The brighter the picture, the darker the negative.

-Rupert Thorne, Batman: The Animated Series “Two-Face Part 1”

“I’m not crying. You’re crying.”

Be prepared to say this a lot with Genshin Impact and its character side quests. I don’t mind a good, ugly cry every once and a while. And Genshin Impact is the free-to-play game most likely to leave me bawling.

Hoyoverse knows what they’re doing with making its players care about individual characters. Then, they place those characters behind a Gacha system that squeezes copious amounts of cash. For those who don’t know what a Gacha system is we’ll talk about it later, but until then, let’s get back to Breath of the Waifus—I mean Genshin Impact.

Yes, there are a lot of female characters in the game’s cast as well as a heap of similarities to Breath of the Wild. I even use the following as an elevator pitch for getting my friends to start playing: Genshin Impact is a semi-cooperative Breath of the Wild.

But that doesn’t give the game enough credit. Sure, the base game mechanisms are the same or very similar. But the ability—and often necessity—of switching from party members of different elements and/or skillsets changes the gameplay. And the Gacha system’s randomness provides countless party constructions– even if some parties are universally better than others.

I’ve played Genshin Impact since it released on September 28, 2020. I also have two logins (one PC and the other Playstation). So, I’ve had multiple opportunities to spin the wheel and see which characters I’d get. Disclaimer: I’m also an old school JRPG fan. Grinding for multiple characters’ leveling materials scratches that itch. And you will be doing that. A lot.

The characters are, for the most part, engaging. You’re sure to find one or two kindred spirits. There are over 40, and many of them have tragic backstories. Genshin Impact even has a birthday system where you can learn more about each character on their birthday.

I’m not kidding. Each character will send players a gift, usually a special meal only they make or an associated item. Ganyu gives me qingxin flowers and the seeds to plant my own each year. Hoyoverse wants its player base invested in these characters as people, and it works.

And the world? The world is a joy to discover. When you first log into the game, you can’t help but run into treasure chests and other little secrets around every corner. And Teyvat, the continent Genshin Impact is set, has dropped more than one jaw. There’s a reason smartphone companies used Genshin Impact as their choice for a demo game. I wouldn’t mind seeing more mobile games of this caliber in the future.

I also like the cultures that Genshin mimics. Monstadt, the game’s first location, is based in Bavaria. Its leader (name redacted to avoid spoilers) is somewhat based on King Ludwig II, the same “mad king” who spent his fortune building beautiful castles like Neuschwanstein (the castle that Cinderella’s castle is based on) as a gift to his people.

The architecture, clothing choices, and even regional recipes (there’s cooking in Genshin–Yay!) reflect this. And it doesn’t stop at Mondstadt. The other regions do the same: Liyue (based on China), Inazuma (based on Japan), and Sumeru (most likely based on the Ottoman empire; I know that the region’s leader is heavily influenced by Suleiman the Magnificent). The background music even ties into each region. I have yet to download Sumeru’s soundtrack, but I will. I’ll add it to my chill vibe video game music series. I’ve even spent a lot of time traveling between Inazuma and Liyue to see the difference between Chinese and Japanese architecture. Genshin Impact’s attention to detail is phenomenal.

But—and there’s a huge but here—Genshin Impact doesn’t produce enough sustainable content. There’s no end game, replayable content that will get a player coming back for more. So, when you’re done with the main storyline and character quests—of which there are plenty—the well runs dry.

I’ll have a great time with Sumeru and since I play two logins, I can make the content last longer. But after that month or so, I’ll have little to look forward to until the next region drops. Genshin Impact isn’t meant to be played as someone’s principal game.

And that’s a problem with Gacha games. Most Gacha games companies allow a game to die or shrivel while producing a new game. Hoyoverse has its sights set on its upcoming Honkai: Star Rail and Zenless Zone Zero, because it’s easier and more cost-effective to create a new game than develop an existing one. I have a little hope that Genshin will get more content down the line, however. As I said, Sumeru is the largest region yet and only half of it has been released. If we get another update like this one (to include the desert region), we may get another month or so of content. But I can’t see Genshin maintaining this content flow. It’s still a Gacha game.

