You’ve seen the door. If you’ve played Genshin Impact for more than five minutes, you know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s that massive, celestial stone gateway floating in a sea of clouds every time you boot up the game. But there is a weirdly specific obsession in the community regarding the game before the gate Genshin players experience—that liminal space where the music swells, the bridge forms, and the entire lore of Teyvat feels like it’s hanging by a thread.
Most people just click through. They want to get to their commissions or spend their Resin. But for those of us who obsess over the deep lore, that opening screen isn't just a loading menu. It is a literal location in the game's universe. It represents the "Before." It’s the starting point of the Twins' journey and, quite possibly, the end of it too.
What is the Gate, Really?
Basically, the gateway is the entrance to Celestia. Or at least, a version of it. When we talk about the game before the gate Genshin lore buffs are usually referring to the "Opening Cutscene" and the environment of the login screen. This isn't just pretty window dressing. If you look closely at the architecture of the bridge that forms as you log in, it matches the ruins we see scattered across Teyvat—specifically the ones in Dragonspine and Enkanomiya.
It's old. It’s ancient.
The game starts with the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles stopping the Travelers. This happened at the gate. When you’re sitting on that login screen, you are essentially hovering in the space between worlds. HoYoverse (formerly miHoYo) loves hiding things in plain sight. For example, did you notice that the time of day on the login screen changes based on your actual local time? If you log in at 2 AM, it’s dark. If it’s noon, it’s blindingly bright. This tethers our reality to the "gate" in a way that feels intentional. It makes the player feel like they are the "Third Descender" or the "Fourth Descender" (depending on how you read the Narzissenkreuz Ordo notes) before they even step foot into Mondstadt.
The Theory of the "Previous" Game
There’s a persistent theory that the game before the gate Genshin setup hints at is actually Honkai Impact 3rd. Now, don't roll your eyes. I know the "everything is Honkai" meme is tired, but the evidence is literally in the files. During a 2020 developer stream, the team showed a monitor with Dvalin appearing in a Honkai cutscene.
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The gate represents a portal through the Sea of Quanta.
When the Twins arrived in Teyvat, they didn't just walk there. They flew across stars. The "game" they were playing before they got trapped by the Sustainer was a game of cosmic escape. They were fleeing a world that had already been destroyed. If you read the description of the Sword of Descension or the Wings of Descension, it’s all right there. They’ve seen civilizations rise and fall. They’ve seen "the game" played out a thousand times on a thousand different planets. Teyvat is just the one where they got stuck.
Why the Music Changes Everything
Yu-Peng Chen, the former music director, did something incredible with the track "Genshin Impact" (the main theme). The melody that plays at the gate is a motif that appears in almost every character's theme song. It’s the "DNA" of the game.
Honestly, the music is a spoiler.
If you listen to the login theme long enough, it transitions from a peaceful, ethereal harp to a dramatic, almost tragic orchestral swell. This mirrors the Twins' journey. They started in light, got separated at the gate, and are now moving through a world filled with "Abyssal" darkness. Some players spend hours just idling at the gate because the atmosphere is more "pure" than the actual game world. It’s a snapshot of Teyvat before the Archon War, before the cataclysm, and before the Sustainer ruined everything.
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The Architecture of the Heavens
Let’s get nerdy about the pillars. You see those crumbling pillars in the clouds on the login screen? Those are Divine Nails. Or, at the very least, they share the same design language as the nails found in the Chasm and Sumeru’s desert.
- The nails are tools of "purification" or destruction used by Celestia.
- The gate is surrounded by them.
- This implies that the entrance to the game is actually a site of a former battle.
When you are looking at the game before the gate Genshin interface, you are looking at a graveyard. It’s a graveyard of whoever tried to defy the heavens before the Twins arrived. It’s honestly kinda dark when you think about it. You’re just trying to play a fun anime game, but you’re standing on the ruins of a fallen civilization every time you press "Start."
Misconceptions About the Opening
A lot of people think the gate is on the ground. It isn't. If you look up in the sky from anywhere in Teyvat—literally anywhere—you can see a floating island. That’s Celestia. But the gate on the login screen looks different. It’s more "infinite."
Some fans argue that the login screen isn't even Celestia. They think it's the "Irminsul" or a digital manifestation of the world's memory. Given how much the Fontaine arc played with the idea of "fate" and "theatrical scripts," it wouldn't be surprising if the gate is just the stage door. We are the actors. The Sustainer is the director. And the game before the gate Genshin players see is just the lobby of the theater.
What You Should Do Now
If you want to actually "see" the gate's influence in the game, you need to go to specific spots. You can't reach the floating login island (yet), but you can find its echoes.
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Stop by the top of Dragonspine. Look at the Skyfrost Nail. Compare the gold filigree on that nail to the gold on the gate. It’s identical. Then, head over to the Nameless Island east of Mondstadt. There’s a sundial there that talks about "Time" and "Wind." The lore suggests that the God of Time (Istaroth) might have been present at the gate when the Twins arrived.
Check the "Archive" in your menu. Read the "Books" section, specifically the The Pale Princess and the Six Pygmies. It’s widely considered to be a metaphorical retelling of the "game" played before the gate—the story of how the world was corrupted.
The most important thing to remember is that Genshin isn't just about the journey forward. It’s about figuring out what the hell happened before we even started. The gate is the key. It’s the beginning and the end. Next time you log in, don't just click through. Listen to the shift in the music at the 1:30 mark. Look at the way the light hits the stone. You’re looking at the biggest mystery in the game.
Go back and watch the very first cinematic "We Will Be Reunited." Pay attention to the background as the Twins try to leave. The structures you see there are the same ones on your screen right now. The game hasn't even truly begun until we get back to that gate and demand answers from whoever is left standing behind it.
Explore the ruins in the desert of Hadramaveth. Look for the blue patterns on the ancient walls. They glow with the same frequency as the gate. This confirms that the "Gate civilization" once ruled the entire planet, not just the sky. Mapping these connections is the only way to stay ahead of the plot before the Snezhnaya chapter drops and changes everything we think we know about the "Heavens."