Genshin Impact, a free-to-play ARPG, has been getting a lot of attention over the past month. It’s seen a lot of praise, but it’s also attracted a bit of controversy thanks to its use of a Gacha mechanic. For those of you who don’t know, in a Gacha game you spend real world money for a chance to win a certain character or item. Genshin Impact made its production costs back within its first two weeks of fully launching using this approach, and unlike many Gacha games the gameplay is actually pretty good. So, why the controversy?
The main criticism of games that implement a Gacha mechanism is that they use unfair and addictive gameplay loops that eventually demand that you pay to progress. Unlike a game that’s paid for upfront there’s theoretically no limit to how much you can spend playing the game. Most people won’t spend a penny, but a small percentage who either have the cash to spare or who are particularly susceptible to gambling addictions end up spending thousands. The question is, how responsible and accountable are the company behind the offering?
In many aspects Genshin Impact is a fairly blatant rip off of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, from the art style, to the exploration, to the soundtrack, to the enemies, to the climbing, gliding, and cooking. Genshin blends these elements with a sprawling Eastern RPG and parts of an MMO. While it’s a little unoriginal it’s hard to deny that there’s something extremely satisfying about the gameplay. It has me sinking anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 hours a session into it.
The story is absolute gibberish and embarrassingly most of the characters look like they belong on a stained pillow of shame. It’s no less grindy than a lot of RPGs that I’ve previously complained about, but there’s something that keeps drawing me back in. I think part of that stems from the fact that I can play it on my mobile. Barring a couple of issues with cutscenes, it’s impressive to see it run so well and look so good. Genshin’s world is enormous and is likely to get bigger, but you rarely go more than a few minutes before you find a new treasure to open or challenge to beat.
There’s a constant sense of progress throughout Genshin with clear milestones for what you’ll unlock next. It somehow manages to maintain momentum through a delicate balance of many varied but simple tasks. On the way to Adventure Rank 27, that progression has rarely felt like a chore. Perhaps that feeling will change as I start to creep towards level 50. While I’ve really enjoyed my time with Genshin and have yet to spend a single penny on it, the presence of it’s Gacha mechanic makes me find it hard to relax.
At the start of 2020 I’d sworn off playing any more Eastern developed RPGs. One of the major reasons for this was in the way I seemed to react to certain gameplay loops within them. Something disturbed me in how clinically efficient a lot of these games were at keeping me playing for a long time after all the fun had been sucked from the process. Though similar loops can be found in Western games, in my experience, I’ve been able to walk away from these a lot more easily if I’m no longer enjoying myself. I struggle to identify why, but I’m aware something is keeping me there by design.
I can lean towards having an addictive personality. I find myself spending hours ticking off achievements, not because I enjoy it, but because I feel like I have to. I couldn’t sleep easy knowing my Pokedex was incomplete. I felt compelled to platinum FFXV despite groaning through most of it. I was bored and frustrated by Monster Hunter World, but that didn’t stop me playing it for hundreds of hours. These games stuck with me long after turning off the console, and not in a good way.
Genshin Impact is therefore somewhat of a conundrum for me. I feel hooked, but not obsessively so. There’s the presence of a Gacha loot box system, but I’ve not yet felt like I’ve needed or wanted to spend any money. I’m enjoying myself a lot, but I struggle to explain why. I just hope that I can wean myself off it if that enjoyment ever turns sour or if miHoYo, the company behind the game, have more aggressive long term plans for monetising their player base.
Here’s the conflict I’m struggling to resolve in my head. If I’d paid £50 for Genshin Impact, I’d probably be kicking myself for breaking my 2020 resolution. As a free-to-play game, I’m extremely impressed with it and feel that it’s far more deserving of my money than the usual Gacha cash-ins. I’m not yet sure whether Genshin Impact represents a positive change in what we can expect from F2P games, or whether it’s a sign that harmful practices are becoming more prevalent in mainstream gaming. All I know is I can’t put it down and that’s either a very good thing or a very bad thing. It’s up to miHoYo to decide which.
Genshin Impact is available now on iOS, Android, PC, and PS4, and will be available on PS5 as of November 12.