And I guess that leads us to the Gacha system section. For those who know this concept, you may proceed to the 8-Bit Review.

Gacha System

It’s a monetization scheme used in free-to-play mobile games. Genshin just so happens to have a huge cross-over appeal with PC and console players (I’m one). But at its core, Genshin Impact is a mobile game. One of the most polished mobile games I’ve ever played. The system was popularized by the Japanese smash-hit Puzzle and Dragons. But you may have seen it in the popular Raid: Shadow Legends, and it essentially works like a collectible card game.

The rest of this will pertain to Genshin Impact but the concept remains the same with any Gacha system. Usually, the numbers and terminology vary. Players are given banners with a featured character on them. They can spend in-game currency—in Genshin’s case primogems—to wish (or open a pack of cards) on a banner. Players are guaranteed one 4-star (epic) character or weapon every 10 wishes. Every 100 wishes guarantees a 5-star (legendary) character, but you can get them early.

Players always have a small chance (less than 1%) of getting a 5-star no matter when they last received one. But soft pity (when a player’s likelihood of pulling a 5-star increases at a steady rate: about +6% for each wish) begins after 74 wishes.

When a player gets a 5-star, they initially have a 50-50 chance of getting the banner’s featured 5-star. If they don’t get the featured 5-star, their next 5-star WILL be the banner’s featured 5-star and all character banners rollover, meaning that if you don’t get the featured character on one banner. The pity you build and any guarantees will be attributed to the next banner. Players can track their wish history, so players can manipulate the math if they stay informed.

Genshin does hand out primogems for doing daily commissions, completing quests, and other miscellaneous tasks like opening chests. And they do hand out the rare bonus primogems. Always be on the lookout for free primogem codes or login events.

So, it’s possible to not spend a single penny on this game, while still getting the characters you want. But it can be tricky. And let’s not get into the weapon banner. I can’t advise anyone to wish on those. A player needs to lose a 50-50 chance twice before getting a guarantee on weapons. If you want to keep your money, the weapon banner’s a hard skip. Character banners are a safer bet.

Yeah, the Gacha system and a lack of consistent content are my major gripes. But let’s wander to the 8-bit review.

The 8-Bit Review

Visuals: 9/10

Genshin Impact is a gorgeous game. Samsung and other smartphone producers wouldn’t have showcased the game if it wasn’t. Absolutely stunning.

Now, there are a lot of classic JRPG and anime trappings with the game. Questionable clothing for the female characters. The trope where someone looks about 10-20 years younger than their actual age. So, Genshin Impact may not be for everyone, but it has wonderful character design. And the world is breathtaking.

My only gripe would be the waterfalls. I love waterfalls and water features, so it pains me that some of the waterfalls can look funky or straight-up ugly. I’m looking at you, Liyue. But I may be in the minority.

As I stated before Hoyoverse steeps each locale in the cultures they emulate. Monstadt, Liyue, Inazuma, and Sumeru burst with personality. Even the characters who hail from these regions wear culturally appropriate clothing. Yun Jin dons a traditional Chinese opera outfit. After you read this review, you should check out her performance on YouTube “The Divine Damsel of Devastation.”

I just started exploring Sumeru, and it looks amazing, too. So, Genshin Impact gives me no reason to question their ability to produce excellent visuals.

Audio: 10/10

Does Paimon’s voice count?

Wow! I’ve gone this far without mentioning Paimon. For those of you in the know, you know. Paimon is the plump, diaper clad, fairy-like creature that tags along the main character. Her shrill voice, referring to herself in the third person and always finding a way to talk about herself (Paimon doesn’t know why Paimon shouldn’t have the traveler’s and Paimon’s share of Paimon’s and the traveler’s money…), and self-absorbed personality sends shivers up the spines of all Genshin Impact players. There’s a reason Hoyoverse includes dialogue options to describe Paimon as emergency food.

