Hello, curious person and possible Genshin Impact newcomer. Genshin Impact 2.1 goes live today, heralding new characters. The grandest of which is the much-awaited arrival of Baal, The Raiden Shogun, to the playable character roster. Long-time players have been saving up their primogems (the in-game gacha currency) or their real-life money for her for weeks now.

You've probably seen her character art all over the internet as players celebrate having attained her from the RNG-dependent banner. Either that or your ad algorithms have been assailed by the numerous Genshin Impact ads that seem nigh-inescapable as long as you follow anything remotely related to video games.

But, what is Genshin Impact, and should you get into it? Is it too late to start? Is it worth starting anyway? Don't worry, these were the same questions I asked myself about a month ago too, as a single-player RPG lover who viewed gacha games with trepidation. I'd only played one gacha game before, and bounced off once I saw the nigh-endless skill tree progression that was indelibly tied to RNG-based gacha mechanics. And well, that one basically played itself so I didn't really derive much joy from it.

However, a lot of my friends have been playing Genshin Impact for a while now. They kept assuring me that I would enjoy the experience – especially since I've always been enamored by games that are set in Asian-inspired settings. The colorful, anime-inspired characters peppering every other advertisement I saw also probably helped.

So, here I am, one month later, having caught up with the story literally the day before the Genshin Impact 2.1 update dropped. Was it worth it, and will I keep playing?

What is Genshin Impact?

Genshin Impact describes itself with the following statement:

Genshin Impact is a free-to-play open-world action RPG that brings players to the visually stunning world of Teyvat. The player takes on the role of the mysterious “Traveler,” who sets off on a journey to discover the fate of their lost sibling and unveils the mysterious secrets of Teyvat along the way.”

Yes, it is all of these things. Free to play. Open-world. An action RPG. But one cannot discount that it is also a gacha game. So let's break these down a bit and take a look at these genres and see how Genshin Impact fits into these molds.

Genshin Impact as an Open-World Action-RPG

It is in these two categories that Genshin Shines the most. Teyvat is a wonder to explore, with secrets around every corner and multitudes of different landscapes. The cities of Mondstadt, Liyue, and Inazuma are all diverse and culturally distinct, with architecture, music, and history that set each other apart. I want very much to laud it for actually taking the effort to present Liyue (heavily inspired by China), and Inazuma  (heavily inspired by Japan), as two drastically different places instead of taking the usual video game route of creating a vague East-Asian amalgamation of the two cultures with a small dash of inspiration from Korea and Southeast Asia and then calling it a day.

Teyvat is a tapestry of different cultures and peoples, and while it doesn't have the procedurally-generated sidequests like other open-world games, it still manages to feel alive. There are many references in the sidequests, and parallels in the main story, to myths, legends, and folklore from these regions. The characters as well, are all unique in terms of design and gameplay, and while the story does feel quite a bit like your run-of-the-mill JRPG – “go around the world collecting things while an overarching plot slowly moves forward” – the characters' personalities still shine.

Gameplay-wise Genshin Impact seems to take some cues from Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – and no, not just because of the art style. The main crux of Genshin Impact's gameplay is the elemental reactions, that affect exploration, traversal, and of course, combat. Some puzzles require a combination of different elements to unlock, and each character commands only one of seven at a time. Combat is done in groups of four characters (whether you're playing solo or co-op).

The seven elements are Pyro, Hydro, Cryo, Electro, Anemo, Geo, and Dendro. Combinations of two different elements create different effects – for example, Cryo + Hydro results in Freeze, which renders enemies encased in ice and unable to move or attack. Additionally, they are 20% more vulnerable to damage from claymores. It is these different elemental reactions that are the pillar of Genshin Impacts combat, and mixing and matching to find your desired play style is incredibly fun.

Genshin Impact as a “Free-to-Play” Gacha Game

However, as fun as the exploration and combat are, there is no escaping the fact that Genshin Impact is still, in fact, a gacha game. Sure, the game is free to install and play, and going through the story will get you four free characters to start with, but progression is still heavily tied to RNG-based gacha systems.

What does this mean exactly? Well, a lot of time-gating and wishing for loot boxes to drop you what you need. As a live-service game, time-gating is to be expected. For example, certain types of loot are only obtainable on certain days, and there's an energy system (here in the form of resin) that gets depleted as you do activities and is replenished by waiting (or buying more resin with real money). There are also daily quests, and weekly quests that need to be kept up with so you don't miss out on rewards. All-in-all, pretty standard in today's live-service saturated gaming atmosphere.

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However, there are also banners – limited-time events where you “pull” characters and weapons. Basically, it's gambling but with a pity system. Genshin Impact 5-star characters have a standard 0.6% drop rate – however, this chance goes up to 100% on your 90th pull, and “soft-pity” kicks in at around your 75th pull, increasing your chances relatively. Considering one pull takes 160 primogems, that's quite a considerable amount if you're unlucky. And even then, you might not even get the 5-star you want if you lose the 50/50. The weapon banner has even worse odds.

Is still worth starting in Genshin Impact 2.1?

So, with all of that in mind, is Genshin Impact worth starting, now almost a year after its first release? Personally, I'd answer with an emphatic yes. Teyvat is a joy to explore and fight in, and for a free-to-play game, it is incredibly generous in terms of polish and quality in the exploration and gameplay departments. Even if you'd missed out on a year's worth of content, it only takes about a month to catch up to Genshin Impact 2.1 story-wise (and that's with me mostly playing on weekends and a couple of hours scattered throughout the weekday). It will take even longer to catch up in terms of character progression, but if you're in no rush, and are just here for fun, and not to be at the bleeding edge of the meta, then please, do yourself a favor and give it a try. There's a reason the game exploded in popularity last year and continues to grow a passionate fanbase.

However, this recommendation doesn't come without caveats. Again, Genshin Impact is still a gacha game, no matter how polished and well presented it is. There are a lot of barriers to progression that are easily glossed over with the swipe of a credit card and the emptying of a wallet. So, if you feel you would be too tempted to spend too much money on this game, or lack the impulse control to stop yourself from spending, I cannot wholeheartedly recommend it.

Genshin Impact can be a wonderful experience through a truly beautiful world – just be mindful of how you spend your resources, both in-game and in real life. If you'd like to do even more research about the game, you can check out our other articles here.