Picture this: you are sitting alone in a field, surrounded by exotic plants peeking over a cliffside. You walk upon the dirt trail, foraging for food and other special items along the way. With a grand leap, you float off the mountain and into battle, destroying the enemies beside you with a single burst. Afterward, you continue your journey across the vast world that you exist in, traveling countless unique regions along the way. If this visualization intrigued you in any manner, have you thought about adventuring within the world of “Genshin Impact?”
“Genshin Impact” is a gacha-based roleplaying game created by the Chinese company, miHoYo, in 2020. It’s an open-world RPG, inspired by the likes of Nintendo’s “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,” various anime and countless cultures around the world. The fantastical magic-filled place within “Genshin Impact” holds a rich story and nuanced characters, allowing not just for fun gameplay, but also impeccable world-building. From the breathtaking world renders, to the great detail within the character design, “Genshin Impact” is an enjoyable game for anyone – whether a serious gamer or an occasional player.
“Genshin Impact” uses the gacha mechanic, meaning that an in-game currency is used in order to randomly bet on a certain item or character. There are four-star and five-star characters within the game ranked by their abilities. With 72 overall characters to choose from, all with their own personal elemental fighting moves, it’s near impossible not to fall in love with these characters. “Genshin Impact” is placed within the world of Teyvat, where seven nations based around the different elements reign tall. Each nation is based on a real-world culture, such as the first nation introduced: the free and whimsical country of Mondstat, based on Germany and German culture. Other aspects reflect real-world beauty like the water world of Fontaine inspired by France and the impenetrable electricity-powered territory of Inazuma, which is inspired by the early Edo-Period of Japan. Each nation has its own unique array of weapons to fight with, food to cook and enemies to attack.
The main storyline of “Genshin Impact” follows the Traveler, named Aether or Lumine (based on the specified gender picked by the player), having been separated from their sibling, now having to go on a treacherous journey across the seven nations in order to reunite with them. Starting in the wind-powered world of Mondstat, saving Liyue, fighting the shogunate of Inazuma, touring the earthy lands of Sumeru, and now with the most recent game update – taking on the formidable courts of Fontaine – there is no lack of gameplay within this story. With a minimum of 57 hours of story, boredom is non-existent while playing.
Common foes pop up throughout the game, such as the seedy gang, the Fatui – a group of individuals hailing from the ice realm of Snezhnaya. Other bosses include members from the Abyss Order, a frightening collection of monstrous figures hailing from the underworld of Teyvat. You can level up by fighting these villains and unlocking treasure chests which hold various materials that help strengthen and level up characters.
A main draw to the game is the array of gorgeously crafted characters, all with their own backstories, quirks and special elemental powers.
Overall, if you’re into anime-inspired adventure-based games, then give “Genshin Impact” a shot. It’s playable on multiple different devices, such as the PS4, iOS, Android and PC. The flexibility of which device “Genshin Impact” can be played on is a huge upgrade and allows for multiple people around the world to join its player base. Feel free to jump into the game with friends using the multiplayer function and get your friends to help you along your journey. Speaking of jumping into the game, it’s time to get back on the grind and journey to defeat some high-level abyss monsters – talley-ho!