My Experience with Genshin Impact

Genshin Impact is an Open-World RPG available for mobile phones, PC, and ps4/ps5 developed by MiHoYo. I recently started playing it last month after watching Nepiki play it on Twitch.

What I Heard

I first heard of Genshin Impact at some point last year. I was scrolling through some game news stories and I kept seeing its name pop up. In every article it was being compared to The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild. Most articles pointed to the presence of a stamina gauge as well as climbing and swimming. Obviously this felt a little silly to me as games can have similar features in them. I brushed off the articles and mostly just kept playing the games I currently had, I didn’t see actual game play of the game until this year.

How I Started Playing

I first saw game play of Genshin Impact when I was watching Nepiki stream it one day. If you don’t know Nepiki he is a fellow blogger that also streams on Twitch. While I watched him play, I asked some questions to learn more about the game. I was pretty hesitant to try it at first since it’s free to play, but to get new charterers you have to use summons which is a gacha system. I decided to download it and try it out the next day since it was free. It was pretty easy to get into with controls that were easy to understand.

The Story So Far

The game has a pretty good story that I look forward to getting further into. To summarize without spoiling too much your character is searching for their brother or sister, this is based in the gender you choose. Along your journey you get caught up in different events that happen in each of the different nations that you will travel to. The story isn’t finished yet since the game is still updating.

Game Play

The game play is pretty simple to understand. The game is an open-world RPG with optional multiplayer. You can play the game alone, which is what I choose to do. Each character has a normal attack, an elemental skill, and an elemental burst. The elemental skill changes based on the character and has a brief recharge period after using it. The elemental burst is like an ultimate attack that requires a gauge to build up for it to be used.

As you’ll see in the video below, you can have a party of four charterers that you can switch between during combat.

There are main quests that you do in the game to progress the story as well as side quests that you can do. One thing to point out about the game play is that early on your progress often gets stopped until you raise something called your Adventurer Rank. This raises by completing missions and opening chests. Sometimes this will need to be increased to be able to continue with the main quests.

Getting New Characters

To get new charterers you will need to get items to be used towards summons called wishes. There are three different wish types. The types are Character Event Wish, Weapon Event Wish, and Standard Wish. The Character Event Wish has a featured character that you can try to obtain. There are also three other characters listed that have their rate increased for you getting them. Weapons can also be obtained. The Weapon Event Wish is exactly as the name implies. You can only obtain weapons from it. The last one is the Standard Wish that only includes certain charterers. Some charterers that have been featured in the Event Wish are not available in this one. This wish will also give you weapons.

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Events

Every now and then a new event will pop up that you can participate in. There are a variety of events with some being in game and others having you scan a QR code to participate that way. Events reward you with in game items. Some events might require you to be a certain Adventurer Rank before you can participate.

What I Think

I think that Genshin Impact is a good game. It’s honestly better than I thought it would be. I had concerns about the gacha system in it, but it wasn’t as bad as I though it would be. I still get a little annoyed sometimes, but it’s fairer than other games I’ve played with similar gacha mechanics. You can of course spend real money to get more summons, but it isn’t necessary. There are plenty of in game opportunities to earn the items required for summons or in game items that can be exchanged for the summon items.

I think the environments are also pretty great. Each location has its own distinct look and colors. Each location also has their own set of main quests and side quests that further makes them unique. The music is also different in each area. Below is a video of me walking around to show a little more of the game.

One criticism that I have is that when I played the further I got into the store the more the lips were out of sync when characters were speaking. It got to the point that a character was talking, but their mouth was closed. I haven’t seen this happen to other people as much so maybe it’s just happening to me.

Another issue I have is with the companion character or guide character. This character is pretty annoying. It feels like she’s always talking non stop during every single story dialog. I wouldn’t mind the character if she just talked a little less.

Do I Recommend it?

I recommend at least giving it a try to see how you feel about it. One thing I should mention is that the game isn’t finished. Right now it’s currently like a live service game where new content keeps being put into the game. I think it being compared to The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild is doing this game a disservice. There is a lot to this game such as character leveling, weapon leveling, and artifact leveling. Each improve stats of your charterers in different ways. There is also a lot to do in the game if you’re just starting out. Plenty of puzzles to solve and locations to discover.

I have honestly had fun with the game and have enjoyed the time that I have spent playing it. One thing that you should be aware of is that this game requires you to be connected to the internet, even if you’re playing alone. You should also check the official site to see the requirements if you plan on playing the game on mobile or PC. The minimum and recommended specs are posted on MiHoYo’s site. Just scroll down to see the system requirements.

Conclusion

At the end of the day I look forward to the future releases that will expand the story. My only concern moving forward is is the amount of content in each update. I enjoyed the 2.1 update, but while I was talking to Nepiki we both felt as though there could have been a little more content in the update. Two new islands were added with story content, but the islands were quite small. If you’re still on the fence about the game I would recommend watching someone play it like I did.Thank you Nepiki for answering questions I had about the game.

How do you like Genshin Impact? What would you like in the future if you’ve played it? As always thank you all for reading.

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