If you look at the list of the most talked about Twitter games in 2020, you’ll see a lot of names that you probably expect: Animal Crossing, Fate / Grand Order, Final Fantasy, Fortnite… and a new title called Impact Genshin. You have probably heard that name more than a few times. Maybe you saw the game on a website or during the Game Awards, or saw some interesting fanart on Twitter or Tumblr, but the question is still burning in your mind: what the hell is Impact Genshin all about?
Impact Genshin is an action RPG based on open world exploration with online multiplayer and frequent updates to add new missions, features and history. It was released in late September last year, where it quickly gained followers of fervently devoted fans. While anime-inspired visuals by Impact Genshin may lead you to believe that it is a product from Japan, in fact it is made by a development studio based in China miHoYo and adapted to attract an international audience. (In fact, you can hear the game’s spoken dialogue in English, Chinese, Korean or Japanese, and that of each language to bend has some notable voice talents behind it.) It is currently available for free download on mobile devices, PS4 and PC, with a Switch version coming sometime in the future.
Wait – for free? Yes, Impact Genshin it’s a free game … sort of. We will discuss this shortly. Although it doesn’t cost anything upfront – save for the time needed to download a client program – Impact Genshin offers the kind of massive world, high-quality visuals, fully orchestrated soundtrack and character-based story you would expect from a full-priced product. And with versions on three different platforms, including an extremely playable mobile version, it’s easy to play whenever and wherever you want.
You start Impact Genshin as a witness to a fierce battle, where a brother and sister fight a mysterious goddess. The pair is easily defeated, and when the wicked goddess captures one brother, she casts the other across dimensions into the world of Teyvat. Trapped in a strange world with just the fairy-like friend Paimon to guide you, you begin a journey to reunite with your lost brother … and perhaps save another world in the process.
Genshin impact Teyvat is a large and expansive land where the seven elements flow and bless its population. Here, seven major kingdoms, each aligned with one of the elements, compete with each other for power and influence. There is a lot of knowledge behind this world, and as more updates, characters and locations are revealed, players learn more and more about the very, very long history of Teyvat. Only two of the seven main territories have been made available to explore so far, so there is much more history and world-building ahead in future updates.
With the main arcs of the game’s story still unfinished, you may be wondering what Genshin impact playerbase is spending a lot of time. But as soon as you set foot in the large, open Teyvat environment, you will definitely begin to understand: this world was built for a lot of repeatability. Your main focus at the beginning of the game is to explore and complete certain missions to unlock resources, locations and skills, but once that is done, you can start trying higher level challenges and missions for higher level looting … or you can just play and experiment, using your repertoire of skills to interact with the environment.
There’s a kind of elephant in the room here, so let’s be frank: it’s pretty obvious that Impact Genshin takes a lot of your design suggestions from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. You will notice this in things like movement, climbing, enemy AI … and, of course, the huge glider you received to help you get around. In fact, many people were dispensing Impact Genshin as a simple Breath of the Wild knockoff before its official launch after seeing the images and previews of the game. But taking inspiration from NintendoThe modern classic is not a bad thing. After all, Breath of the Wild it is one of the most beloved games to launch in recent years – why wouldn’t a developer want to look at it as design inspiration?
In addition, there are many things in Impact Genshin This one BotW don’t have: different characters with unique skills, online multiplayer co-op mode, a very in-depth artifact system, commission missions that offer new challenges each day, and a complex elemental magic system that affects you and the environment of a variety of ways. Having a large selection of unique characters to choose from – plus being able to freely switch between a group of group members when exploring – adds significant depth to the game, as you can discover ways to chain characters’ abilities to create combo situations potentially devastating elementals.
In addition to the gameplay, however, there are much greater differences between the two games: Breath of the Wild is exclusive to Nintendo consoles and is a full price launch. A good part of why Impact Genshin proved to be so successful is that it offers an experience similar to BotW no initial cost on multiple platforms, making it very accessible to a wide audience. I would say that miHoYo did a good job taking ideas that BotW were pioneers and put their own touch on some of the mechanics, creating a complex world and attractive characters for players to engage with and making the game available to the widest possible audience.
Yet, Impact Genshin also saw its fair share of controversy and criticism. To begin with, as the game is made by a Chinese company, it is subject to several Chinese government rules and regulations, including censoring politically sensitive topics in its online communication. While this is something that the development team has no control over, it may still not go well for some people.
The biggest source of contempt, however, is the monetization of the game based on gacha. To recruit new characters and earn top-of-the-line equipment, you must fulfill “wishes” by converting a currency called Primogems. Each wish you grant grants you a random weapon or character, some of which are considerably rarer (and more useful) than others. Primogenics can be obtained in the game by searching for and completing missions, but the quickest way to obtain them is by purchasing them at Genshin impact money store.
Getting the coveted five-star characters is not easy: you only have a 0.6% chance of getting one on a normal Wish roll. There are mechanisms in place to ensure that you will get a five-star character after a certain number of wishes, if you have not received one, but it takes a while (and many wishes) to activate. In addition, all characters come with Constellations: star maps that light up and grant various enhancements when you obtain more than one copy of a character through Wishes. To fully unlock a character’s potential, you’ll need to roll it over and over to build your constellation. It’s easy to see how some players can become addicted to spending to get a rare and powerful character, and there are many horror stories on the Internet about people who spend thousands of dollars to do just that. Of course, it is also possible to play completely for free only with the resources that the game offers, and there are many players who do just that.
With downloads in the millions across all platforms and a fervent and avid fan base for more characters, story curiosities and gameplay additions, it’s unlikely that Impact Genshin will disappear soon. And seeing how the game is doing really well in Japan, I certainly wouldn’t rule out the possibility of seeing Impact Genshinthe world of materializes in the form of anime. If it looks like you’re going to like it, why not try it? Just be sure to set limits when it comes to gacha – no waifu or virtual hazubando is worth ruining your finances.