The Impact of Genshin
Genshin Impact is a name you’ve probably heard a lot the past few weeks. I first heard of the game last year and at that time they were looking for beta testers. I even applied and this was a unique application compared to others. They wanted to know if you read manga, if you watch anime and other questions similar to that. Back then, western media was calling the game a Breath of the Wild clone and that’s what I was expecting even though I haven’t played Breath of the Wild yet. This is probably the biggest thing that made this game so polarizing to many people, comparing it to a game that many revere. Developers at Mihoyo, have admitted to being big fans of Breath of the Wild and this is inspired by it. And if you ask me, there’s nothing wrong with that.
For a “Breath of the Wild clone”, Genshin Impact seems to be doing okay. In the first 2 weeks of release there were over 20 million downloads on mobile. This game was also available on PC and PS4 at the time, where I’ve been playing it. In the first month, the game grossed over $250 million and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Being that I started writing this weeks ago, they have most likely smashed through that number.
I thought it was a single player open world game back when it was announced but a few months later their videos made it seem more like an MMO and now as we have learned, it’s an open world RPG with co-op options. So even someone like me who has no friends to play with, can play the game with others. [There will be a point in the game where co-op becomes locked and keeps you from certain events in the game. You have to finish a specific quest to get it to re-open (myself and others have actually posted YouTube videos on it.) Don’t worry, it’s a good while before you hit this point unless they change it by the time you get there.]
Genshin Impact is a solid game right from the very start. You pick your character, you’re introduced to your pixie-like companion who does all the talking and off you go into a vast, colorful world full of quests and monsters. Paimon, your companion can be annoying at times but she keeps things from being dull when interacting since your character doesn’t speak. Plus she adds comedy relief and serves as “emergency food”. The other characters are much more lively and varied, have their own personalities and in some cases speak way too much (looking at you Fischl.) They even recently added a rockstar type character with a southern drawl who carries a guitar with her as her weapon.
The world is well paced and mapped out. Plus the scenery is gorgeous, lots of attention to detail and you can see the Chinese influence throughout. I now understand why there are people who logged over 200 hours in Breath of the Wild when I hear the game itself isn’t that long. Also, there are tons of quests, it’s like every time I think I finally cleared all the quests, there’s 10 more waiting. It feels like if you touch a rock, that rock may start talking and give you a quest. A lot of the quests are simple and seem more like time killers but they also help you level up. In addition to that, there are daily commissions, reputation system quests and more.
The playable characters themselves are well designed though they fall into the typical body type used in anime and manga which after a while gets bland. The NPCs are much more varied than the playable characters. The males are skinny, pretty boys and the girls are typical slim anime girls but then you look at the NPCs and they’re thin, fat, stocky, curvy, etc. I will say some of the playable females do break that mold. But looking at how people go crazy over anime characters it’s no wonder why they went in this direction.
The characters are probably partially fueling the gacha elements of the game, which you don’t have to take part in if you don’t want to. That’s part of what’s making this game amazing, it’s free unless you want to pay and you’re getting a ton of content for it. It’s not a pay to win system like you’d expect from a gacha game and it doesn’t stop you from moving forward. To get some of the better characters you have to ‘spin the wheel’ but don’t worry, you do get some free chances throughout the game to try for all the new characters and weapons. It’s the engagement of the whole experience that drives the spending in most cases but some will be enticed by the characters.
As of right now, there is a roadmap on miHoYo’s site. In November there were a few content updates which added characters, some storylines and an event or two. On that same roadmap there are 7 areas planned and right now you have 2 that are open, Dragonspire in December will make 3. Since the game will get content updates in 6 week cycles, you will be entertained by the game for a while. Especially if they keep the updates as they are with an event type update and then a world update. This would put each new area opening up on a 3 month cycle. It’s ambitious but it looks like they have a certified hit on their hands and people are clamoring for more.
This game is part of a new wave of releases from China that are getting global attention. It looks like China is looking to become a gaming powerhouse. If you know about gaming in China then you know this would not have been expected years ago. They had several mobile hits but now they’re moving into the console space more and more. A few of the announced games that are looking to help put China on the map are Lost Soul Aside, Black Myth Wu Kong and Bright Memory Infinite.
There’s definitely a bright future for China in major AAA game development.
