#preemptively giving them a tag since i don't want to make a whole side blog like i did for gnsn

[yupuffin]

I had no plans to play Star Rail. But I've been curious for a few months.

I didn't want to make any impulse decisions like I did with Genshin Impact, so I didn't act on my curiosity until a couple of days ago.

I didn't think I'd be able to handle both Genshin and Star Rail at the same time; I envisioned the possibility that Star Rail might be like Genshin where it sucks me in right away, and Genshin has effectively been my life for the last three(ish) years.

I tried it out for a couple of days, and was conflicted about whether I wanted to continue playing -- to commit, so to speak -- because it didn't give me that strong initial draw that Genshin did.

I proceeded to severely overthink it (almost definitely an anxiety symptom of some sort), and grew increasingly confident that this was, in fact, a good thing.

Some of you may recall that I had inadvertently caffeinated myself earlier on the day I downloaded Genshin back in February 2021. 🤣 This compounded with a few other things, including an impending sexuality crisis, that led to a lot of acute emotional symptoms, some of which were good, but some of which were very bad and persisted residually for up to several months. Even though the beginning was rough, I loved the game from the start, and to this day it remains a prominent source of joy for me.

I don't have to hold Star Rail to the same expectations as I did Genshin Impact. That's simply not realistic. Star Rail isn't Genshin Impact. But it doesn't have to be Genshin Impact. Like any other game, I can just play it as long as it brings me joy, and when it ceases to bring me joy, I can stop playing. That's the important part. That's what games are for!

So for the past couple of days I've been balancing the two, and I've noticed they actually complement each other really well, to the point that switching between them enriches my experience in each game. As exhilarating as the real-time combat in Genshin is, I feel very focused and relaxed with the turn-based combat in Star Rail, and I like seeing my character be able to stand alongside the others at the same time. And then, when I go back to Genshin, I further appreciate the fantastical, vivid, and colorful environment design in Teyvat that remains one of my primary draws to the game to this day, alongside all of the familiar characters I know and love.

Plus, I think switching between the two is an effective measure against burnout. I've played Genshin every single day for 1,047 days now, so remaining vigilant for burnout has always been and continues to be a necessity, and I think I've gotten pretty good at it. I've completed all of the major story that's currently out, and I have enough Primogem savings that I'm never actively stockpiling for a new character, so at this point it's not necessarily to invest a lot of time into it unless I feel particularly inclined to, and most of the time, my goals are pretty small, like completing the limited-time events, gradually exploring a new area, or something mundane like remodeling my Serenitea Pot.

But the nice thing about Star Rail is that, mechanically and structurally, it's very similar to Genshin, so I can continue to live the experience of progressing a story and building characters, down to the methods for gathering resources. Still, obviously, being a completely different game, it keeps the experience fresher than it would if I simply replayed Genshin. Plus, since I'm not caffeinated and didn't make any impulse decisions this time, I can progress at an easy pace instead of hurrying through it. 🤣

It's a game -- something experienced for fun -- plus, I'm not in the same mental and emotional state as I was three years ago, thank goodness. I don't have to commit. I can just enjoy it and go along for the ride, whether that's for one more day or 1,047 more (and beyond).

As heard in the Kumoricon 2023 18+ Lip Sync Battle:

"Choo choo, motherfuckers."😂