I don’t even think she’d make a good meal.

Note: Paimon once—I can’t remember when or where in the main story—refers to herself as “I,” and I waiting for the moment where she’d reveal that SHE was the evil god holding the main character hostage in Teyvat.

Anyway, the voice acting—aside from Paimon—is high quality. Even Paimon wouldn’t be THAT bad if Hoyoverse didn’t go in the direction they did with her character. We’re talking about a cast that littered with anime and video game voice acting veterans. You’re sure to find someone’s voice you can’t quite place, only to find out they’re from a popular anime or video game.

I will say that the voice lines—especially the ones that accompany a character’s ultimate ability—can get repetitive. But what voice lines don’t get repetitive after hearing them hundreds of times. I’ll give that a pass.

The music is top-notch. Don’t believe me? Check out Genshin Impact OST playlists on YouTube. Like most other things they find ways to incorporate the region’s flavor while also forming a cohesive and mellow Genshin sound.

And I love logging in at night. The haunting “Dream Aria,” an evening version of the main theme, plays during the initial screen. It’s something I could listen to on a loop for over an hour. And I’ve done so in the past to fall asleep. Lovely.

Gameplay: 7/10

I’m not going to give Genshin Impact anywhere close to full marks for gameplay because of what I said earlier. While it’s more than a simple Breath of the Wild clone, there isn’t enough end game content or a gameplay loop to keep players engaged.

Most Gacha games are this way. It’s a shame that Genshin follows suit, because what IS there is fun. A lot of fun. I couldn’t see myself playing a game like Raid: Shadow Legends (Gacha adjacent at least) for more than thirty minutes a day. But I could see myself playing Genshin for much, much longer. And still, Gacha games aren’t meant to be played for countless hours a week, so Genshin, after someone finishes the main story and characters’ quests, is more of a thirty-minute-a-day game–if that.

In fact, Genshin insists that its players NOT play the game for more than a short time. Barriers, like time-gated and level-capped content, artificially halt a player’s progress. There must be a better way to hide that not-so-invisible wall.

I like the varied abilities of each character; there’s only a handful of repeated skills and that’s saying something for a cast of over 40 characters. And the switching from one character to the next to spark elemental reactions is chef’s kiss fun. Just watch the big numbers and status effects snowball. Woo hoo!

I also like some of the random limited-time events. The hide-and-seek mode is especially fun, and there are other alternative ways of playing Genshin that COULD add an infinite play loop to the game (I mention more of these in replayability), but Hoyoverse keeps them limited. They must cater to the lowest common denominator: smartphones and other mobile devices.

If Genshin kept some or all of these game modes, the file size would be too much for mobile devices. You’d have Genshin and two other apps on your phone.

Perhaps there’s a compromise with a Genshin Mobile and a separate Genshin PC and Console version. But I don’t see this happening either. As I mentioned in the Gacha system section above, the business model for a game like this is that a company moves on to its next project, allowing current games to shrivel or die.

I hope Genshin doesn’t die before it reaches Snezhnaya.

I know–I know. That region’s name sounds like someone just sneezed.

Snezhnaya!

Gesundheit.

Narrative: 8/10

Yet another difficult-to-rate section. While the main storyline ranges from meh to really good in spots, the character side quests and limited-time quests include showstoppers. Some of the best storytelling in a game of this type.

How I wish new players could experience some of those limited-time quests. Guoba’s tear-jerker origin story (Guoba is the cute teddy bear who accompanies Xianling, a famous Liyue chef). The one where an astrologist Mona discovers the sky and its stars are fake—FAKE. And anything with Albedo, he’s a golem struggling with the meaning of life. Albedo has been featured in most holiday events: all of them have stellar character development.

But the limited space requirements keep these quests from being playable by new Genshin fans. You can’t even replay the cutscenes from the play log; it’s text only. And Genshin Impact doesn’t even include most of these side quests. I swear that Hoyoverse could add this as a feature, and it’d bump this score up a level or two.

