nigoi
1 review liked by nigoi
Genshin Impact
2020
This is a review entry for base Genshin Impact, so Mondstadt and the core gameplay. Backloggd has entries for most of the updates, so I will review specific story expansions and other updates in those.
Genshin Impact is a game that is next to impossible to discuss with nuance on the Internet. A vast majority of the discussion is between terminal gacha addicts in denial and people who often haven't played it at all doing the "ok Genshin Impact fan xD" bit, with little in-between. Some of this stuff is blatantly disingenuous, which you can see with some reviews here, or whenever there is a mention of the game in a videogame community. One major example of this would be the "Genshin is pedo" half-joke, even though Genshin does something that I think frankly the overwhelming majority of other gacha, anime, manga anime-styled JRPGs and visual novels don't have the decency to do, and that's not sexualise young-looking characters. I won't pretend that Mihoyo/Hoyoverse mind if they get money from someone like that, especially considering the amount of Klee ads, but the game itself is extremely non-sexualised with adult characters, let alone younger ones. Something like F/GO or Blue Archive is far more indulgent in such things. There was no point in Genshin's story that has made me uncomfortable with something like that in my three years of playing it on and off. The fanbase is another matter, of course, there is no use pretending that there aren't some weird people there, like in most anime-adjacent media fanbases.
With that out of the way, this review will attempt to capture my thoughts on the base game, as a video game.
Genshin's visuals and music are amazing. It feels like I am on an adventure every step of the way. It looks better than most singleplayer anime-styled games, even in its mobile version. The characters and environments look consistently great. Combining various skills and ults leads to some very cool fights. The cutscenes are top-notch, too. The music and visual aesthetic vary from region to region, which is something I appreciate. Mondstadt, Dragonspine aside, is the most boring region, and also first in the story, but it has its own atmosphere. The world building is really good in this game, by the way, you get to know a lot about every region and how its people live, and they all feel distinctly different, rather than a generic European high fantasy inspired setting that you see in a lot of anime-related and JRPG media. There are some really good boss themes, too. Mondstadt's storyline wasn't anything special, but it was fun for what it was. The story definitely picks up in following regions (in the early portions of the story the Traveller still has Paimon speak and think for them instead of being an actual character), which I'll get to in future reviews.
The core gameplay is fun. Combining attacks to make elemental reactions with various characters (put a bit of fire into a tornado, now it's a flame tornado, or stand on top of water and shoot a tornado, it's now a water tornado), as well as character specifics, like grouping enemies with Anemo characters, are cool. The problem becomes that the enemies get damage sponges sometimes, but it doesn't bother me for the most part.
Some of the gameplay systems are frustrating. I hate the "this character is somewhere else in another quest, do it first before continuing the one you actually want!" mechanic. Getting artifacts is very luck-based, so if you care about getting the most out of your characters, you'll end up grinding for hours. Personally, I never cared about artifacts much, so I do like 30-60 minutes per character and just use the best things I have (though my life being easy ever since the early portions of the game may be partially attributed to rolling Diluc early on). I also don't really care about the FOMO or the gacha grind aspects since I have too much media that I want to get to outside of Genshin and mostly have all the characters I'd want. So if you're like me and don't care about the Abyss or whatever and mostly focus on the story/gameplay/exploration aspect, this is a very fun game. The co-op aspect makes exploration even more fun, giving your friend(s) a lift with Venti or something is really nice.
There is a reason why I keep coming back to this, despite my RPG videogame burnout, and that it's just comfortable; it just works. After my initial gacha addict phase years ago and my subsequent break, I've been coming back mostly for the story and to have a few game sessions with friends. The convenience of it is something that is unparalleled. I have my saves sync across multiple platforms, it has a far more frequent content release schedule than any other game I've played (including MMOs; looks like the exploitative gacha system was good for something), and it's just enjoyable in almost every aspect now that I play it casually and don't feel FOMO urges for it. The detail and love and care put into this game is undeniable. It helps that it feels like an actual videogame instead of what other live service games have, which in my opinion are less enjoyable combat mechanics.
