When Genshin Impact hit the gaming world by storm, people initially thought of it as a simple Breath of the Wild remake. Fortunately for early doubters, Genshin Impact boasted a robust story with plenty of waifus and husbandos to recruit - all with their unique appearances, weapons, and skillsets. Soon enough, gamers found themselves in immersive boss fights that demanded a kind of technical prowess unseen in a free title.
Today, Genshin Impact remains a big hit to its ever-growing fanbase. However, newcomers to the game might have some misconceptions about Genshin Impact and its overall concept.
10 Just Breath Of The Waifu
A popular early misconception in the early days of Genshin Impact is its comparison with Breath of the Wild. After all, its open-world setting, puzzles, and gameplay mechanics seem very similar to the Zelda title. While Mihoyo did confirm that Breath of the Wild was an inspiration, it’s not the sole inspiration for the game.
As elaborated by Mihoyo President Forrest Wei Liu, it was the company’s love for Japanese entertainment that largely influenced Genshin Impact. He noted inspirations from Japanese ACG (Anime, Comics, Games) culture in particular.
9 Plain Action Combat
Thanks to the rise of martial arts MMOs such as Blade & Soul and Black Desert Online, it’s no surprise that Genshin Impact is also an action RPG. And given memes regarding the game being a Zelda clone, fans can expect combat to become a combination of both action and puzzle-solving. However, combat doesn’t end there.
Each character not only has a unique weapon but also controls a particular element - be it Pyro, Geo, Hydro, Electro, or Anemo. Characters of the same element receive bonuses (Resonance), and elemental attacks can interact with each other and the environment. As such, players can burn, freeze, melt, and electrocute things, among others.
8 Typical Western Aesthetic With An Anime Twist
Players who look at Genshin Impact for the first time can immediately notice how its characters have come straight from anime. And for fans of other Mihoyo games such as Honkai Impact, the influence in aesthetics won’t come as a surprise. However, while Genshin Impact takes place in a fantasy setting, its themes and aesthetics are definitely not based on Western designs.
Rather, the game also takes great lengths to include motifs based on Asian culture in character designs. For instance, Zhongyuan from Mihoyo’s Creative Concept and Writing Department expands on the design process used to create Xiao. In Developer Insight 4, the team elaborated that the Genshin Impact adepti are based on the “immortals” of Daoism. Other influences in the design include Journey to the West, the guardian deity Huaguang Tianwang, and Nuo Masks.
7 Doesn’t Have Any Story At All
Given its nature as a free-to-play game, some newcomers might get first impressions that the game doesn’t have any interesting stories to share. Folks from acclaimed MMOs such as World of Warcraft would remember that the Blizzard MMO has yet to conclude its story after eight expansions. Moreover, the hit MMO Final Fantasy 14 earned fan praise for its story, but it’s also a subscription-based game.
However, Genshin Impact does have quite an intriguing story. A Reddit post also had commenters agree that it’s the game’s story that largely hooked them in the game. At its core, Genshin Impact explores the player (the Traveler) and their journey as they save their twin from a mysterious god in the world of Teyvat. However, their arrival there will have players getting embroiled in the world’s own problems.
6 Lore Is Average At Best
Given the fantasy premise of Genshin Impact, it’s natural for MMO savants to assume that its background lore may simply be “humans versus everyone else” or “factions versus factions” similar to the likes of World of Warcraft. However, as new players may soon realize, even the lore in Genshin Impact is surprisingly deep for a free-to-play MMO.
For instance, there are Reddit users such as u/XeroDK and even the r/Genshin_Lore subreddit dedicated to trying to unravel “hidden” pieces within the game’s story thanks to background lore. YouTubers such as Teyvat Historia also create high-quality videos regarding lore surrounding the game’s story. Eagle-eyed players themselves can encounter small stories revolving around NPCs.
