Genshin Impact

 iOS
Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 5 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
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  1. 148Apps
    Oct 26, 2020
    90
    Genshin Impact is easily the most impressive free-to-play game on mobile. It offers such a rich world that rivals those of ambitious console and PC games while pacing its content such that mini play sessions using touch controls feel satisfying and worthwhile. There's nothing about Genshin Impact's business model that is new or praiseworthy, but it thankfully doesn't get in the way of enjoying what is otherwise a legitimately amazing open-world adventure.
  2. IGN
    Oct 13, 2020
    90
    Genshin Impact is an amazing open-world adventure that draws heavily on both its Breath of the Wild and anime inspirations to create something truly special. Even if the gacha model introduces some undesirable level grinding deeper in, the excellent combat, addictive exploration, and beautiful world make this one of the most exciting games I've played all year.
  3. Metro GameCentral
    Jan 4, 2021
    80
    Whatever your preconceptions may be about a free-to-play gacha game made in China it’s nothing short of stunning, presenting you with a sprawling Zelda-esque open world to explore, the green grass and blue skies looking beautiful thanks to console-grade production values. Even the monetisation isn’t too in-your-face, although it does eventually start to get a bit grindy in the late game. Genshin Impact is easily the most accomplished and alluring Zelda-alike available for mobiles, easily outstripping paid-for rival Oceanhorn and its sequel.
  5. Jeuxvideo.com
    Oct 8, 2020
    75
    Its success is already guaranteed, let's just hope that the follow-up is of quality and that its economic model does not reveal any unpleasant surprises with the updates.
  6. Pocket Tactics
    Sep 29, 2020
    70
    A beautiful anime-style RPG, that is a joy to explore, though certain aspects can feel overly simple.
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  1. Vice
    Oct 5, 2020
    Genshin Impact feels like playing the future of games as the industry leans more into the games-as-a-service business model, monetizing big budget free-to-play games with battle passes and loot boxes. To put it another way: Genshin Impact is what happens when a company goes, "What if Breath of the Wild was Destiny?" It's disorienting at first and then quickly starts to make all the sense in the world. It's too soon to say what Genshin Impact's lasting impact on the industry will be, but given its immediate success, it's not hard to imagine a near future where many games look a lot like it.

Awards & Rankings

13
#13 Best iOS Game of 2020
1
#1 Most Discussed iOS Game of 2020

User Reviews

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User Score
3.2

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 609 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 173 out of 609
  2. Mixed: 24 out of 609
  3. Negative: 412 out of 609
  1. Viole
    Oct 22, 2020
    2
    In short :

    Genshin Impact is a game advertised as "multi-player" game, with most of their trailer showing anime-style action RPG. It's nice    In short :

    Genshin Impact is a game advertised as "multi-player" game, with most of their trailer showing anime-style action RPG. It's nice and tidy on the outside, but the sad truth is, it is far from good. The unrewarding exploration, shallow combat system, abysmal Energy (Resin) system with awful gacha system are what making this game not fitting to be a mediocre PC game. But, for a mobile game, it is mediocre.

    Long version :

    Pros :

    - The graphic style is nice, it looks well-made and clean
    - World design is pretty good, towns, small villages, ruins, cliffs, hills and including all the small puzzles, it is good for exploring and treasure hunting

    - Music in this game is so good, some of them are relaxing, some are very energetic (mostly of the combat music)

    - Voice acting (I used JP voice) is top-notch, almost all story content and a few side stories is fully-voiced

    - There's cooking and book-collecting for those who loves this kind of collectibles

    Cons :
    - Combat is shallow, it's basically spam attack, use skills, switch chara, use skill, spam attack. Elemental reaction system is meh. It doesn't add any depths whatsoever because it is almost always benefitting the player, making the fight easily forgettable and uninteresting.

    - Sound effect of the attack and the animation of character's attack is meh. Bear in mind there's NO COMBO related in this game, unlike its predecessor, which has ALMOST the same mechanic with character switching combat style. So the all character has only normal attacks with 2 skills. That's it.

    - Mob AI is awful and slow, the mobs in this game is so uninteresting, some of them just walk beside you, idling for 5-10 seconds begging to get hit, even some of the mini-boss AI is just terrible

    - There is no real difficulty, even the bosses pattern are too easy to predict, some of them have 'special condition' to be defeated, but even most of it are basically just attack what's appearing until it's dead

    - Exploration in this game is abysmally unrewarding. There's a certain occasion when you have to explore a different locations (which is far away) to be able to solve a puzzle, after all that effort you're doing, you're just rewarded with : a few in-game currencies that you can spend in 15 seconds, a few equipment that is not any better than what you have by the time you reach that reward and a 3-4 items to level-up your character, which can only increase 5% of your character's level by the time you get the reward

    - Achievement system is abysmally unrewarding. Imagine exploring nooks and crannies of the world, getting all possible collectibles, and what you get is 'congratulations, here, 5 premium currencies' and a dull name card.

    - Wish (gacha) system is so expensive, and the resource to make the wish depletes so quickly as you progress through the game. It costs you 160 Primogems for 1 Wish. Even Achievement only give you 5, a few chests and missions give you 30. Note that the Primogems from chest DOES NOT respawn, and the story missions and quests are VERY SHORT as of this review is dropped.

    - Wish (gacha) rate is abysmal. You need to be VERY LUCKY to pull a 5* on this game, the rate even lower than most of other mobile gacha game. You want that one 5* character? If you're F2P, you must save-up for a few months to be able to guaranteed the pull. If you're gonna spend money, prepare to spend hundreds of dollars to add that character to your team.

    - Stamina system is more of a burden than a feature. You want to explore? Prepare to eat some food or your character can't even run for 15 seconds. You want to climb that cliff? Prepare to climb REALLY SLOW or you won't reach the top.

    - RESIN system is abysmal, terrible, and hindered progression to the point where you only spend 10 minutes a day to play this game. Resin is an Energy system that's implemented in domains, where you farm for artifacts / materials to ascend your weapon or character. The problem is, most of the items that needed to ascend your character are dropped from bosses, which cost 40 Resin for you to be able to get the reward after defeating the boss. You only get 120 Resin, which equals to 3 bosses, and those 120 Resin takes 20 HOURS to fully recharge. On top of that, even though you managed to level-up and ascend your character and weapon, good artifacts is needed to make the character viable to be played on the higher difficulty. This system only hindering progression and lessening the fun to the point of it doesn't get enjoyable anymore.

    The game has potential, but it has to undergo MASSIVE overhaul to able to be mediocre at least. As of now, I personally don't want to invest any more of my time to this game, oh wait, I can only play for 10 minutes a day, but even then, this game doesn't deserve my 10 minutes as of now.    … Full Review »
  2. junweifeng
    Sep 29, 2020
    10
    So far I am enjoying this game. I love the story line. You get to change characters which is awesome. We get an option to change voiceSo far I am enjoying this game. I love the story line. You get to change characters which is awesome. We get an option to change voice language (amazing) and text language. So you can separate two languages. Character design is cute. One thing is inconvenient is that we do not get to autorun to a quest location. Lastly, I know they have monthly pass. But, It would be great if they have a lifetime pass that I could buy. Just to show support for the game as well as getting benefit in doing so.… Full Review »
  3. Cakelord
    Sep 29, 2020
    0
    Poor gameplay and p2w gamemode,must accept the reality that it's just a mobile game
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