Genshin Impact

 PC
Metascore
84

Generally favorable reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. GameStar
    Oct 10, 2020
    74
    Genshin Impact is a very good and entertaining action role-playing game, which manipulates itself with its monetization in the endgame.
  2. GameSpot
    Oct 13, 2020
    70
    Overall, Genshin Impact is a solid game hampered a bit by the restrictions its free-to-play model imposes. The overall production values are high, and the core gameplay is solid. In particular, the elemental interaction system is a ton of fun and gives the game a distinct personality. But while there's a lot to do, having several chunks of Genshin Impact gated off until you've reached a higher rank is an obnoxious restriction for an open-world game to have--and once you finally do see what lies in those unexplored areas, it's often a bit underwhelming. Still, it's a solid start, and I'll certainly be interested in seeing how Genshin Impact continues to evolve in future updates.
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In Progress & Unscored

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  1. Forbes
    Sep 30, 2020
    After spending more time with the game, I’m willing to declare that on the whole, Genshin Impact boasts an entirely better combat system than Breath of the Wild. Simply put, it’s more action-oriented, more diverse, more strategic, and more fun. [Impressions]
  2. GamesRadar+
    Sep 30, 2020
    I'm only a few hours in, but while there's clear potential for this gacha system to become predatory, it hasn't felt at all intrusive. And let's not forget that Genshin Impact is free. You have nothing but a 10GB download to lose. I'm still trying to get over this, because if you focus on the gorgeous world and fun combat and ignore all the gacha stuff, it doesn't feel like a free-to-play game at all. So I suppose that's two more similarities to Breath of the Wild: Genshin Impact is what you make of it, and it is pretty darn fun. [Impressions]
  3. Kotaku
    Sep 30, 2020
    Genshin Impact is a solid action-RPG with an open world on the scale of something you’d expect from a full-price game rather than something that’s available for free. It spices up formulaic combat with creative ideas. Even the derivative parts are, for what it’s worth, well-executed. At the very least, the game is worth checking out. Just don’t expect it to be Breath of the Wild 1.5. [Impressions]
  5. Wired
    Oct 3, 2020
    All of Genshin Impact’s influences conspire to make the player feel very good, with or without microtransactions. Breath of the Waifu or a free, serotonin-packed RPG, Genshin Impact hits all the right buttons if you can get over the guilt. [Impressions]

Awards & Rankings

31
#31 Best PC Game of 2020
6
#6 Most Discussed PC Game of 2020

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
4.1

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 3024 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,057 out of 3024
  2. Mixed: 229 out of 3024
  3. Negative: 1,738 out of 3024
  1. ToastAzazine
    Sep 29, 2020
    0
    Toxic community, Characters not worth pulling, company is too stingy.

    If you don't spend money you will get disapointed. They still haven't    Toxic community, Characters not worth pulling, company is too stingy.

    If you don't spend money you will get disapointed.

    They still haven't fixed Monas C1 after 2 years. The devs don't care about bugs unless they reduce their profit. Just shows how much the devs don't care about the game or the community.    … Full Review »
  2. omegahunter08
    Nov 2, 2020
    1
    I give it a 1 just to honor the people who created the beautiful fictional world.
    The artists and character designers, the music composers,    I give it a 1 just to honor the people who created the beautiful fictional world.
    The artists and character designers, the music composers, the storywriters, everyone who gave it their all.
    Sadly this game is pestered with unrealistically overpriced microtransactions and limitations to gameplay.
    You can basically only play the game for 15 minutes daily before you are forced to buy more "resin" (energy). WIthout it you are unable to collect rewards of dungeons and enemy encounters. A fundemental part of every rpg, and this game.
    There is no way to level up your characters, and in general progress, after a certain point in the game without using these dungeons. In other words there is nothing else to do.
    The rates at which you unlock new characters through gambling are too low as well. And the amount of money spend on each roll is way too high.
    Though again, even if you get lucky, you will barely be able to play that character because you are not allowed to grind for the required materials without spending even more on microtransaction.

    Stay away from this game and the company behind it. They don't listen to their community. They spit on everyone, including paying customers.
    (Some more personal issues with this game):
    I am not really saying that the gameplay in Genshin is entirely bad, but there really is not much to do When you're unable to choose the characters you wish to play.
    (Daily logins with barely any rewards and the same repetitive and underwhelming tasks definitely take a toll on you after a while)
    The gacha, characters only being obtainable through lootboxes, is really pulling down the score of this game.
    Players who don't choose to spend 1000-20000$ on this game will never obtain the full constellation of even one character (bonuses and special properties which are added to the kit of a character, changing up the way the function)
    It especially is heartbreaking when you read the stories of a certain character which you unlock by playing them, through "friendship exp", getting to know them better. But you still cannot make that character function, and have the most fun with them without getting their constellations.

    Imagine Battlefront, but you need to pay 1000$ to unlock Vader as a playable character, and then another 6000$ to unlock all his abilities and passives.    … Full Review »
  3. 1998HondaCivic
    Oct 24, 2020
    0
    Early game is a honey trap to lure you into a Ponzi scam that will shaft you. They ruined this game's potential to have a great RPG with animeEarly game is a honey trap to lure you into a Ponzi scam that will shaft you. They ruined this game's potential to have a great RPG with anime aesthetic. The game have pretty braindead mechanics: Go in, element 1 and mix another element; and boom! Higher damage output. It's kinda shallow and the learning curve is just thrown out of the window. MiHoYo just dumps on the player by raising the cap of the resin while not doing anything about the resin regeneration. Gacha, I won't care about about the rates if the Primogem income is pretty decent but nah, the primogem you get as you level up is non-existent and chest will not spawn unless you get to level up your world level which is gonna be painfully tedious to do after AR 35+. On the technical aspect, You have stamina system of the phone and yet majority of phone users who want to play this game either can't download it or their phone is about to blow up after few minutes into the game. Some people who also have high spec monitors have technical problems playing the game. Overall, great potential is just potential if the execution is awful.… Full Review »
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