Before Mihoyo’s Genshin Impact, there was Honkai Impact 3rd. It’s been out since 2016, and as far as mobile action games go, I count it among the best. It’s a brilliant blend of RPG elements, intense 3D mecha action, and a story on par with Genshin’s. Prior to my absolute dedication to Genshin Impact, I had a short stint playing Honkai. It didn’t really stick with me, but when I look back on Mihoyo’s other mobile darling, plenty of its mechanics and systems still stand out to me. In particular, I was quite fond of Honkai’s adorable dormitory system, and I’m hoping something similar comes to Genshin Impact.
If you’ve never played Honkai Impact 3rd, then it’s probably easiest to think of the dorm system as something more Sims-like. Your Valkyrie or Stigmata will transform into tiny, adorable versions of themselves to enter their homes, where you can fully customize and decorate their environments. Dorms can be expanded to hold even more goodies, and you'll want to carefully balance the comfort level of your characters' home.
In Honkai Impact 3rd, dorms play a special role in energy regen while you're away. Again, kind of like The Sims - the more comfortable your characters are, the better they feel. Throughout your adventures, you'll also gather special materials to craft furniture and keep decorating. You can pick out all sorts of goodies, like new floors, couches, slides, and adorable stuffed animals. In all honesty, Mihoyo could sell me on a whole separate version of Honkai that's literally just decorating dorms, and I'd probably bite.
So here I am, someone who still has too much to do in Genshin Impact dailies begging for more, but the Honkai mechanic was too cute with a satisfying loop, and I'm usually down for anything that involves building. I imagine dorms don't feel quite as appropriate in the world of Teyvat, where Mondstadt and Liyue feel worlds apart, and some of the characters don't seem like a great fit for dorm life. That's fine though, iterate on this, I just want something similar.
I can see it now, rooms or small apartments up for decoration in some of Teyvat's different locations. I could decorate cute dorms for Klee in Mondstadt, complete with adorable bomb plushies and decked out in red. Back in Liyue, something a little more elegant for Ningguang, one of those characters I definitely couldn't imagine sharing a dorm with anyone else. After all, she's the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing, but I reckon Mihoyo could throw me a few fancy gold items to furnish Ningguang an appropriate room.
And I'm not really sure what would drive managing comfort in Genshin, but perhaps something similar to food buffs? Or, maybe if Mihoyo was feeling quite generous, we could get a little Resin boost for properly maintaining our characters' homes? It's not like Genshin Impact couldn't stand to improve the Resin system a bit, anyway.
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, I wish there was some way Mihoyo could bring over one of my favorite Honkai systems to Genshin Impact. I know it's more of a side thing in Honkai, and probably not the main draw for anyone, but it's a fun little distraction from your main tasks at hand, and I'm still quite fond of it. So please, Mihoyo, let me decorate a super cute dorm room with Zhongli posters. I can't juggle both of these games at once.