If you look at the list of Twitter’s most talked about games of 2020, you’ve see a bunch of names you’re probably expecting: Animal Crossing, Fate / Big Order, Final Fantasy, Fortnite… and called a new title Genshin Impact. By this time, you have probably heard the name more than a few times. Maybe you watched the game on a website or during the Game Awards, or saw an interesting fanart on Twitter or Tumblr, but the question still burns in your mind: what is it Genshin Impact all about?
Genshin Impact is an open-world, exploration-driven action RPG with online multiplayer and regular updates to add new tasks, features and story. It was released in late September last year, where it quickly gained a very dedicated following. While the anime-inspired footage of Genshin Impact can lead you to believe that it is a product of Japan, it is actually made by the development studio in China miHoYo and adapted to address an international audience. (In fact, you can listen to the game’s spoken dialogue in English, Chinese, Korean, or Japanese, and any language dub has a remarkable voice talent behind it.) It’s currently available for free download on mobile devices, PS4 and PC, with a Switch version coming sometime in the future.
Wait – free? Yes, Genshin Impact is a free game … kind of. We discuss this a bit first. Even though you do not cost anything in advance – save the time you need to download a client program – Genshin Impact offers the massive world, high quality footage, fully orchestrated soundtrack and character-driven story you can expect from a full price. And with versions on three different platforms, including an extremely playable mobile version, it’s easy to play anywhere and anytime.
You start Genshin Impact as a witness of a fierce battle, where a brother and sister fight against a mysterious goddess. The pair are easily defeated, and while the wicked goddess catches one brother or sister, she throws the other over dimensions into the world of Teyvat. Stranded in a strange world with only the fairy-like friend Paimon to guide you, you begin a quest to reunite with your lost brother or sister … and perhaps save another world in the process.
Genshin Impact’s Teyvat is a large, expansive land where the seven elements flow and bless the population. Here seven great kingdoms, each in line with one of the elements, compete against each other for power and influence. There’s a lot of history behind this world, and as more updates, characters, and locations are announced, players have learned more and more about Teyvat’s very, very long history. Only two of the seven major areas have been made available for exploration so far, so there is much more story and world building ahead in future updates.
Since the main story arcs of the game are still very incomplete, you might just wonder what Genshin Impact’s playerbase spends so much time on. But once you set foot in Teyvat’s large, open environment, you’ll definitely start to understand: this world is built for a lot of playability. Your main focus early in the game is exploring and completing certain quests to unlock features, locations, and abilities, but once done, you can begin to try higher-level challenges and quest for extraordinary loot … or you may just scratch around and experiment, use your repertoire of skills to communicate with the environment.
Here’s a little elephant in the room, so let’s be clear: it’s pretty obvious Genshin Impact takes out many of his design instructions The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. You will notice it in things like movement, climbing, enemy AI … and of course the massive glider you get to help you get around. In fact, many people got rid of Genshin Impact as a simple Breath of nature knockoff before his official release after seeing screenshots and previews of the game. But to get inspiration from Nintendo‘s modern classics are hardly bad. After all, Breath of nature is one of the most beloved games released in recent years – why would a developer not want to look at it for design inspiration?
There are also many things in Genshin Impact that BotW does not have: different characters with unique abilities, online multiplayer collaboration, a very in-depth artifact system, missions that present new challenges every day, and a complex elemental magic system that influences you and the environment in a variety of ways. With a large variety of unique characters to choose from – as well as being able to freely switch between a set of party members during exploration – the game adds a considerable depth, as you can find out how characters’ abilities can be tied together to potentially devastating elementary combination situations.
Apart from games, however, there are much bigger differences between the two games: Breath of nature is exclusive to Nintendo consoles and is a full price. A good part of why Genshin Impact has proven to be so successful that it provides a similar experience as BotW without prior cost on multiple platforms, making it very accessible to a wide audience. I would say that miHoYo has done an excellent job of taking ideas that BotW pioneering work and putting their own dedication to some of the mechanics, creating a complex world and making characters attractive for players to engage with, and making the game available to the widest possible audience.
But, Genshin Impact also saw a great deal of controversy and criticism. To begin with, since the game is manufactured by a Chinese company, it is subject to various rules and regulations of the Chinese government, including the censorship of politically sensitive topics in online communication. While this is something the development team has no control over, it will still not be able to fall well with some people.
The biggest source of contempt, however, is the gacha-based monetization of the game. To recruit new characters and earn the best equipment, you must execute ‘Wishes’ by converting a currency called Primogems. Every wish you carry out confers a random weapon or character, some of which are significantly rarer (and more useful) than others. Primogems can be earned in the game by finding and completing missions, but the fastest way to get them is by purchasing them Genshin Impact’s cash shop.
Getting the coveted five-star rarity characters is not easy: you have only a 0.6% chance of getting one in a regular wish roll. There are mechanics in place to make sure that after a certain number of wishes you will get a five star character if you have not received one yet, but it takes a while (and many wishes) to activate it. Also, all characters come with Constellations: star charts that illuminate and provide various enhancements if you obtain more than one copy of a character through Wishes. To fully unlock the potential of a character, you need to roll it a few times to build their constellation. It’s easy to see how some players can become addicted to spending to acquire a rare, powerful character, and there are many horror stories on the internet about people spending thousands of dollars to do so. Of course, it is also possible to play completely free of charge only on the resources that the game offers you, and there are many players who do.
With millions of downloads across all platforms and an ardent fanbase eager for more characters, story stuff and additions to the game, it’s unlikely Genshin Impact will fade soon. And since the game also performs pretty well in Japan, I certainly would not look forward to the possibility Genshin Impact‘s world realized in anime form. If this sounds like something you’ll enjoy, why not give it a try? Just make sure you set limits when it comes to Gacha – no virtual waifu or hazubando is worth destroying your finances.