We inflicted Genshin Impact on one of our writers for your amusement, here’s how they got on

It’s not quite right to say I never understood the appeal of Genshin Impact, because I didn’t really know anything about it at all. I knew that if you threw enough money at its gacha system, you could unlock an army of impossibly pretty anime girls and boys. I didn’t even know what genre it was.

However, having made the top five in the Player Voice category at The Game Awards for every year since 2023, I figured there’s got to be something there to keep this many people playing. I just had to dissect this high-budget curiosity. Despite a ropey opening act and a disquieting gacha system, Genshin Impact’s open world left me curious.

Off to a sluggish start

It can’t be sugarcoated: Genshin Impact leaves an underwhelming first impression. A couple of boring opening hours isn’t the worst thing in a game that apparently takes between 69 and 819 hours to beat, but maintaining my immersion proved to be a tall order. If I weren’t on a mission to understand Genshin Impact, I would have quit pretty early.

Your introduction to Genshin Impact is abrupt. There’s an opening hook that you’re fighting a god, and then cast into a new world, sapped of your powers. Pretty simple, but it works. You’re new to this place; it’s time to learn. 

However, your new friend and companion is Paimon, a floating chibi imp with a voice like nails on an adorable chalkboard. This nightmare paralysis fairy half acts as your voice in cutscenes, and so the early story setup exacts a heavy toll.

Amber, the plucky archer you meet in the game’s opening section, is as two-dimensional as they come, serving as the human embodiment of shallow, peppy one-liners. Lisa the mage is similarly shallow and seems like little more than a reductive and distasteful attempt at the “sexy lady wizard” trope.  

What’s more, as you move from objective to objective and tackle Genshin Impact’s range of tutorials, you’ll be accompanied by the shrill wailings of Paimon. It’s tough going. 

A free world

Ironically, it was actually my first story roadblock that gave me a taste of the more compelling side of Genshin Impact. 

At a certain point, my ‘adventurer rank’ wasn’t high enough to continue the main story, and I had to go do other things before I could continue. The only available side-quest was with an NPC I didn’t care for and seemed to facilitate more arduous Paimon antics.

However, this was exactly what I needed for Genshin Impact to click. It was a treasure hunt, with long stretches of just exploring out into the world to break up the cutscenes. 

The clues were easy enough to figure out, but they’re a welcome excuse for you to go travelling in the open world. The traversal of climbing and gliding felt stiff compared to its The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild counterpart, but I could immediately see why they worked.

The map was opening up, and there were plenty of small collectables and enemies to fight on the way. When I wanted to go to one of the Godly shrines, which were used to update the map, I even got treated to a mini-boss fight, which genuinely felt mechanically rewarding. 

No such thing as a free game

25 minutes into the game, I found myself cresting the extra mechanic event horizon. This included an introduction to Genshin Impact’s gacha elements (known as Wishes) and the real-money shop. Here, the cost of the free-to-play game started to reveal itself.

You can earn new weapons and characters out in the field, but it’s so much faster if you Wish for them instead. New characters from the free first wish arrived with a flash of art and some honestly unsettling voice acting. 

I didn’t particularly appreciate Sucrose breathing into my ear about how she’d love to join me on my adventure, but she unlocked a new fighting style and new powers.

Under the layers of currencies, it came to about $2.66 (£1.98) per wish, if you bought crystals at their most expensive. 

However, with the pity-timer guaranteeing a five-star reward at 90 wishes, and with crystals at their cheapest regular bundle, I estimate you’d need to spend $178.20 (£178.20) to guarantee a five-star reward. 

I now understand the appeal of Genshin Impact, and can even see why it makes for such an excellent free-to-play game for those who don’t want to drop any money at all. However, even to the eyes of a neophyte, it’s clear that a lot is gated behind the gacha system, creating a palpable sense of FOMO. 

If you’re able to brave the FOMO, the rocky opening story and Paimon’s incessant bleating, then Genshin Impact may be for you. However, if you’re looking for a self-contained open-world adventure that avoids these issues, then Breath of the Wild is your best port of call. 

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