Genshin Impact is an action role-playing game developed by Shanghai-based game developer miHoYo. It is free to play and uses a Gacha system for players to obtain various characters and weapons. Accessible through PC, Playstation 4 and 5, Android, and iOS, the game is one of the highest-grossing mobile games. I've only started playing Genshin Impact roughly three weeks ago, and I must say, I'm totally hooked. I am not much of a gamer myself, yet I've been spending 3-5 hours per day since I started playing.

The game starts out as a pair of twins is separated by an unknown god when travelling between worlds. The twins' names in the English version are Aether and Lumine. They are the playable protagonists of the game. You can choose and rename one of them. After losing your twin, you will find yourself in a new world called Teyvat and that's where the adventure begins.

Gameplay

There are quests that you have to do in order to progress through the game. As you do each quest, you will meet lots of new characters. Some of these characters can be obtained by finishing specific quests, and others can be obtained through the game's Gacha system.

You can customize your team (called a party in the game) of four. The battle system revolves around quick character switching and combining their abilities and elements to obtain more extensive damage. This is what makes the game so much fun to play. Each character has their own weapon of choice, abilities, and elements so that you can do lots of different combinations and playstyles. Understanding your characters and how their elemental reaction works will help you tremendously in the game.

Lots to Explore 

The world of Teyvat is gigantic. The size of the map you can explore is massive, and it will only get bigger with more updates in the future. There are currently 2 out of seven playable nations and each of them has a distinct landscape. The game is not stingy with its content, and it's filled with multiple bosses to fight, challenges, quests, domains, and riddles. Players can also play in co-op mode so you can join your friends to roam around in their/your world.

The graphics of this game is also a total eye-pleaser. I found myself roaming around aimlessly a lot only to enjoy the beautiful scenery and music. It can be relaxing if you want to take a break and don't want to think too hard.

Free to Play

As mentioned above, the game is free to play. However, to obtain more characters or weapons, you'll have to try your luck in the game's Gacha system called Wish. It is essentially a loot box. For each wish you pull, you'll receive a randomized weapon/character.

To make these wishes, you will need some resources. These resources can be obtained by just playing the game, but buying them with real money will obviously speed up the process. You are guaranteed a five-star character on your 90th wish, but if you're lucky, you can get those characters way earlier. This shouldn't deter you from playing the game. You will still get lots of content to play for free, and so far, there isn't any that is locked behind paywalls.

Are you interested in Genshin Impact? We'd love to hear your thoughts!