At first, you will see that Genshin Impact has a pretty small world that can be unlocked with the Statues of the seven. But as you start to explore the regions further, you will come across underground dungeons, caves, and paths that are like a maze.
Though it doesn’t look vast enough from the mini-map, the actual size of the regions is quite large, and it may take you months to unlock all of them. Not only that, certain regions get unlocked after you complete specific quests and progress through the story. But this doesn’t mean we don’t know about the areas that will be featured in the subsequent updates.
So far, from the game’s official sources, we have information about upcoming regions and the overall World of Teyvat. Let’s go over this Genshin Impact world guide and pick up some tasty lore crumbs.
But before diving into that, I would like to clarify that some of the information is speculation from my end. Down the line, that might be true or not. Still, I’ve tried consolidating valid points, story events and happenings related to the world and spiced up a few things with my theories!
Teyvat
Usually, you will hear a lot of players referring to the world as Teyvat. Technically it is a continent where seven elements flow and converge. Currently, respective to the seven elements, there are seven nations in the World of Teyvat.
Each of these seven nations is dedicated to an element where an Archon rules over them. The archons are masters of their elements and possess unparalleled elemental powers that prove their status to be among the seven gods of Teyvat.
Throughout your adventures, you will venture out to various nations. As of now, only three nations have been introduced in the game, Mondstadt, Liyue, and Inazuma. Each of these nations features a theme, culture, food, and characters that are unique to their own.
Just like any other nation, these nations have diplomatic ties with entities like the Fatui and often go through trades and exchanges with other nations. As you will begin the story, you are introduced to the City of Mondstadt, where various events lead you to the City of Liyue. Following the same, the Traveler is currently in Inazuma and will eventually reach the Sumeru nation, where they will unravel other secrets.
Besides these three nations, some regions are beyond Teyvat and are home to beings that aren’t yet introduced. From various sources in the game, you get to know about gods and civilizations that used to exist before a major calamity occurred 500 years ago.
To know more about that, let’s go over each nation one by one and see what they have on the plate for us. A little reminder that some theories may be speculative in nature, and you shouldn’t take them seriously. I advise you to not stress yourself out thinking about something that is currently in the shadows and wait until the game reveals them.
Mondstadt
Mondstadt is the anemo nation of Teyvat under the Anemo archon, Venti himself. But in reality, the city isn’t ruled by any entity, and everyone is free. Being a carefree archon, the people of Mondstadt enjoy freedom, wind, and wine.
Venti always had the vision to set his people free from any shackles of the world and have them enjoy their time. Before coming to the game, check out our manga guide to learn about the past of Venti and Vanessa.
Although the rest of the manga is unrelated to the present events, the prologue ends with Venti and the Traveler discussing something. In the game, Mondstadt is the nation where you will start your journey and meet Paimon before venturing out into the wild and coming across our favorite outrider Amber!
I would say the game isn’t slow at the beginning of the story because you soon come across the Knights of Favonius and manage to fend off Dvalin in an encounter. Further events will lead you to discover various things about the city, people, and the enemies who are hiding in the Shadows. One of the most prominent ones is the Fatui will always keep you on your toes.
Not only will you meet many characters from Mondstadt, but also the ones who have origins beyond Teyvat. Overall, your time spent in the city will be full of adventures, mysteries, joy, sorrows, and all sorts of emotions that you will cherish for a long time. To know more about Mondstadt, I recommend you go through the Mondstadt guide and learn about the city in detail.
Liyue
After Mondstadt, you will travel to Liyue, which is under the dominion of the Geo archon, Zhongli, also known as Morax. Liyue is a city that’s prosperous on its own and serves as an economic hub for all sorts of trades.
Liyue has well-established businesses, a harbor, and a leadership responsibility for the city’s well-being. Like Mondstadt’s Ludi Harpastum, Liyue has its festival, Lantern Rite, which is a show of its own where all sorts of performances, food, and vibrance can be seen.
Not only the region has a long history, but the Geo archon is also well-respected by the common folk, and they are grateful to have him watch over them. Though, in reality, the Geo archon has retired. He’s still there to protect his city against unknown foes, but I don’t think he needs to do that as Liyue’s Qixing, The Tianquan, and Ningguang has all their cards in place.
