Genshin Impact.
I know you're more familiar with Japanese, but I think you should make it more clear that the name "Genshin" is taken from the Japanese "pronunciation", not the Japanese language. 原神 is from the Chinese language, not Japanese. The only reason they used "Genshin" for English is purely for marketing purposes because you can't expect Westerners to pronounce "Yuan Shen". That'll be the same as all English voice actors being unable to pronounce "Liyue". Also, appeal-wise, "Yuan Shen" is less appealing than "Genshin". I know you explain it is not "necessarily" Japanese but a combination of Kanji, but you still make it sounds like it's a word that exists in Japanese and not Chinese by calling it kanji since only Japanese Chinese characters are called Kanji. Chinese words are just called Chinese characters. While kanji is taken from Chinese characters, many of the kanji's meaning has changed and are used differently than they are in Chinese. While in Japanese 原神 is the combination of words, 原神 is not a combination of words in Chinese, but an actual word.
I saw on a video that they made it Genshin to attract more players. Nowadays the stereotype “made in China” is often seen as bad or low quality, if they called it YuanShen Impact people would just think “oh it’s a Chinese game, nvm”
It’s also because people keep butchering Chinese words
So the big reason i dont understand the difference between an "archon" and a "god" was just because of translation issues. Glad to know there was a reason i was confused at times
I think they went with the Japanese pronounciation because Chinese is harder to pronounce and also because it is probably the most bullied language in existence. Just look at how people treat the characters' names. No one makes fun of Barbara, Amber, Lisa, Diona etc for their names. Compare that to xiangling, xingqiu or chongyun
Also CEO of Mihoyo is a big fan of Evangelion which makes the game title more trivial – Genshin – is a mix of either Gendo or Genesis, Shin comes from Shinji and Impact from 2nd Impact XD. Don't have to mention Selee, right? Although I like your theory better.
I think the "impact" is because of them being in the same universe because the new games they announces (Honkai: Star Rail and Zenless Zone Zero) both don't have "impact" in it
Genshin its actually an original word in the game. It means "people who are qualified to be gods", so in my conception the game shows the impact of the "traveller" as being qualified to be a god, or something close to this.
as a chinese player i was surprised to find out they tacked on the word "impact" on the english title. although……. if it can be left out, maybe it really don't have a very important meaning. Also I wonder why the whole allogene idea seems to have never been explored thus far again.
I didn't know that the translation in English was Allogene, in Portuguese it is Translated as Genshin, the way Venti says his dialogue actually makes things a lot more clear with his translation in Portuguese.
Just gonna add real quick that they likely went with the Japanese pronunciation and not the Chinese due to the fact that the studio is full of weebs. One look at their official name art, which btw you had up near the start of the video, and you'll see under the name, "miHoYo" you can see it says, "Tech Otakus Save The World".
So the answer is just that simple, they just love Japanese culture despite being a Chinese studio. Hence why Honkai and Genshin not only both use the Japanese Kanji pronunciation but also why both games mimic the Japanese Anime art style. Its definitely no coincidence.
when i hear the word impact i constandly get reminded to the 3d impact from Neon Genesis Evangelion
a shame that we lose the "impact" of venti's title drop thanks to translation weirdness. would have actually been a memorable moment instead of something that gets mentioned once and never again (at least for now)
Why is it called Genshin Impact rather than by it's Chinese name?
1. MHY are weebs
2. Western audiences are more familiar with Japanese media compared to Chinese
3. Sidestepping anti-Chinese connotations. Ties in with 2, as many uninformed consumers would see the game and just assume it's Japanese. Hell, even now there are people that are ignorant enough to not really understand there's a difference between the 2 cultures and would probably just lump all of East Asia together. I suppose they probably wouldn't play a game like this though.
4. "Allogene Impact" doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.
