Genshin Impact
by Mikhail
Oct 10, 2020 |
1
Votes |
96
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0
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10
rate
Genres:
RPG , Adventure , Anime , ActionGraphics:
3DLabels:
Anime , Adventure , Fantasy SettingPlatforms:
Publishers:
miHoYo Limited Genshin Impact is an open-world action RPG where you play the role of a traveler bent on saving your twin sibling in an all-new world. Gather a party of powerful fighters, each with various skills and elemental affinities to perform quests, explore dungeons, and unlock the mysteries and lore of Teyvat! Play Now Similar Games Played
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Summary
You can never go wrong with anime characters, a beautiful open world, and great combat mechanics.
Genshin Impact is miHoYo’s first foray into the console front and we can safely say they’ve done an excellent job. This The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild-inspired game far exceeds expectations, delivering a polished free-to-play experience and a well-crafted world, lore, sets of characters, and gameplay that rivals that of the giants in the industry.
Personally, I’m pleasantly surprised by what it delivers. Although it has its fair share of nuisances and downsides, it manages to impress. Available on PC, consoles, and mobile devices, should you dive into its beautiful world and explore it? Let’s check out what it has to offer:
(Disclaimer: I’ve only played the PlayStation 4 version. Other platforms may provide a different experience)
Plotline
In Genshin Impact, you’ll take the mantle of one of two twins, Aether or Lumine. Without diving deep into spoilers, something untoward happens and the character you pick will be transported into a different world and be on a quest to save his/her twin.
The story is set in Teyvat, a vast world with varying biomes and geographical features. It is composed of several nations/city-states like Mondstadt and Inazuma which worship different gods that belong to the same pantheon. Although open conflict is fairly rare, they have issues with one another and you’ll need to step in and help them sort out their problems. The world is rich in lore as there are numerous quests and characters you’ll get to know and help out.
Gameplay
Let’s first address the elephant in the room: Genshin Impact is allegedly a clone of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Yes, there are distinct similarities like the climbing aspect and the wind glider. You could even say that the dungeons and the hillchurls are similar to BOTW’s shrines and moblins. However, I’ve played both games and I can safely say they provide a different experience. Genshin Impact is much closer to Tales games in terms of combat and is comparatively similar to most adventure action RPGs.
Genshin Impact’s combat system is one of its best-made parts, thanks to the elemental system. There are seven in total, and they can interact with one another, which is why it’s important to swap out characters and even use resonating combinations. For example, a water user like Barbara can give a “wet” status to enemies which electricity users like Lisa can then take advantage of. Elements also interact with the environment, making awareness on the field of battle necessary. Good examples include Kayea freezing enemies when fighting on a body of water and Amber burning the grass to deal damage to monsters stepping on it.
As for the characters themselves, there’s an initial level 20 cap, and you must procure certain items to make them go beyond it. Attacks range from normal to charged attacks, as well as a short cooldown elemental attack and powerful elemental burst. Note that characters can only use one type of weapon as well. For example, Lumine and Kayea can only use one-handed swords while Noelle specializes on two-handed swords and clubs.
Genshin Impact is well-made and fairly comprehensive which is a surprise for an F2P game. However, there’s a bit of a downside: there’s a major learning curve when learning the game’s intricacies especially in item enhancement and management. In a way, it’s also good since there’s a lot to do, like cooking and even hunting.
Although it’s a fairly polished game, I can’t help but feel the console version needs improvement. There are occasional framerate drops and the PS4’s controls and user interface are clunky. In a way, these show miHoYo’s inexperience in the console scene. Overall though, these are minor issues and can be fixed by enabling custom controls.
Genshin impact treats you to many quests. There are story quests Adventurer’s Guild daily commissions which are essentially side quests which can earn you many rewards. Some quests, including explorable dungeons, are level-restricted - you need to reach a certain adventurer’s level (which is different from the characters’ levels) in order to unlock them.
This, along with the use of leveling items to upgrade characters, makes the game a huge grind. Thankfully, the quests themselves are not repetitive and they offer different challenges. It also helps that there’s a teleport mechanic which enables you to get to quest locations within minutes, thus lessening the grind.
Considering that this is a free-to-play game, Genshin Impact has microtransactions in the form of wishes which are essentially gacha draws. You can use these to summon new characters and stronger weapons. The rates are fairly ok, and you’re guaranteed at least one four-star character or higher in every x10 roll. Fortunately, the game rewards you with lots of items and that can let you occasionally use the gacha rolls whenever you finish quests and achieve milestones. There’s also a monthly subscription service that grants primogems that you can use to buy wishes and other premium items. Regardless, you’ll still definitely enjoy the game without spending a single cent.
Community
Genshin Impact’s community is slowly growing, and there’s already a large group on Reddit. In terms of multiplayer, the game provides a co-op experience, but you need to reach an adventurer level 16 before you can play with friends which is a long grind. Crossplay is also enabled, although it seems like there are geo-restrictions when adding friends. For example, I’m playing on a US server and a friend who is on Asia could not add me into the game.
Graphics/Sound
Undoubtedly, Genshin Impact is one of the best-looking games this year. The environments are nothing short of beautiful and immersive. Personally, I love how the flora sways to the flow of the wind and how the various locations, like Mondstadt, are designed. The same can be said about the character models which scream shounen anime.
The voice acting is fairly superb both on English and Japanese - special props to Diluc’s English voice. However, it would truly help if the game’s audio cues - like combat music - would be louder and more pronounced. I’ve faced a couple of bosses already and hasn’t given me any goosebumps yet.
Conclusion
Overall, Genshin Impact is a must-play for RPG lovers and anyone who’s looking for a new game to immerse themselves in. It’s a fantastic experience that doesn’t disappoint and although there’s a bit of a learning curve, it’s worth getting over. So yes, start gathering and assembling a team of strong characters and explore what Teyvat has to offer.
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