Liyue is also home to the Chasm, an area with an expansive underground to explore with many mysteries and puzzles to solve.
As you will go through numerous quests in the region and interact with characters and NPCs, you will discover some surprising and shocking truths about people. Eventually, after tackling some major foes, your journey will take you to the land of eternity, Inazuma.
Continue reading our comprehensive Liyue guide to learn more about the city.
Inazuma
The land of Eternity, Inazuma, ruled by the almighty Raiden Shogun, seemed a very dark place at first. Unlike Mondstadt and Liyue, where you are free enough to do anything, stepping outside of your bounds in Inazuma could have severe consequences.
At first, the area appeared hostile, but soon enough, you get to meet good people who help you build meaningful relations across the city. Whether it’s facing the Raiden Shogun, having a duel to the death with Signora, or watching an onikabuto match with Arataki Itto, you push through everything to help the region achieve a state of peace.
It was unexpected to see the Traveler playing such a crucial role in Inazuma than in other regions, but the end result was better than what was expected. Finally, the dust settled on many issues, but there were still some people whom you won’t meet again. Inazuma is a region where you must check your steps before venturing into the unknown.
Beneath Inazuma is the mysterious realm of Enkanomiya. Here you will find that night and day are under your control, and you must manipulate them in order to solve puzzles and uncover the dark past of Enkanomiya.
With most of the affairs handled, it’s’ speculated that we will go into the Sumeru nation next, and who knows what kind of dangers or secrets are hiding there.
Sumeru
Sumeru is the Dendro region or nation of Teyvat, where the famous Sumeru Academia is, which is where Lisa graduated. From various sources in the game, we might see a combination of forests and deserts in the region, and though it’s speculative as to what kind of culture will be featured.
Likely that the nation will be a mix of Arabic, Indian, Persian, or Egyptian cultures but we are still not sure as the region hasn’t launched yet.
But there’s one thing that caught my eye while doing the quest, Time and Wind, that an NPC named Henry Morton explains that Wind gliders aren’t allowed within the Academia, and a lot of students forget how to craft them by the time of their graduation.
So far, from what NPCs we have interacted with from Sumeru, we get to know that their names have Indian, Persian or Arabic origins. Kaushik gives off Hindi vibes, Hosseini sounds Arabic and Anisa Purbiruni is Persian like.
Also, from their attire, you can see that they have a simple outlook and don’t have anything fancy like Fontaine’s attire description. They have a researched, educated, and simple aura around them, and most of them are quite knowledgable in their fields.
From what I’ve experienced after interacting with NPCs is that they are very keen on their research work and draw conclusions that really sound good and justifiable. But, also, until proven, we have to take their words with a grain of salt.
Like when you interact with Kaushik, he will claim his hypothesis about two snake gods where one was under the Watatsumi Island enjoined with coral, and the other tried to go into Narukami Island until it was slain by the Electro archon.
Another claim he makes is that while others say that Mondstadt has four winds, he thinks there are five of them. For now, all I can conclude is that their derivations are really wild, intriguing, and mysterious at the same time, but there’s no proof to their claims.
I guess we get to know more about the world’s mysteries and learn about the happenings of past events when we reach the Sumeru region.
Fontaine
Fontaine is said to be the region of the Hydro archon, also known as the God of Justice. Dainsleif mentions the God of Justice as someone who seeks to judge all other gods but fears the divine, Celestia.
From conversations with NPCs and in-game information, you get to know that there are all sorts of cultures and arts in the region, and beautiful water bodies can be found in the region. They have a popular newspaper where they have writers from all of the Teyvat, and even Mona is a columnist in that paper.
Fontaine seems to be inspired by French culture, where Xingqui’s novel is quite popular and is the origin of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Yanfei mentions Fontaine’s legal system is complicated. In the story, you get to know that the Kamera is actually an invention from Fontaine and can be used to capture images.