5. For that matter, for most Westerners neither does Yuanshen.
i was wondering lol, it seems weird
i think the impact is to make it sound cool. or like "hey, this is an impactful game! new and cool and open-world" or something
never rolled my eyes so hard at how they play with their make up names for such "gods". it's the topic that annoyed me the most about genshin. hate me all you want but they could've gone with heroes or leaders or something smh (though i respect they've gone for archons, i think i made it clear that i dont have to "worship" their lifeless statues to make me stronger. their concept of god(s) is merely fucked up
I think Genshin impact has Impact added to the name because in the west it's easy to make an association to Honkai Impact and the company that way. In resume, it's a subtle way to mark it as a product made by Mihoyo. After Genshin, if a new game comes with the word Impact I know there will people questioning if it's made by the same company that made Honkai Impact and Genshin Impact.
Maybe impact could refer to the Gacha System, where characters drop from the skies as meteors?
thank you i was really wondering about what the name meant
In Chinese it’s original god/mystical creature
Wow..sweet
When Shinji causes the Genshin Impact or something idk I never watched 4.0
I know you're more familiar with Japanese, but I think you should make it more clear that the name "Genshin" is taken from the Japanese "pronunciation", not the Japanese language. 原神 is from the Chinese language, not Japanese. The only reason they used "Genshin" for English is purely for marketing purposes because you can't expect Westerners to pronounce "Yuan Shen". That'll be the same as all English voice actors being unable to pronounce "Liyue". Also, appeal-wise, "Yuan Shen" is less appealing than "Genshin". I know you explain it is not "necessarily" Japanese but a combination of Kanji, but you still make it sounds like it's a word that exists in Japanese and not Chinese by calling it kanji since only Japanese Chinese characters are called Kanji. Chinese words are just called Chinese characters. While kanji is taken from Chinese characters, many of the kanji's meaning has changed and are used differently than they are in Chinese. While in Japanese 原神 is the combination of words, 原神 is not a combination of words in Chinese, but an actual word.
Me: I, will ask kindly again, who, is Genshin, and how did it Impact you?
Now I think that the term bot vision barers should have been called ‘genshins’
I'm pretty sure the "Impact" in Honkai Impact 3rd was supposed to be an Evangelion reference considering how much that game references Evangelion
I thought it was English Impact.
Tysm for making this 💜
I think at the end of the story they will talk about what it means
Impact could also refer to the impression a vision wielder has on the world of Teyvet. Genshin = Allogene (vision wielder) Impact.
So original god's impact?
I saw on a video that they made it Genshin to attract more players. Nowadays the stereotype “made in China” is often seen as bad or low quality, if they called it YuanShen Impact people would just think “oh it’s a Chinese game, nvm”
It’s also because people keep butchering Chinese words
So the big reason i dont understand the difference between an "archon" and a "god" was just because of translation issues. Glad to know there was a reason i was confused at times
My first thought for impact was the impact when the meteor the twins were in landed in Teyvat
I think they went with the Japanese pronounciation because Chinese is harder to pronounce and also because it is probably the most bullied language in existence. Just look at how people treat the characters' names.
No one makes fun of Barbara, Amber, Lisa, Diona etc for their names. Compare that to xiangling, xingqiu or chongyun
Also CEO of Mihoyo is a big fan of Evangelion which makes the game title more trivial – Genshin – is a mix of either Gendo or Genesis, Shin comes from Shinji and Impact from 2nd Impact XD. Don't have to mention Selee, right? Although I like your theory better.
i joked to myself that it meant 挣星 (earn stars), or "grind primogems".
I think the "impact" is because of them being in the same universe because the new games they announces (Honkai: Star Rail and Zenless Zone Zero) both don't have "impact" in it
Genshin its actually an original word in the game.
It means "people who are qualified to be gods", so in my conception the game shows the impact of the "traveller" as being qualified to be a god, or something close to this.
as a chinese player i was surprised to find out they tacked on the word "impact" on the english title. although……. if it can be left out, maybe it really don't have a very important meaning. Also I wonder why the whole allogene idea seems to have never been explored thus far again.