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| (Image Source: PC Gamer/Mihoyo) |
The month of September capped off with the release of Genshin Impact, an open-world role-playing game from Chinese-based developer Mihoyo released on Android, iOS, PlayStation 4 and PC. To the surprise of gamers and non-gamers alike, Genshin Impact quickly took and captured the world by storm in its first week and probably even before its worldwide release. Heck, I was awed and impressed by the game's numbers that immediately made me thinking and asking myself how a mobile RPG from China was able to capture the hearts of gamers across the globe in just a short span a time amidst the continuing threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is not obvious that gaming is one of the most essential things for those staying safe in the comforts of their home to spend most of their free time aside from binge-watching, and I would not be surprised if the first thing that comes into mind when asked about what is the most recent game one is playing is Genshin Impact. The game has recorded more than 20 million pre-registered players during its prior to its release and 17 million downloads on mobile in its first four days. According to a report by IGN, the game has grossed US$50 million in revenue across the platforms it is released on making it the most successful internationally released game from China. These numbers feel like Genshin Impact is regarded as a perfect storm coming from the East brewing over the West and it is worth being curiously intriguing.
You play as a traveler, either Aether or Lumine by default unless you give him/her a preferred name, who has been stripped of his/her powers and lost his/her twin after a certain battle with the Unknown God and its minions while travelling across different worlds and eventually stranded into the world of Teyvat. On your personal journey to reclaim your powers and twin sibling, you will across different characters that will accompany you throughout the adventure. What makes it more interesting that you can learn more about these characters through their story arcs which would let you recruit them.
Although the elements of the game are inspired by The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, what makes Genshin Impact stand out on its own is its unique battle system where each character possesses abilities and elements that can affect the outcome of any random battle or encounter and interact with the environments to take advantage of different situations during battles. Then there is Wish, which is basically the game's Gacha mechanic, that enables players to recruit the best characters by literally rolling the dice and having the best odds or chances of making the right pull of the said characters.
For an incredibly impressive free-to-play title, Genshin Impact may be regarded by those who haven't tried the game as a typical Breath Of The Wild clone with a bit of gacha but its gorgeous graphics and open-world environments, anime-style characters, engaging side stories and excitingly fun gameplay that can satisfy those who have tried and played considering that it has a wealth of content and flavor as well as secrets to be traversed around the world of Teyvat even without rolling out the gacha just to pull what you want. And these are what you can expect and indulge in from a perfect storm straight from China. Anyway, with these in mind, I end this article with a video review of the game as a glimpse of what you can expect from trying it out and see for yourself if it is worth playing in the safe comforts of home.