It’s one of my most used Gadgets because I like to click pictures and have it equipped most of the time. In one of the quests, Tatara Tales, you get to meet an NPC from Fontaine named Xavier, who stays back to supervise the Mikagi furnace and helps you to fix it. In the quest, you get to see Xavier’s attire, which looks very modern to what ordinary folks wear in the regions we have been through.Â
Natlan
Natlan is the region of Pyro ruled by the Pyro archon Murata, and from Teyvat’s storyline preview, we get to know that she will share some secrets with the Traveler because she has her reasons.
So far, there’s not much information because there aren’t many NPCs who belong to Natlan in the game, and a few crumbs can be found in the manga. It is mentioned that Vanessa’s clan was from Natlan, and they used to worship the God of war.
Though, they left their homeland and, down the line, became enslaved people in Mondstadt, where Venti freed them. Vanessa mentions martial arts tournaments happening in the region, and it seems like Natlan is a nation where strong fighters can be found.
Snezhnaya
Snezhnaya, it took me some time to learn the spelling of this region, but it is the dominion of the cryo archon and her majesty, the Tsaritsa. We know about this region mostly from Childe, a Fatui Harbinger on a mission in the City of Liyue, who describes his devotion and love for his homeland.
Snezhnaya is majorly known for its military detachment that is under the command of the Tsaritsa, where organization members have absolute faith in her. To achieve the vision of the “perfect world” for their empress, the Fatui members will go to any extent to achieve their goals and don’t hesitate to do things that go beyond ethics or morals.
While the nation isn’t of much focus, the Fatui is someone you should always be wary of on your journey because of how cunning, evil and ambitious they are. I really can’t say that all of them are evil, but overall they don’t paint a good picture.
I’ll suggest you go throughout the Fatui harbingers’ guide to delve deeper into the Fatui and their ranks. And, I’m sure you will get to know some interesting facts about them.
Celestia
Celestia is a floating island that can be seen above in the sky where the gods are. We get a glimpse of Celestia when Vanessa ascends to the godhood in the prologue of the manga. The manga focuses on Venti’s interaction with Vanessa and, eventually, how she ascended to Celestia. Venti refers to the fruit in Celestia as bland and doesn’t like the taste of the water there as it tastes foul.
Throughout the story, we learn about Celestia’s involvement with the past civilizations and how they were obliterated with the use of force. Celestia obliterated the nation of Khaneri’ah and put curses on the people to put them through a living hell of being monsters. So far, we have discovered two nails that are other-worldly, one in Dragonspine and one under the Chasm region.
From various sources, quests, and items in the game, we eventually get to know that they aren’t something from the lands of Teyvat and possibly a Celestian entity. It seems that Celestia believes in absolute control, power, and dominance over the living beings and will go to any extent to make sure of it.
Khaneri’ah
Khaneri’ah is a region unknown to the outside world, but various items and excerpts mention it. We learn about this region mostly from Dainsleif, the former captain of the Royal Guard of the nation. He reveals that the nation didn’t worship any god or had none to begin with, but humans with technology are unparalleled.
I feel that the more we interact with Dainsleif, the more we get to know about the horrendous truths of the world and the happening that led to the destruction of an ancient civilization. Also, whenever we meet Dainsleif, we come across our other sibling who has joined forces with the Abyss. I am sure that Dainsleif knows much more than he tells us, and maybe he has secrets that shouldn’t be known to others.
From various sources in the game, Khaneri’ah gives a vibe of a human civilization that was so advanced technologically that even the gods feared their achievements. With Khaneri’ah’s Art of Khemia, Rhinedottir was able to create Durin and Albedo, which basically was a creation of life.
With powers like such in the hands of humans, I’m sure that the gods felt challenged and wanted to show their absolute dominance. The more you know about how the humans were able to devise such art that could create life, the more interesting it becomes. Sure, powers like these would be a boon to someone who wants to do good for the people, but in the hands of evil, it could create absolute destruction.
The exact reasons why the Celestia attacked Khaneri’ah and led to the cataclysm happening 500 years ago are unknown. But, there are mysteries that have a far deeper meaning related to the nation, and only the time will tell the answers to our questions.