Seriously, the main character discovers the sky and the stars are fake. And Genshin Impact can’t progress this story thread too much because new players won’t know what’s happening. That’s a HUGE missed opportunity. I’d have to think that “we’re living in a bubble world or computer simulation” is a major plot point.

Ugh!

So, I tried my best to create an aggregate score here. If you’ve played Genshin from the beginning and know all these storylines, the narrative is at least a nine if not a ten. If you’re newer and don’t know of these quests, it could sink to a seven or maybe a six. So, eight?

I’d say that it may be higher for both player types (10 for veterans and 7 or 8 for noobs), but the disjointed storytelling pulls down the score. I’m going with eight. Right. Lucky number eight.

Accessibility: 8/10

Genshin is both accessible and inaccessible. Let me explain.

It’s accessible in the fact that it’s an easy game. I mean an EASY game. It doesn’t matter which characters you end up with—even broken in a bad way or subpar characters—players can finish the game and most of its content. It’ll just be more difficult. So, in that sense, the game promotes experimentation.

Want to try that mono-Geo team comp, where every character is the element Geo? Go for it. Have you been dying to try nothing but archers and charge shots? It wouldn’t be for me, but there’s nothing holding you back. Heck, want to challenge yourself by using only buggy or subpar characters? Go right ahead; press start for your headache.

But Genshin Impact is also inaccessible for new players because characters and their leveling materials are tied to their regions. That may not make sense at first, but something I mentioned before comes into play: time and level gating.

I learned from a friend that Inazuma doesn’t become accessible until adventure rank (player level) 30. I didn’t know that because when Inazuma dropped last year (2021), both of my accounts were in the mid to late 40s, so that didn’t affect me. But imagine pulling a character from Inazuma soon after you start and not being able to advance them beyond level 40 because you’re not a high enough level and don’t have access to that character’s level up materials.

Heck, even if you were an appropriate level for a region, you’d have to play through the main story to unlock that region. Inazuma unlocks after players finish Monstadt, Liyue, and a handful of other small excursions.

So, if Genshin Impact makes it to Snezhnaya, its seventh region, a new player may have to play six different regions—and perhaps a dozen subregions—prior to leveling up Signora (spoiler: I refuse to believe that she’s unplayable). This hypothetical awesome character could get stuck at level 40 for 80-100 hours of game time.

I breathed a sigh of relief to learn that Sumeru has no level entry requirement. I don’t know if Hoyoverse lifted this restriction because Sumeru exists on the main continent (Inazuma is a group of islands separate from the mainland). Or that Sumeru’s patch adds a new element dendro; you can’t farm dendro crystals on any other region than Sumeru for now. Hoyoverse may have done this on a lark. But Genshin Impact has level-gated regions in the past and if they do it in the future, it may mean that adventure rank 50 could become the level gate for Snezhnaya. Gesundheit!

That hypothetical new player who pulled Signora shortly after starting Genshin might forget they even have her by the time they reach Snezhnaya. There’s little content beyond Liyue that can be completed by a character trapped at level 40.

I docked Genshin a couple of points in this section. But if Hoyoverse continues to make new regions as easy to travel to as Sumeru, I’d raise this score.

Multiplayer: 4/10

If I’m being brutally honest, this score should be slightly lower. Perhaps a three? But I have hope—there I go smoking that copium again—that Genshin will include more multiplayer options. The patch notes for future installments make it sound as if Hoyoverse plans to do “something” more with online/multiplayer play, but until something major like guilds or a more robust co-op mode with tougher dungeons happens, a 4 is as high as I can possibly give Genshin Impact.

Ah! Imagine a guild Serenatea Pot. For those who don’t know, a Serenatea Pot is an item that’s a pocket dimension where players can build their own houses and towns and farms and even fishponds. Most players forget about their pots. But if there was a guild version of a Serenatea Pot, a lot more players would engage with them daily. Make this happen.

