TMTeo Marlow
Genshin Impact: what Snezhnaya changes, from 7.0 to 7.2
The Fatui homeland, a free four-star, and a third-person shooting mode. Where version 7 stands as of November.
Snezhnaya, at last
Version 7.0, titled Everwinter Without Mercy, arrived on 12 August 2026 and opened Snezhnaya. This is the homeland of the Fatui, and its capital, Snezhnograd, is their seat. Around the city you find ice fields, snowed-in villages and frozen lakes. If you have followed the story, you know the name. Now you get the place. The region is cold in every sense, and crossing frozen lakes and snowed-in villages is a different rhythm from the earlier nations.
Odette, Alyosha and a gun
Two characters came with 7.0. Odette is a five-star Cryo sword user. Alyosha is a four-star Electro polearm user, and you do not pull for this one: Alyosha joins through the main quest at no cost. If you only play the story, you still walk away with a new polearm user for your roster. The bigger surprise is a new mechanic. Snezhnaya adds a third-person shooting mode with firearms, unlocked once you obtain a special pair of glasses. It is a change of pace for a game built around elemental swaps.
The patches since
- 7.1, A Rekviem for the Underworld (23 September): two new characters, Vesna and Vodyanitsa, plus the sixth-anniversary event.
- 7.2, Hour of Ruin, announced for 4 November: Mitya and Valeriy, and a new area east of Snezhnaya.
- Still no PvP. Whoever you pull only has to beat the game, not other players.
The honest part: the download
Genshin Impact now takes about 110 GB. That is a lot for a game you may only want to try for an evening, and the install grows as regions are added. If your SSD is tight, that number is the first thing to check, before you think about graphics settings.
Will it run on your PC?
The minimum is a GTX 1050 or an Intel Iris Xe integrated chip, so older desktops and recent laptops can start. A GTX 1060 with 6 GB is the recommended card for stable settings. Add the 110 GB above and you have the whole requirement.
If you dropped Genshin a few regions ago, Snezhnaya is a reasonable point to come back. If you never started, the free Alyosha makes the opening of version 7 a cheap test. Mitya and Valeriy are the next names announced for the region. Genshin Impact is free on PC.
Free to Play · Genshin Impact
Seven nations. One long journey.
Play Genshin freeFree · Windows · 110 GB · official launcher