Dark Sea
Dark Sea is a term used to refer to the area that doesn’t come under the regions of Teyvat and is said to be home to the gods that had been defeated in the Archon war thousands of years ago. This points to the fact that there are lands beyond Teyvat which were inhabited once but not anymore.
From a few sources in the game, you get to know that Enkanomiya is a part of the Dark sea where people used to worship a snake god named Orobashi. Ancient civilizations used to worship the snake god, but it was eventually slain by Celestia.
A Few Questions
That was a small glimpse of all the nations in the game and some speculated content we could see down the line. No one knows how many regions will be there, but I’m sure we all will stick around to see them. Before I conclude, let’s review some interesting questions.
Question: If given a choice among three nations, Mondstadt, Liyue, or Inazuma, which one would you prefer to live in?
Answer: Wait, Am I getting Isekai’d to Teyvat now? Now you really got my brain juices flowing. Alright, If I have to choose one city, then it would be Mondstadt. Mondstadt’s city area is closed, and most shops are in the city’s center.
If I had to be in a house in the city, then all services would be near me, and I could quickly grab a bunch of food from the shops. Also, the city is well-protected within the walls, with Knights of Favonius headquarters situated near the Cathedral. So, there’s gonna be a lot of security in the city.
Though that will also mean I have to be within my limits and not try to create a ruckus; otherwise, I’d end up in solitary confinement with Klee. Nonetheless, the city is peaceful and has its own pros and cons.
Talking about other nations like Liyue and Inazuma, both of them are good on their own, and I won’t say they are not good at living. Their culture, terrain, people, food, and environment are unique to them, and living in either of them will be good as well.
Question: What are your views about Teyvat being a continent, and any speculations about how the story will turn?
Answer: If I were to make theories, I’m pretty sure it would take me years to think about the various outcomes this game will have. But there’s one aspect about Teyvat that bothers me: how vast the world of Genshin Impact is.
Technically, we refer to Teyvat as a continent, and even Zhongli, during his quest, mentions it is a continent. So, if Teyvat is a continent, there are regions beyond the seven nations, and we don’t know how massive their scale will be. So far, with three launched areas in the game, we know how huge they are, and some of them are in the depths of the ground.
I’m sure that as we progress through these nations, we will get to know more about Teyvat as a whole and delve into the areas that don’t count as a part of Teyvat. Though a lot of people, including myself, refer to Teyvat as the world, in actuality, it is a continent. It’s my hunch that down the line, after a few years, we will go through the unknown lands and explore them to seek the answers to the mysteries surrounding numerous events.
Final Remarks
Currently, only three nations are released in the game, and soon we will have Sumeru launched in the future. I’m sure it will take some time before we go through all the nations, get to know about their mysteries, and continue our search for another sibling.
So far, we’ve got to know about some other places like Celestia, The Dark Sea, and Khaneri’ah from the in-game items, and I’m sure we will get to know more in the future. But, it’s also true that it will be a long journey till we reach these areas and unravel the world’s hidden secrets.
Not only that, there are mentions of otherworldly beings, gods of the past, and beings that existed thousands of years ago who were either subdued or vanished to places unknown. I’m sure as we go through the main storyline, we will learn about many mysteries, secrets, and even hideous pasts and actions of the gods.
Although, for now, most of the characters in the story have a bit of a neutral stance toward the Traveler. Who knows when they will show their true colors. Well, that’s all speculation on which we can grind our brains, and we should trust the writers to take the lead on the story.
Meanwhile, feel free to hop onto our city guides to learn more about the current nations and how they have their own culture. I’m sure you will love to go through them and find interesting reads that will blow away your mind. For now, the time has come for me to take a leave, and I will meet you in another exciting guide in the future!
Besides writing about his favourite games, Himanshu prefers to keep himself up-to-date with the latest happenings in the financial world, watching anime, cooking and listening to music from all around the world.
- Genshin Impact Fontaine Region Guide - January 5, 2024
- Genshin Impact Wild Fairies of Erinnyes Guide - December 17, 2023
- Genshin Impact All Dendroculus Locations - December 12, 2023