A four is very generous. Sure, Genshin has a co-op mode. It is sort of a cooperative Breath of the Wild, but multiplayer, along with endgame content with a satisfying gaming loop, are the two things Genshin can improve to make it a MUST-play game.

Replayablity: 3/10

And speaking of the other thing Genshin can improve, this score should come as no surprise. Genshin’s initial playthrough is awesome. I love exploring this world’s nooks and alcoves, but once you’ve seen it once, you’re done.

Sure, the Spiral Abyss exists. The Abyss is a battle dungeon that’s final four stages change with each battle pass (so every month and a half or so), but this has limited replayability. Hoyoverse needs to make the Abyss endless or at least add a few more tiers and make all of those tiers change each battle pass. The Abyss is all there is for repeatable content. That isn’t enough.

I’ve mentioned other limited-time modes earlier that could expand the base gameplay, so I’ll breeze through them and mention another one or two here:

• Tower Defense with changing puzzles
• 4 teams of duos with reduction in power the longer a team stays on the field
• Hide and Seek (it’s cute and fun; don’t @ me)
• Mazes/obstacle courses with collectible power-ups. Players could build these in their Serenatea Pots, so it’s kind of a Mario Maker

And I’m forgetting some here that were just as engaging.

All of these game modes are in the files. Hoyoverse refuses to include them as replayable content because they must cater to mobile players. The game needs something to keep its player base engaged, but as I mentioned before, Genshin is a Gacha game. These games tend to shrivel.

Personal: 5/10

As I said before, Genshin Impact is an EASY game. So, there isn’t one character or weapon a player MUST wish for—but there are plenty of characters like Zhongli or Kazuha or Ganyu that set the game to easy mode.  Despite not NEEDING a specific character or weapon, Genshin Impact consistently tops the best-selling free-to-play games. It does this because players get invested in certain characters (because of their story), a character’s best in slot weapon, and the Gacha system.

Players must tread carefully with this game. Hoyoverse gifts players a handful of primogems (in-game currency), and players can use these primogems for wishes (new characters and weapons). So, no one needs to spend ANY money. But these wishes are akin to gambling.

I won’t go into this again—see the Gacha system above for details—but you only have a percentage likelihood of getting what you want. Someone who could become a gambling addict CAN fall victim to this game. And I touched on the weapon banner a bit, in terms of its likelihood of paying out (it doesn’t that often), but there’s another aspect to weapons that bothers me and drives up sales: best-in-slot weapons.

True Cost of a Genshin Impact Character

In most game design, certainly in board game design like I’ve done, rarer items (weapons in this case) would be more universal use. So, more (possibly most) characters of a type can use that rare weapon and that weapon becomes an account changer. More common items would be more niche and could be a character’s “best in slot.” But Genshin Impact flips this and makes rarer weapons a character’s best-in-slot; they’re subconsciously telling gamers to buy the weapon if they want to FULLY unlock the character. It’s a thirst trap.

Please, play Genshin responsibly.

I know that I sound like a public service announcement, but it’s true. It’s easy to fall into this wormhole.

The Many Ways Genshin Impact Asks for Money

How do you spend money on this game? Players can buy crystals that they can then exchange for primogems. Yeah, that’s not the best look. Exchanging one currency for another inside a F2P game has the whisper of predatory tendencies.

Now, if you have disposable income, go ahead and do what you want. Just be careful that you don’t overspend. It’s easy to do. I feel as if I must reiterate that none of these purchases are necessary. You can play Genshin Impact as a F2P game.

But even when the Gacha system works out for a player and they get the characters AND weapons they want, hidden fees still linger. Mora (Teyvat’s currency used for most things) and resin and skill and experience books are other finite, in-game currencies. Once you have your character, you must then level them up and upgrade their skills and weapons with these items. And that’s where players can purchase even more things (with real-world currency) to help them progress.

