Genshin Impact 4.4 ends January with a Lantern Rite, lets you transform into a fish to explore its new area

Genshin Impact’s next update, version 4.4, will drop on January 31st. As well as bringing back the game’s Lantern Festival with rewards including a new outfit, Vibrant Harriers Aloft in Spring Breeze will bring the usual additions of new characters, quests and a boss. There’ll also be a new area showcased with some shiny new visual tech, that you’ll be able to explore by transforming into a flying fish.

The returning Lantern Rite event will this year be themed around kites, with three minigames offering a way to unlock a free Liyue four-star character – including new addition, the Pyro claymore-wielding Gaming – and a free outfit for Xingqiu. 13 Intertwined Fates and two Fragile Resins will also be up for grabs as a mixture of daily login rewards and mailbox deliveries.

Alongside Gaming, version 4.4 will re-introduce a second character in five-star Anemo catalyst user Xianyun, the new human form of existing adepti character Cloud Retainer, with the ability to dash twice in mid-air, boost the jump height of companions, perform plunging attacks and heal. The first phase of 4.4’s event wishes will feature Xianyun, Gaming and the return of Nahida, followed by the return of both Xio and Yae Miko.

Version 4.4 expands Genshin Impact’s Liyue area northwest into a new mountainous region, Chenyu Vale. Among the region’s locations will be tea village Qiaoying Village and water elevator-equipped trading port Yilong Wharf, as well as areas that the player will apparently be able to reach by transforming into a flying skybound carp. Among those hidden areas will be legendary creatures including a new boss in the Solitary Suanni.

Whether you’re on the ground or swimming in the sky, the new zone should hopefully look fairly picturesque thanks to some new visual technology introduced with 4.4. Chenyu Vale’s misty hills will be rendered using Global Far Fog, apparently allowing for cloud effects to drift naturally and shift density and direction based on the rolling mountains’ terrain and altitude. On the floor, those mountains will have a gradient tint in cyan, green or tan applied based on their height, distance and the makeup of the rocks and mountain themselves.