Genshin Impact is a game that is next to impossible to discuss with nuance on the Internet. A vast majority of the discussion is between terminal gacha addicts in denial and people who often haven't played it at all doing the "ok Genshin Impact fan xD" bit, with little in-between. Some of this stuff is blatantly disingenuous, which you can see with some reviews here, or whenever there is a mention of the game in a videogame community. One major example of this would be the "Genshin is pedo" half-joke, even though Genshin does something that I think frankly the overwhelming majority of other gacha, anime, manga anime-styled JRPGs and visual novels don't have the decency to do, and that's not sexualise young-looking characters. I won't pretend that Mihoyo/Hoyoverse mind if they get money from someone like that, especially considering the amount of Klee ads, but the game itself is extremely non-sexualised with adult characters, let alone younger ones. Something like F/GO or Blue Archive is far more indulgent in such things. There was no point in Genshin's story that has made me uncomfortable with something like that in my three years of playing it on and off. The fanbase is another matter, of course, there is no use pretending that there aren't some weird people there, like in most anime-adjacent media fanbases.
With that out of the way, this review will attempt to capture my thoughts on the base game, as a video game.
Genshin's visuals and music are amazing. It feels like I am on an adventure every step of the way. It looks better than most singleplayer anime-styled games, even in its mobile version. The characters and environments look consistently great. Combining various skills and ults leads to some very cool fights. The cutscenes are top-notch, too. The music and visual aesthetic vary from region to region, which is something I appreciate. Mondstadt, Dragonspine aside, is the most boring region, and also first in the story, but it has its own atmosphere. The world building is really good in this game, by the way, you get to know a lot about every region and how its people live, and they all feel distinctly different, rather than a generic European high fantasy inspired setting that you see in a lot of anime-related and JRPG media. There are some really good boss themes, too. Mondstadt's storyline wasn't anything special, but it was fun for what it was. The story definitely picks up in following regions (in the early portions of the story the Traveller still has Paimon speak and think for them instead of being an actual character), which I'll get to in future reviews.
The core gameplay is fun. Combining attacks to make elemental reactions with various characters (put a bit of fire into a tornado, now it's a flame tornado, or stand on top of water and shoot a tornado, it's now a water tornado), as well as character specifics, like grouping enemies with Anemo characters, are cool. The problem becomes that the enemies get damage sponges sometimes, but it doesn't bother me for the most part.
Some of the gameplay systems are frustrating. I hate the "this character is somewhere else in another quest, do it first before continuing the one you actually want!" mechanic. Getting artifacts is very luck-based, so if you care about getting the most out of your characters, you'll end up grinding for hours. Personally, I never cared about artifacts much, so I do like 30-60 minutes per character and just use the best things I have (though my life being easy ever since the early portions of the game may be partially attributed to rolling Diluc early on). I also don't really care about the FOMO or the gacha grind aspects since I have too much media that I want to get to outside of Genshin and mostly have all the characters I'd want. So if you're like me and don't care about the Abyss or whatever and mostly focus on the story/gameplay/exploration aspect, this is a very fun game. The co-op aspect makes exploration even more fun, giving your friend(s) a lift with Venti or something is really nice.
There is a reason why I keep coming back to this, despite my RPG videogame burnout, and that it's just comfortable; it just works. After my initial gacha addict phase years ago and my subsequent break, I've been coming back mostly for the story and to have a few game sessions with friends. The convenience of it is something that is unparalleled. I have my saves sync across multiple platforms, it has a far more frequent content release schedule than any other game I've played (including MMOs; looks like the exploitative gacha system was good for something), and it's just enjoyable in almost every aspect now that I play it casually and don't feel FOMO urges for it. The detail and love and care put into this game is undeniable. It helps that it feels like an actual videogame instead of what other live service games have, which in my opinion are less enjoyable combat mechanics.