Adventurer Bundles

Once a week, players can purchase adventurer bundles. There’s a crystal (not primogem) cost to these, but I’ll list the US dollar amounts (instead of crystal exchange rate) here: $1, $5, and $15. Obviously, the more expensive bundles hand out more significant rewards.

I don’t recommend EVER purchasing these. There are other ways and relatively easy ways to mimic the benefits of these bundles. They’re a hard skip.

Blessing of the Welkin Moon

The next offering is Blessing of the Welkin Moon. It’s a daily login reward for primogems. In exchange for $5, players get 2700 primogems over the course of a month. 300 crystals up front and then 90 primogems for 30 days.

The Welkin Moon gives a decent discount on primogems. Ordinarily, $5 would only get you 300 primogems, and players can use the leftover crystals for the bundles I mentioned above or character outfits, which we’ll discuss later. If a player were to purchase a Welkin Moon a month, that’d be $60 or the price of a game over one year, so again, that’s a decent value.

Battle Pass

The final way to upgrade one’s characters is with the Battle Pass or Gnostic Hymn.

Note: the battle pass hasn’t changed since launch, so few players engage with it a lot.

Anyway, like most battle passes, there’s a free path and a paid, premium path. Hoyoverse gives out quite a bit with the free path, so free is a good option.

But upgrading costs a lot of Mora and other upgrade items, and the paid battle pass doles out over 2 million Mora, 50 experience books, 30+ skill books, extra resin (so you can play the game more), some spare primogems, and a half-decent weapon or two.

The base, paid battle pass costs $10 and the advanced battle pass (Gnostic Chorus) costs $22. Don’t EVER buy the advanced battle pass. All it does is gift you ten tiers in the battle pass, and Genshin’s battle pass is super easy to finish. And if you don’t finish it this month, they’ll be another one just like it next month.

I’d also advise not buying the battle pass unless you’ve already finished it. Like most other battle passes, you can finish the free side and buy the paid content later. When you purchase the battle pass, any levels you got on the free side count as levels on the paid battle pass. So, secure a finished battle pass before purchasing.

Genshin’s battle pass is optional, but I’ve found that purchasing it once a year juices my account enough to upgrade a character or two outright and without waiting.

My only other point with Genshin’s battle pass is that players can’t use in-game currency to buy it. It’s $10 of real-world currency. No primogems. No crystals from the Welkin Moon or otherwise. So, there’s no way to purchase one battle pass and then allow players to earn an in-game currency to purchase a future one like Apex Legends and other F2P games.

I’d love it if Genshin made the battle pass cost crystals and then reward crystals (enough to buy next’s month’s Gnostic Hymn) in the battle pass. But not every developer is that giving. C’est la vie.

Character Outfits

Character outfits cost crystals. I’ve never seen a game that forces its player base to spend money—and like $30+ at that—to put the pants on their characters. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? No one knows if I’m a perv or if I’m being thrifty by not putting pants on some of my female characters. And it’s always the female characters.

Jokes aside, some of the paid outfits look nice and if you have a character you really like, like $30+ like, go ahead and spend the cash. But I’m going to be thrifty—right thrifty—and not spend the dough.

I struggled with rating Genshin Impact in this section, too. Like I said earlier, you don’t have to spend ANY money on this game, so it should get a perfect 10. But there are borderline predatory systems in place that one can’t ignore. Genshin Impact imposes enough time and level gating that could entice players to purchase quick upgrades. Not to mention the Gacha system itself drives down this score by at least two or three points.

Ultimately, Genshin Impact is a wonderful experience mired by dubious business practices.

Aggregated Score: 6.9

Kyra Kyle is a writer, poet, board game designer, and indie game fan. They play plenty of free-to-play games, trying to find the cheapest ways to get the most out of F2P business models. They love a good narrative, engaging characters, crafting supplies, and exploring strange worlds. Perfect for video gaming. When they aren’t gaming, they busy themselves with watching sunflowers and corn grow where the Platte and Missouri Rivers meet.