Sh-Ron Almeida
Assist. Arts & Entertainment Editor
In this massive open world adventure game you play as a mysterious traveler who was separated from their sibling by a powerful entity. Now – waking up in a world called Teyvat, the traveler meets a fairy named Paimon. Together, they embark on a journey to find the traveler's sibling while encountering friends and foes along the way.
The best part of this game is Teyvat itself, a gorgeous world bursting with endless possibilities. Everywhere you look is a treasure chest of artifacts, money, experience points and other items to buff up your characters. From enemies to beat down, puzzles to solve, challenges to partake in, dungeons to brave through and quests to complete, there is never a dull moment in “Genshin Impact.”
The combat is easy to follow and revolves around switching between a party of four diverse characters to shoot, hack, slash and explode through a broad assortment of enemy types. Each character has their own elemental superpowers which put that element to good use in battle. By switching between characters and using their powers synergistically, you can unleash some seriously effective combinations. For example, if you use a character with water skills to get the enemy wet, then follow up with another’s electric attack, damage is multiplied and can wipe out a boatload of baddies in one go – Or if you shock an enemy with an electric attack and then have the fire character strike next, you can create an explosion powerful enough to kill your foes.
Ironically enough, “Genshin Impact’s” story and dialogue were some of the weakest points of the game. It doesn't help that the various characters are basically cliche anime tropes come to life. We have the flirtatious witch, the spunky over-ambitious girl, the stoic vigilante, the mysterious womanizer, the no-nonsense knight, the bratty fairy girl, etc. I was almost expecting to take a test when characters reiterate the same magical jargon from time to time. The story also has a bad habit of meandering from one amusingly pointless misadventure to another with little rhyme or reason. Not to mention, the ever frustrating Adventure Rank ascensions, where you’ll need to complete a dungeon of maddening obstacles and monsters to advance to the next quests.
There are plenty of reasons why “Genshin Impact” is a near perfect game for the students at Rhode Island College. For one, this game is free-to-play, except for when you want to acquire new characters into your party. It takes huge inspiration from “Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” and anime. Despite it being light on storytelling, “Genshin Impact '' makes up for it big time by encouraging its players to explore every nook and cranny of Teyvat. Additionally, it’s a wildly addictive experience that keeps you coming back for more.
“Genshin Impact” was released in September 2020 for the PC and PS4, with a future release in the PS5 sometime in April, and a Nintendo Switch release in development. Did I mention that it’s free?