What is Genshin Impact and why 20 million are playing it?

A month before the release of the next generation of consoles, the gaming community’s eyes are on  Genshin Impact . The game, which is popularly nicknamed the “Chinese clone of Zelda”, is rolling through the information field. She submits news about  Cyberpunk 2077  and the next  Call of Duty , overtakes  Fortnite  in the Twitch tops and is not even going to stop. 20 million pre-registrations and the best launch in Chinese gaming history on F95zone. What’s happening? Is it enough for gamers to offer a free anime clone of  The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild to make them go crazy? Yes, if it’s a damn cool and self-contained clone.

Introduction:

First of all, you need to deal with the question “Who is this your Genshin Impact . ” This is a fantasy action / RPG in anime style with a gacha system from the Chinese studio miHoYo Limited . The game is distributed free of charge, and many got the impression that Genshin Impact is an MMO. No, this is a single player game with co-op elements like co-op dungeons. 

Gamers are already waiting for dozens of hours of adventure, which they are invited to experience in splendid isolation. And there are tons of free updates ahead that will open up access to five more regions. There are two available right now and they cover nearly 30 square kilometers. Breath of the Wild , which the game is compared to, allows you to run 38 km 2 . It’s easy to imagine how big the Genshin Impact will grow over the next few years.

An uncomplicated plot tells about a brother and sister who possessed magical abilities and traveled to different worlds. Once their joint adventures were interrupted by an evil goddess. She captured one relative, and sent the second to the world of Teivat, depriving all supernatural powers. The continent on which the hero or heroine is thrown – depending on the player’s choice – combines many cultures and fantasy elements. Ancient deities, elemental magic, knights, European and Eastern architecture. In general, Teivat is for everyone and everyone. 

Is Genshin Impact really similar to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild ? Yes, and the developers do not hide it. The world is damn beautiful, and all the colors are deliberately brighter than they should be. As in the game from Nintendo, here you can climb any mountain, as long as you have enough endurance. You can also fly, pick berries, cook, open chests, solve puzzles, fight many opponents, including bosses, and so on.

Genshin Impact is Free AAA

In early September, we played the Immortals: Fenyx Rising press release . This is also a kind of clone of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild from the  Ubisoft studio with several regions, many unique opponents, climbing mechanics, flying and so on. Right now, the game can be pre-ordered on PC for 2,500 rubles, and on PS4 for 4,500 rubles. Genshin Impact will give you a similar experience for free. Yes, you will lose the opportunity to study ancient Greek mythology, but you will get a dozen anime waifu and the opportunity to play even on mobile devices.  

Microtransactions are merciless yet gentle

Basis earnings Genshin Impact  lies in Gachi system. If you are not familiar with this term, then remember the automata with toys, which are obtained with the help of a mechanical hand. The term Gacha (aka Gachapon or Gasispon) came from Japan, where these hellish devices appeared. Put a mechanical claw in a pile of toys and, if you’re lucky, pull something out. If not, please be so kind as to try again. For money, of course. 

In the Genshin Impact, the gacha element is ironically called Prayer. You are literally praying for a cool item or a very rare character. But you don’t have to participate in this lottery. The game can be played without spending a ruble, while not really sweating. The ruthlessness of the local gacha is manifested in the chances to “beg” the hero with five stars. In Genshin Impact, it is only 0.6%, which is one of the lowest rates among Asian gacha games. The Forbes journalist told how he spent $ 100 (about 7,900 rubles on HuniePop 2) in the game and pulled out only one five-star hero. And even then not the one he wanted.

Genshin Impact is available on almost all platforms

The game can be downloaded for free on PC , PS4 , Android and iOS . In the future, the developers promise to release a version for the Nintendo Switch and hint that they will transfer Genshin Impact even to the PlayStation 5 . Only the Xbox was left behind . In addition, the developers have taken care of cross-play between all platforms, which is very convenient for adventures in co-op.

The most important thing is a great game

All of the above wouldn’t matter if Genshin Impact turned out to be a faceless free clone of Breath of the Wild . First of all, this is a great game to enjoy your time in. It pushes you to explore the world not only with its bright graphics and elaboration of the world, but also with its gameplay. For example, even outside of combat, you need to use elemental magic. So, if the character does not have enough stamina to swim to some place, then you can simply freeze the river and create a path for yourself. Or wash the floors with the help of a character who owns the element of water, as requested by the quest.

In addition, Genshin Impact has an unusual squad mechanic. In adventures, you can take four characters from a huge pool of heroes with unique abilities and characteristics. At the same time, the heroes do not run with the whole crowd. The player switches between them by pressing a button so that one replaces the other. The change of characters takes place at lightning speed, which can and should be used in battle.