Most likely the best game I've ever played.
Since this is the first time I'm doing a Review blog, I thought I'd start out showcasing what these will be like by reviewing Genshin Impact, an extremely popular video game that I've been playing for over a year.
What exactly is Genshin Impact? It's an open-world, character-driven, looter RPG (role-playing game) developed by Mihoyo, a Chinese company giant in the gaming industry. It has been nominated for many awards, including Ultimate Game of The Year from the Golden Joystick awards. Genshin Impact is free to download and play, and yet made just shy of $250 million dollars in the first month of its release due to its massive microtransaction system (which I'll explain more about later).
I first tried Genshin a couple months after its release when I heard about it. It did take a while for it to grow on me, as I have some high standards for these style of games. I have played many other games in the open-world RPG genre, including Destiny 2, which I had been playing since 2017. But after I put dozens of hours into Genshin and got past the learning curve, it quickly soared into becoming my new standard for the genre - literally.
What makes it so good?
1 - Story and Characters
This is such a vital aspect of the entirety of Genshin Impact. It's the lifeblood of the entire game, and the core reason I enjoy it so much. It's also the main reason I play it. Without the vibrant character focus, and the incredible depth to the story and lore that keeps you finding something new under the surface, it simply would not be the same. All story-centric games wouldn't be the same if their lore was more lackluster, but Genshin especially. But Genshin does have a great storyline, and it's so refreshing compared to other games.
In Genshin Impact, you play as a Traveler from another world who runs into trouble on the world of Teyvat, the land where Genshin takes place. After a battle with an unidentified god, the traveler is seperated from their sibling and essentially knocked unconscious for 500 years. After the traveler awakens, they have one goal: find and reunite with their sibling and get revenge on the unknown god. With a trusty companion in a fairy named Paimon, you set out on your mission. Teyvat is ruled by a faction called The Seven, divine god-like beings known as Archons. Since you're looking to get revenge on a god, you figure it must be one of the seven Archons, who each rule a nation on Teyvat. The entire game is essentially you, the Traveler, journeying to each nation one by one, meeting the Archons, dozens of other characters, and solving the major dilemmas of each nation. There are currently 3 of the 7 nations available in the game, Mondstadt (inspired by western civilization), Liyue (inspired by China) and Inazuma (inspired by Japan). A new nation is added every year. Power is a huge part of the world of Teyvat, elemental power specifically. Each nation and Archon is associated with an element and theme, a well-utilized component of the worldbuilding that makes the lore even better. Mondstadt, ruled by the Anemo Archon, is the nation of Freedom, and its element is Anemo (wind). Liyue is the nation of Contracts, and formerly ruled by the Geo (rock) Archon. Inazuma is the nation of Eternity, and is ruled by the Electro Archon. Electro is the power of lightning.
Each part of the main storyline of Genshin is unique, and that doesn't even include the dozens of quest and character stories. And to make it even better, it's very much kid-friendly compared to a lot of story-based games. I feel that comes from the fact that the developer of Genshin Impact is Chinese. The culture of the eastern and Asian part of the world definitely shines through here.
There's a lot more to the storyline than what I've detailed so far, but I'll stop here or I'll be here for days. Yes, the storyline is that long and thorough. So it's time to move on to the second half of this segment, one that goes hand in hand with the story: the characters.
A vigilante knight. A responsible leader leading a life of self-sacrifice for her people. A cold-blooded warrior with a traumatic past. An opera singer who's... surprisingly good at combat, a biological clone who likes alchemy and painting, a wine-loving bard who's way too powerful for his own good, and a funeral parlor owner who's got a creepily lighthearted take on death. (See how it got weirder the more I mentioned?) These are just a tiny fraction of all the cool and in some cases straight up bizarre playable characters in Genshin Impact, and more are added almost every six weeks.
What makes the cast so good is their uniqueness and colorful personalities. Each one of them is so different than the other, it's impossible to not find someone that you like. I was genuinely surprised at how there could be so many characters yet nearly all of them have unique flair and backstories. You really can feel for lots of them and connect. Lots of the more major characters feel very real, such as Raiden Shogun, the Electro Archon. She is first portrayed as being the oppressive ruler of Inazuma, but as you progress through the main story, you begin to see more and more of her personality fleshed out. (I don't want to spoil it so I'll move on).
Many of the tropes for the characters may seem common but lots of them have creative twists that I don't see a whole lot of in other franchises. Overall, there's just a perfect balance that Genshin Impact strikes when it comes to its characters. Kids who aren't able to comprehend a lot of the deeper themes of the game can still fall in love with the characters because of their simple, cool looks and powers, and adults can enjoy them for the real-life emotions the characters go through. (And powers. Adults like magic powers too!)
2 - Gameplay
For die-hard gamers, this is the most important part of any game. For me, it's important... but I don't need any fancy gameplay or movement to enjoy it. Gameplay in Genshin Impact is as it should be, simple, easy to understand and get good at, yet engaging no matter how many hours you play.
There's tons of depth to all of the leveling systems. Since it's an RPG game, it's got what all classic games in the genre have: lots of different kinds of collectible items that you'll need to obtain in order to upgrade your characters. So if you play, you'll be spending lots of time grinding for the materials you need. Grinding is something that exists in plenty of games like Genshin, but in my opinion, Genshin does the best at making the grind long so you won't run out of things to do and get bored, but also rewarding enough so you won't get burned out often. This is what separates Genshin from games like Destiny 2. Destiny's grinding system got so infuriating for me that I was just tired of always working so hard and getting little sense of reward in return.
The least-liked system in Genshin, however, is the microtransaction system. As in, you can pay real money for an in-game item called Wishes. Wishes are how you actually obtain characters in the game. Spend enough wishes, get characters and weapons. Easy math, except you'll quickly find that the game will absolutely bankrupt you if you let it. It's designed so you hopefully spend money on it. It's a much-hated system that's easy for developers to exploit, but Genshin again does it better than other games. It's easier to obtain good items for free, and if you spend your money wisely, the returns are very good. In the past year, I've spent a total of just 30 dollars and still have a few high-end characters some other people don't have.
Genshin Impact is also critizied for its lack of multiplayer. I say the lack of multiplayer is a great strength. No need to worry about another player killing you, you can do everything at your own pace and have simple fun. No one's ever yelling at you or harming you, there's no stress or pressure... who doesn't like no stress?
3 - Visuals
"Genshin Impact is an anime waifu game," lots of people once said. To which I reply "No". As if the game didn't have a great story and gameplay, it's also got some of the most remarkable graphics on a console. It's smooth, high quality, and the colors are so vibrant and full. This is precisely what I enjoy the most in games, great colors. I've gotten so tired of the way many games nowadays are full of the dreary, grey color palette and the world looks like a broken-down wreck. I despise when games are designed to look like the world suffered an apocalypse and now everything is depressing. You know, there's a lot more to the world than just grey. Yes, I'm talking to you, Call of Duty and whatever else. Vibrant colors > so called "realism".
I've fallen in love with the scale of the world of Teyvat that just keeps growing. It's so pretty just to look at. Snow-covered mountains, blue skies, open fields, dark forests, crystal clear rivers, cherry blossom trees, it's all great.
Final Verdict:
There are of course some imperfections with the game, but they aren't game-breakers. Ultimately, it comes down to whether one just simply likes the game or not. Not everyone does, not everyone will. But to me, it's one of the most fun games I've ever played. It's deep, it's fun, it's colorful, and for those reasons, I rate Genshin Impact a 9 out of 10.
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