At the start of Genshin Impact, you’re given a choice:
Will you play as a girl or a boy?
Choose a boy, and you’ll play as Aether – the male Traveler and one of the possible heroes of Teyvat.
Personally, I always choose cute anime girls. So I decided to play as the female Lumine. If you’re like me, replacing CJ with Aether is a great way to give him a second chance.
Moreover, I see Aether as the evil twin, making him perfect for disregarding authority and wreaking havoc across San Andreas.
The first person you meet after waking up in Teyvat is Paimon, a tiny, adorable fairy with a big appetite and infinite potential as comic relief.
If laughing at Paimon memes on social media isn’t funny enough for you, try playing as this laughably small fairy in the violent world of San Andreas.
This Paimon skin changes everything about your character, including their height.
So you’ll get the unadulterated tiny gangster experience.
Contrary to what her appearance might tell you, Paimon knows her way around a Glock, and she’s not afraid to unleash major firepower on the San Andreas Police Department.
Ningguang is one of the few Genshin characters that would look right at home in San Andreas – as long as you keep to the wealthier side of the city.
In Teyvat, she’s an experienced politician and ruthless businesswoman who needs to keep up appearances. She dresses with such good style that it would look nice even in an asphalt jungle like San Andreas.
Plus, Ningguang is a self-made millionaire that started from the bottom.
She knows what it takes to succeed in the streets, and she’ll claw her way up the ladder just as well in San Andreas.
Gangsters love people who know how to clean up a mess.
And nobody does it better than the Knights of Favonius’ resident maid: Noelle.
If there’s such a thing as a combat maid, that’s Noelle.
With her giant sword and adorable maid outfit, she’ll cut up any Vagos, Ballas, or Triads trying to mess with your business and clean up the crime scene herself.
You thought the red in her outfit was just for show?
Mondstadt is known for its amicable people, lovely wine, and health-giving breeze. But it has always been a hostile environment for Eula.
She descends from an ancient aristocratic family that used to rule the city with an iron fist.
So the people of Mondstadt don’t take kindly to her.
The Spindrift Knight spends most of her time fighting outside the city walls to protect its inhabitants – which isn’t too different from fighting in San Andreas to avoid capture by the authorities.
Being a pariah in Mondstadt can’t be better than living the thug life in SA.
There are two kinds of people when it comes to choosing a custom skin:
Those who want to look cool and those that just want to have fun.
Diona is a must-have for you fun-seekers.
Her character is pretty ridiculous by itself. A loli cat-girl bartender who doesn’t like alcohol? It’s ludicrous!
Still, it doesn’t compare to a loli cat-girl bartender terrorizing San Fierro with a mini-gun over half her size. Diona in San Andreas is absolutely surreal.
Another adorable shorty to consider replacing CJ with is Sayu, a lazy ninja who’d rather enjoy the Inazuman breeze and eat rice crackers than do ninja work.
As a Shuumatsu-ban ninja, I’m sure Sayu has seen her fair share of criminal activity and gang violence.
The hostile climate around San Andreas shouldn’t be a problem for her.
Her skills as a spy and presumably an assassin should also come in handy as she climbs up the criminal ladder.
Can’t wait to see this adorable raccoon-eared shorty get acquainted with a Sniper Rifle.
You knew a major bad-ass like Jean couldn’t be missing from the list.
But I bet you didn’t expect her to land in San Andreas wearing a swimsuit.
San Andreas is bound to have a hotter climate than Mondstadt, so wearing her Sea Breeze Dandelion outfit is a no-brainer for Jean.
This beautiful shorts and blouse combo look fresh and lightweight. And it’s a lot more in-line with what other people would wear so close to the coastline.
Venti likes to present himself as a pure, precious bard, who loves enjoying the Mondstadt breeze with a glass of Dandelion Wine – but this is far from the whole story.
The vessel of the Anemo archon is actually an alcoholic who likes tricking people into buying him drinks while shirking the responsibilities of a god.
He’s probably not cut out for running a criminal organization.
But in exchange for some booze, I’m sure this nigh-immortal rascal would gladly send a storm of bullets the way of any rival gangs.
Get this skin if you hate work and love wine… like 99% of the human population.
Mona is well-known among Genshin Impact players for her incredible figure and potent Hydro powers, but she’s about to earn a reputation for something else entirely…
This gorgeous astrologist has foreseen significant change in the stars, and she’s ready to make the most of it by dropping into San Andreas and taking over the criminal establishment.
Her Vision might not work in San Andreas.
But armed with AK-47s, rocket launchers, and grenades, she shouldn’t have trouble beating any Vagos, Triads, or Ballas into submission.
Raiden Shogun is the closest thing Genshin Impact has to Terminator.
While the real vessel of the Electro Archon, Raiden Ei, meditates in an ascended plane, this heavy-duty puppet takes care of her official functions as the ruler of Inazuma.
If you’ve seen her in-game, you know the Shogun’s powers are fierce like a thunderstorm, but she doles out justice with the cold certainty of an automaton.
Would Terminator thrive in a violent sandbox like San Andreas?
You tell me after trying out this Raiden Shogun skin.
There’s no shame in picking up a Desert Eagle or a Combat Shotgun if you feel that your melee skills aren’t up to the task.
Still, Raiden Shogun’s power depends on protecting tradition and projecting strength – two things better done with a sword than a gun.
There’s already a Katana in San Andreas. But such a common weapon doesn’t carry as much of a visual punch as the Shogun’s own sword.
This custom weapon for San Andreas won’t let her unleash Musou no Hitotachi against SAPD, but at least she’ll look like a total bad-ass while hacking and slashing at random pedestrians.
Few characters are better suited for life in San Andreas than Beidou, a pirate captain with nerves of steel thanks to her multiple brushes with death at sea.
A couple gunshots are nothing compared with weathering a typhoon on a boat.
She’s used to leading crews of unruly men and women aboard The Crux, and I’m sure she’d do just as well turning hoodlums into functional gang members to take over the city.
Carl Johnson is undeniably a criminal. But nothing stops you from quitting that life and dedicating yourself to protecting ordinary people as a vigilante.
If you like the idea, replacing CJ with Diluc is a no-brainer.
Despite falling out with the Knights of Favonius, Diluc protects the city of Mondstadt as the “Darknight Hero” – something like Genshin Impact’s version of Batman.
Whether it’s protecting Mondstadt with a sword or San Andreas with an SMG, Diluc is ready to put it all on the line in the name of justice.
I can’t think of a more amusing replacement for CJ than the chaotic Pyro maniac Klee.
Despite her cutesy appearance, Klee is an angel of death and destruction.
In Genshin Impact, she sets hordes of enemies on fire with grenades, lasers, and fiery conjurations.
This destructive personality transfers perfectly to GTA: San Andreas, where she’d be doing the exact same thing, only with fragmentation grenades instead of magic explosions.
Hilichurls? San Andreas PD? It’s all the same to Klee.
This adorable pixie just wants to watch the world burn.
Nelson Chitty is a Venezuelan expat living in Argentina. He’s a writer and translator passionate about history and foreign cultures. His ideal weekend is spent between leisurely playing games of Civilization VI and looking for the next seinen anime to marathon.
