It’s 2026 now, and I still get a little nostalgic thinking about April 28, 2021. That was the day Genshin Impact officially launched on PlayStation 5, and also the day my free time vanished into a tiny teapot realm. Hoyoverse (back then still called miHoYo) dropped a bombshell press release that had me refreshing the PSN store like a maniac. I’d been playing the game on PS5 via backward compatibility, but the promise of a native version with “enhanced visuals and game performance” felt like a whole new beginning.

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I remember booting up that native PS5 build. The difference wasn’t just marketing fluff—load times that used to give me time to make coffee were suddenly cut in half, and the world of Teyvat looked crisper than ever. The draw distance stretched further, making the mountains of Liyue feel even more majestic. Frame rates held steady even during chaotic Domain runs, and the DualSense controller’s subtle haptic feedback added an extra layer of immersion when using elemental skills. For a free-to-play game, this was a console treatment that put many full-priced titles to shame.

But the PS5 launch was only half the story. The same day brought Version 1.5, titled “Beneath the Light of Jadite.” That update dug deep into Liyue’s history with a Zhongli-centric story quest that had me emotional all over again. Yet, for me, the real stars were the two new characters: Eula and Yanfei. Eula, the five-star Cryo claymore user from Mondstadt’s old aristocracy, danced across the battlefield with graceful, physics-defying combos. Her element—Cryo—combined with the slow, deliberate swings of a claymore created a beautiful rhythm of shatter and freeze reactions. I whaled a little to get her, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.

Yanfei, on the other hand, was a four-star Pyro catalyst user who instantly became my favorite legal advisor. Her charged attacks stacked scarlet seals that made her feel almost like a fiery machine gun with a law degree. Being Pyro, she slotted perfectly into vaporize and melt teams, and her cheerful personality was a breath of fresh air. Together, these two characters reshaped the meta and gave theorycrafters months of material to chew on.

Version 1.5 also introduced enemies that would become familiar faces over the years: the Cryo Hypostasis and the Abyss Lector: Violet Lightning. Defeating them felt dangerous and rewarding, since they dropped crucial character level-up materials. I spent hours co-oping with friends, perfecting our rotations to take them down efficiently. Speaking of co-op, the update boosted Co-Op Championship EXP and made claiming the first three Trounce Domain rewards per week a much smoother affair. That change alone saved my resin management and probably my sanity.

And then… the Serenitea Pot. Oh, the hours I’ve poured into this feature. The personal realm inside a magical teapot let me build my own little world—placing mansions, trees, rocks, and eventually even characters. Back in 1.5, the system was in its infancy, but I was hooked. I rearranged my realm a dozen times, trying to maximize adeptal energy so I could buy out the shop’s transient resin. Looking back from 2026, where the teapot has evolved into a full-blown housing system with companion hangouts and furniture crafting chains that span nations, it’s wild to see how it all started right here.

This patch set the tone for everything that followed. The PS5 launch broadened the player base enormously, and the content of 1.5 deepened the hook for veterans. I still remember the community’s collective excitement—the Reddit threads, the YouTube guides, the endless fan art of Eula’s sneeze. As we sit here in 2026, with the map having expanded into Snezhnaya and the Tsaritsa’s arc finally unfolding, it’s easy to forget how foundational those early updates were. Version 1.5 wasn’t just a content drop; it was a statement that Genshin Impact was here to stay and would keep raising the bar.

So if you’re a newer Traveler who started after Sumeru or Fontaine, know that the teapot you’re decorating today traces its lineage back to that magical week in April 2021. And if, like me, you’ve been here since then, take a moment to revisit your realm and maybe re-read Zhongli’s story—it still hits just as hard.