At the end of September 2020, the Chinese game developer miHoYo finally released an open-world role-playing game called Genshin Impact. Its budget was $100 million (modest by gaming standards for major projects), and it was advertised as a free-to-play game... the game completely in the first week solely through mobile platforms. This is definitely a success. On September 28, 2021, Genshin celebrates its first anniversary, and its popularity continues to grow. So, what makes this game so appealing to millions of fans worldwide in such a short time?

Elemental Kingdom and Randomness

Although Genshin Impact is marketed as free-to-play (and indeed players can choose that path), it is primarily a gacha game. This phenomenon is already familiar to many through numerous Asian projects where players need to collect a team of heroes to progress through the story, dungeons, and world exploration. In a temporary or permanent banner (a set of weapons and characters), players can "pray" using a special in-game currency, which can be obtained for free or purchased with real money.

This is almost the only way to obtain characters and good weapons for them, but here the developers have tried to cater to the players' needs. Every 21 days, a new set of characters appears with an increased chance of obtaining them, ensuring that players have a variety of heroes. Nevertheless, many players play without spending real money. Numerous events and new content allow players to accumulate the necessary currency for prayers.

Plus, there is a guarantee that after a certain number of attempts without obtaining a 5-star item, the player will 100% receive the desired item, even a specific character. Here, miHoYo is also on the players' side, making it easy to obtain the most valuable rewards.

In that case... welcome to Teyvat.

Gods Among Men

One of the main advantages of Genshin Impact is its branching storyline. It begins with the player choosing which of the twins will be their main character throughout the game - the male Aether or the female Lumine. The other twin is kidnapped by an unknown goddess, while the chosen one ends up in the vast continent of Teyvat, divided into kingdoms ruled by elemental gods known as Archons. 

Here, the player embarks on a long journey to find their lost sibling, with each kingdom holding a piece of the puzzle. In addition to the search for their missing relative, players can undertake numerous side quests and discover a wealth of information about the different regions, their history, and get acquainted with the characters they encounter on this grand adventure. Most 4-5-star characters have personal quests that reveal their owners from a different perspective - players get to know their personal experiences, secrets, and family.

Players will also have the opportunity to interact with the Archons, not only by restoring their statues. Taking on mortal form, they live among their subjects and have their own goals and desires. If players are lucky enough in the gacha, they can become members of the player's party.

Information about the world can be obtained from various sources - in-game books, descriptions of items, artifacts, weapons, and dungeons. Players can also hear random stories from characters or stumble upon them during quests. The amount of information is truly immense and interconnected, allowing players to piece together a cohesive picture of the world and formulate their own theories. There are countless mysteries and unrevealed data, and each update introduces new ones. One of the most famous is why the gods have names that resemble demons?

Freedom of Action

In Genshin Impact, there is a fully open world, and this is a huge plus for the game. In addition to completing quests, the main activity in the game is exploration. The world changes with time of day, weather, and different climatic zones, and nature is not always favorable to the player. The world is full of various puzzles, ruins, and treasures, as well as monsters thirsty for the player's blood. Some of them are indeed challenging to defeat even with good weapons and artifacts!

The player can explore the world with a party of up to 4 characters, which they can choose and switch between at any convenient moment. While outside of combat, the player can change the composition of the party. Each character has a specific element, and combining them creates elemental reactions that produce various effects (including negative effects that can be inflicted on the player). The player has complete control over their party members, and they won't take a single step without being commanded.

It is possible to play not only alone - there is multiplayer, and up to 3 people can enter the world together.

Almost Endless Hunt

Exploring the vast world and solving all its puzzles takes a considerable amount of time, and in each region, there are hundreds of hidden (and not so hidden) chests. Every day, 4 quests are refreshed, bringing a certain amount of resources and 60 Primogems - the local currency needed for making wishes. The contents of dungeons are also refreshed daily, allowing players to obtain materials for leveling up weapons and talents (artifacts remain static). 

To obtain rewards from dungeons and world bosses, Original Resin is required - a special self-replenishing resource. There can be a total of 160 units, and it replenishes at a rate of 1 unit every 8 minutes. This is one of the main issues in the game because the minimum cost of Resin for collecting rewards is 20 units.

