Introduction
MiHoYo’s Genshin Impact is an open-world action role-playing game, launched in September 2020 and received the ‘The Game Award for Best Mobile Game 2021.’ Players will take on the role of the Traveller, who has travelled across worlds of different dimensions with his/her twin sibling before arriving in Teyvat, the universe where Genshin Impact’s stories and adventures take place. The story begins with the Traveller being separated from the twin sibling when they were attacked and lost the battle to an unnamed deity. On the journey to find the sibling, the Traveller meets many friends and enemies and eventually unravels the story and hidden mystery that lies beneath this world.
LENS 9: The Elemental Tetrad
Mechanics
• Aside from the Traveller, many other characters will be playable. The player can put four characters in a party and control one of these interchangeable characters; each character can use weapons from a specific category, and have attributes such as attack and HP, with the character fainting if the HP reaches zero.
• Characters can simulate a variety of real-world realistic actions like fighting, climbing, swimming, air gliding, fishing, items collecting; characters will also respond verbally when weather changes or when they get attacked.
• There are seven magical elements that the characters can acquire; each element has its own elemental reactions, such as water and ice element will cause freezing, the players have to use elemental reactions to get advantages in battles; each element also has different usage to use in the world and to solve puzzles, such as fire being able to light a torch and melt ice.
• The game is set in an open-world where the players can do whatever they want and travel about freely, either alone or with up to three other players online.
Story
• There are seven kingdoms in Teyvat, each controlled by one of the seven elements gods; the player will travel across these lands in pursuit of his/her twin sibling in the main plot.
• There are permanent side quests and event stories that add to the game’s story.
• All of the playable characters will appear in the plot at some point, with many of them having their own backstories to help the player better understand them.
Aesthetics
• Incredible 3D graphics for characters and landscape in-game, combined with 2D animation that plays during story-telling parts of the game.
• Excellent music composed and recorded by HOYO-Mix and world-famous orchestras including London Philharmonic Orchestra and Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.
• Each of the 56 playable characters (as of now) has distinctive movements and voice-over. • Supports 13 text languages in-game and 4 voice-over languages for all characters and NPCs.
Technology
• Platform supported includes mobile (Android & iOS), PC, Play Station (4 & 5) and Cloud.
• Enable cross-play and cross-save progression across the different platforms.
• Supports cloud gaming which displays amazing graphics on any mobile device, however can have lags if the network connection is bad.
• Supports great game graphics at 60 FPS.
LENS 41: Skill vs Chance
• Gacha mechanisms are incorporated, allowing characters and weapons to be gained by chance and luck. The player may spend primogems (which can be gained in-game or purchased with cash) to summon characters and weapons for the characters. Some characters and weapons are more powerful and easier to use than others; if the player is fortunate enough to obtain them, it will be simpler to fight enemies.
• To eliminate enemies faster and easier in Genshin, a certain amount of skill and strategy is required. Because some monsters have weaknesses, such as attacking a specific part of their body can paralyze them, players are encouraged to target their weak points. Also, to claim an easier victory, we must switch between characters at the appropriate times. Characters with various weapon classes have varied powers; for example, bow users can attack from a distance and aim precisely, whilst claymore users are the heaviest striking class and can suppress enemies in close battle.
• Another key part of fighting skills is the ability to employ the seven elements to cause elemental reactions. For example, we may use a fire element character to melt a monster’s ice shield, then switch to a water element character to cover the monster with water element, and then use an ice element character to freeze the monster to make it immobilized.
LENS 46: Reward
• Completing the main story and side quests will give rewards such as primogems and golds; these rewards may also be gained by killing monsters, solving puzzles and finding treasure chests on the map, playing mini-games or doing special missions during events. Exploring around the map can obtain raw materials such as mines (mostly for upgrading weapons) from mining, woods (for building furniture) from trees, ingredients (for cooking) from the wild and unique items that are used to upgrade corresponding characters. Each type of enemy will drop specific items that are used to level up certain characters and their skills. Therefore, the more time the player spends exploring the world, the more likely the player will obtain more items as rewards.
• The spiral abyss in Genshin acts like chambers, with increasing difficulty at each level. The deeper the player progress through the levels, the more rewards he will receive; hence the number of rewards obtained is based on the player’s abilities. Completing the abyss is one of the primary methods for obtaining primogems in-game; the rewards will be reset twice a month.
• Each playable character (apart from the Traveller) has a friendship level, which represents the growth of a character’s connection with the Traveller. By employing a character more frequently, players get awards in the form of unlocking additional stories and voice-overs of the character, as well as a special name card from that character at maximum friendship. There is also an achievement system whereby achievements can be achieved through various methods such as collecting items, solving puzzles and so on. These are intended for those who enjoy collection.
LENS 76: The Hero’s Journey AND LENS 78: Story
• In my opinion, has a fascinating backstory and a decent storyline. As an RPG, it may create an experience that allows the player to feel as though he is growing with the main character. The main character (Traveller) faced many challenges and hard times while on his/her adventure to find the other twin sibling, made many friends, grew stronger by unlocking more than one element that can be used, and finally travelled across all seven nations and became a part of that world’s tale.
LENSE 79: Freedom
• The concept of freedom is critical in an open-world game; it is critical to strike a balance between what the player can and cannot control. The player is free to wander around the map and to switch between any of the summoned characters at any time during the game. Players who enjoy story-telling can concentrate on finishing the main story and/or character’s quest and various side quests, whilst those who prefer combat and exploration can unlock new regions on the map and roam freely. People who enjoy design and building or casual gaming can spend more time in Genshin’s housing system, where they can create and customize their own home and surroundings in special maps.
• There are a few constraints implemented to make the game more realistic. Characters will have a stamina bar that will deplete only when they perform strenuous activities such as sprinting (or dodging), climbing, swimming, air gliding, and performing charged attacks. Therefore, the player can’t let a character perform these actions continuously without resting. In addition, certain places or regions are accessible only by finishing certain stories or tasks that are related.