5 Gender Balance Just A Coincidence
One look at the Genshin Impact character list would have players wonder if the gender balance (or imbalance) in the game is just a coincidence. After all, minus the player-created Traveler, there are 12 Male and 28 Female characters amongst the current 40-character roster. Interestingly, it seems this move may be deliberate after all.
In a speech back in the 2017 China Games Industry Annual Conference, Mihoyo co-founder Liu Wei emphasized that their team’s success was all thanks to the earlier adoption of their “paying for love” strategy. Unlike mainstream games that emphasized monetization over getting stronger, Mihoyo emphasized monetization due to a player’s love for certain characters. And it seems this strategy is paying off, as Sensor Tower indicated that Genshin Impact generated close to USD 874 million in revenue within its first five months in mobile app stores.
4 Characters Are Incredibly Sexualized
Due to the character collection aspect of the game, some players did express concern over the portrayal of some female characters. For instance, a poll in the Mihoyo community forums did have 26.87-percent of respondents agree that female characters in the game had very revealing outfits. Further, in the comments, user “Cate Elizzy” lamented the emphasized chests of female characters like Noelle, whose maid-themed dress still highlighted her breasts. Likewise,”MartiniDaniels” also commented on the tight-fitted outfit of characters like Ganyu and also Rosaria.
However, 44.05-percent of the same Mihoyo forums poll also voted that the characters looked “fine” the way they were. In a Reddit post, user u/nana_da shared her perspective as a female player of the game. She noted that Genshin Impact “is actually a lot female-friendly in terms of character and story so far.” Her post stated that on top of a lot of playable female characters, the game’s story also featured women in positions of power and received a lot of development.
3 Design Concerns End With Outfits
Given the concerns expressed about the sexualization of some characters, it’s evident that part of the controversy regarding designs in Genshin Impact revolves around the use of clothing. However, fans shouldn’t dismiss the #BoycottGenshinImpact or #BoycottGenshin hashtags simply for outfit design.
While the hashtag couldn’t be traced to a specific Tweet, others did express concerns over how Mihoyo seemingly used other cultures to influence parts of the world’s design. For instance, a clip from the Mihoyo Tour 2020 implied that the Hilichurl creatures in the game may have been based on indigenous peoples. Others also expressed concerns that Xinyan and Kaeya, both characters with notably darker skin compared to the rest of the cast, may have appeared racially insensitive.
2 Its Gacha System Is A Scam
Perhaps the epitome of Genshin Impact misconceptions stems from its primary gameplay feature: gacha. This game term usually applies to mobile games from China, Japan, and South Korea where players have to “pull” or “roll” for characters. To those who played Western games, the concept seems oddly similar to loot boxes. Due to this, others did express concern about the system being predatory. For instance, YouTuber Mtashed quit making in-purchases for the game after spending USD 5,440.
While discussions over the overall impact of gacha in widespread gaming is overwhelming, some did try explaining a cultural aspect that surrounds the mechanic. For instance, Florence Chee of Loyola University said in an article that controversy over the topic may arise from “the Western audience’s lack of familiarity with the business model.” Chee cited that in North America, institutions treat “gamers” and “gamblers” as separate audience groups. In contrast, she noted that entertainment statistics in South Korea don’t treat the two as distinct demographics.
1 Unenjoyable Game As A Free Player
Since MMOs need to make money, a free-to-play game isn’t entirely “free” to play. Thanks to freemium monetization methods, the game encourages players to buy in-game items and currencies. For instance, the loot box system in a lot of games today locks a lot of cosmetics behind purchasable item packs. Since Genshin Impact has a gacha system, wouldn’t this mean free players will have to buy premium items to escape the inevitable grind?
Surprisingly, not necessarily! At its core, the game generously awards players with premium currency when they complete certain tasks or reach certain levels. Moreover, players can acquire a large number of upgrade resources while playing the game without the need for blatant grinding. While players may need to increase their Adventure Level to access certain quests, a large part of the game’s “repeatable” tasks aren’t repetitive.