Over time, all treasures will be found, puzzles solved, and the world exploration will be completed, and new content is released every couple of months with each update. At such moments, it may seem like there is nothing else to do in Genshin Impact, especially if the Original Resin is depleted, there is no way to replenish it, and the daily quests (which take on average no more than 20-30 minutes) have already been completed.

For players who have reached the maximum level, there is only one endgame option in which they can demonstrate their skills - the Spiral Abyss, a special dungeon that refreshes every 15 days. The monsters in it are extremely powerful and dangerous, making it practically impossible for an unprepared player to complete. Being prepared for the Abyss with Resin limitations is challenging because it requires leveling up weapons, talents, and artifacts (which also have random characteristics, and to obtain the desired ones, it is necessary to complete the dungeon an incredible number of times).

Sword Swings or Fiery Storms

The player constantly encounters a variety of enemies - the well-known elemental slimes, hilichurls (humanoid creatures who always wear masks and live in tribes), bandits, and others. Some of them possess an element... and in Teyvat, elemental magic is the foundation of everything. Skillfully using combinations of environmental elements, enemies, and their own heroes greatly simplifies battles, allowing them to freeze enemies and calmly defeat them, ignite something and spread the fire with the help of wind, or simply unleash a powerful explosion that throws everyone around. 

Despite the fact that the character has only three active skills (one of which is the ordinary auto-attack) and a rigid attachment to weapons, the gameplay is very dynamic due to the constant switching of characters during combat. This makes it engaging and makes the combat process quite beautiful and exciting.

It Seems Familiar...

Each kingdom in Teyvat is associated with a particular element and also closely resembles real existing states. As of patch 2.1, there are three open regions, and the rest are only mentioned, but the country can be guessed based on the names of the inhabitants and their appearance.

• Mondstadt, the City of Winds - a reference to medieval Europe, especially Germany, which can be seen in the city's name;
• Li Yue - China;
• Inazuma - Japan, even traditional Japanese dishes can be found in recipes from this region;
• Snezhnaya - a yet undisclosed region known to be a land of cold and eternal winter, and its known characters have names like Egor, Nadya, Lyudmila... It's easy to guess that the homeland of Tartaglia, the only playable character from Snezhnaya so far, is a reference to Russia.

Gradually, new content is being introduced, and players can enjoy the world's sights - each region has its unique atmosphere and nature, and the developers deserve credit for their attention to detail in Genshin Impact's locations, making it a pleasant game to play.

Heroes and Heroines

In Genshin Impact, there are currently 41 playable characters, and it's worth noting that the majority of them are female. The characters come in various ages and life states - among them, there's a little zombie girl, a teenage exorcist, a powerful ruler of a whole region, and an immortal god in the guise of a charming mortal who has lived for over 6,000 years. Each character has well-designed appearances, backstories, and personalities, and they are further developed through their personal quests and events. Players can assemble a party based not only on the effective combination of elements but also on personal preferences, bringing their favorite characters together.

However, the Genshin community also appreciates non-playable characters who have appeared in the story or in the game world, as they are often meticulously developed. The most prominent example is Paimon, the eternal companion of the main character, who is a bit silly and always hungry but very cute and charismatic. While players can't currently play as these characters, they have become an important part of the lore. The lore expands not only through in-game information but also through character trailers, adding to the overall experience.

Is It Worth It or Not?

On its first anniversary, Genshin Impact has the following positive aspects:

• A vast open world
• A branching storyline
• A variety of characters
• Easy access to in-game currency
• A beautiful and engaging combat system
• Regular updates
• Many events

But there are also downsides:

• The Gacha system, which is hard to escape
• The eventual end of content
• A strong shortage of original resin, which limits gameplay
• High cost of microtransactions
• Scarcity of activities for players with maxed-out characters and explored world 

In its genre, Genshin Impact is a very decent game. It's not perfect, but it's beautiful, interesting, and captivating, without forcefully pushing players to spend real money - that's entirely up to the player's initiative. In its first year, the game has shown very good results, continues to evolve and become more appealing, and the developers strive to address the current issues for player comfort. It's definitely worth playing - exploring the world will take a considerable amount of time, especially with the numerous bonuses at the beginning of the game, and the characters and the world will certainly leave a lasting impression.