Genshin Impact Review: Is It Worth Playing?

What is Genshin Impact?

Genshin Impact is a free-to-play, open-world action role-playing game developed by HoYoverse (formerly miHoYo). First released in 2020, the game has seen continuous major updates, with the review considering its state as of 2024. The premise casts you as the Traveler, a dimension-hopping explorer separated from your sibling, who arrives in the vast and vibrant fantasy realm of Teyvat. Your quest to reunite with your lost kin quickly becomes entangled with the fate of the world's seven nations, each devoted to a different elemental archon and brimming with its own political intrigues, ancient mysteries, and colourful cast of characters.

In our view, the game's core identity is that of a sprawling, anime-inspired adventure. It masterfully blends a single-player driven narrative with the live-service model of a gacha game, where new characters, weapons, and story chapters are added every few weeks. While the base game is free, its monetisation revolves around acquiring new characters through a randomised 'Wish' system, a point of significant discussion within the community and a key factor behind its polarising user review scores.

Gameplay

Playing Genshin Impact feels like a polished fusion of several beloved genres. At its heart is a real-time combat system that is deceptively simple to learn but offers genuine depth. You control a party of four characters, switching between them on the fly to chain elemental reactions. Applying Hydro (water) to an enemy and then hitting them with Electro (lightning) triggers an 'Electro-Charged' reaction, for example, dealing damage over time. This system encourages thoughtful team composition and reactive play, making even routine battles engaging.

The true star, however, is the world itself. Exploration is an absolute joy, evoking the same sense of wonder and scale as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. You can climb almost any surface, glide from towering peaks, and discover a landscape dense with puzzles, hidden chests, challenging domains (dungeons), and world bosses. The learning curve is gentle, introducing mechanics steadily over dozens of hours. The depth comes from the 'endgame' pursuits: meticulously building your favourite characters with optimal gear and artefacts to tackle the ever-changing Spiral Abyss, a challenging set of timed combat floors.

In our view, the gameplay loop is compelling but follows a familiar live-service pattern: daily commissions, spending resin (stamina) on resource domains, and pursuing event-limited activities. For some, this can feel like a chore; for others, it's a satisfying routine within a world they love to inhabit. The core story quests and expansive regional updates, like the sumptuous nation of Fontaine, remain largely single-player, narrative-rich experiences that are the game's strongest asset.

Who is Genshin Impact for?

Genshin Impact is primarily for players who enjoy solo, story-driven adventures in a breathtaking open world, but who don't mind a grind and have a high tolerance for free-to-play monetisation mechanics. It is an ideal game for casual explorers who can dip in and out, as well as for dedicated players who relish theory-crafting the perfect team compositions and mastering combat rotations.

While it features co-op multiplayer for up to four players in most overworld areas and domains, in our view it is best experienced as a solo adventure. The narrative and exploration are intensely personal, and the multiplayer feels more like a fun add-on than a core feature. The game draws clear inspiration from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in its exploration and art direction, but its character-driven, team-based combat and ongoing narrative structure also share DNA with more traditional JRPGs and live-service titles like Honkai Impact 3rd (from the same developer). If you enjoy getting lost in a beautiful world, uncovering lore, and collecting a diverse roster of characters with whom to do it, this game will resonate deeply.

Graphics and Performance

Genshin Impact's visual style is one of its most significant achievements. It presents a stunning, painterly world that blends anime character designs with lush, vibrant environments. From the wind-swept plains of Mondstadt to the neon-lit streets of Inazuma and the elegant, water-logged courts of Fontaine, each region boasts a distinct artistic identity. The attention to detail in lighting, weather effects, and character animations is consistently impressive.

On PC, the game can be a technical showcase when maxed out, supporting high resolutions, detailed shadows, and impressive environmental draw distances. Performance is generally excellent and well-optimised across a range of hardware, though it can be demanding at the highest settings. The game's multi-platform nature means the PC version is sometimes held back by mobile considerations, but in our view, it remains the definitive way to experience Teyvat's vistas. Load times are swift on an SSD, and we encountered very few technical hitches or bugs during standard play. The consistent visual quality across its vast and ever-growing world is a testament to HoYoverse's technical prowess.

Value for Money

Evaluating Genshin Impact's value is a complex proposition due to its free-to-play foundation. In terms of raw content, the value is astronomical. A new player in 2024 has access to hundreds of hours of high-quality, fully-voiced main story content, four massive major regions (with more on the way), countless side quests, puzzles, and exploration objectives—all without spending a single penny. As a free experience, it is virtually peerless in its scope and production values.

However, the 'price' is framed by one's engagement with the gacha system. The game is designed to tempt you into spending money (Primogems) to acquire specific characters or powerful weapons. While it is perfectly possible to complete all story and exploration content using the free characters the game provides, the desire for a favourite banner character can lead to frustration or significant expense. In our view, the game offers phenomenal value for the frugal player or the occasional low-spender who buys a monthly subscription, but its value proposition deteriorates rapidly for those prone to compulsive spending on its randomised systems. The stark contrast between its high Metascore (84) and mixed Steam rating (4.4/10) often stems from this very conflict between its generous free content and its aggressive monetisation of character collection.

Verdict

Genshin Impact is a masterpiece of open-world design and live-service ambition, hamstrung by a monetisation model that many find distasteful. Its world is breathtaking, its exploration is liberating and rewarding, and its elemental combat system is uniquely satisfying. The consistent rollout of substantial, narrative-rich updates has built one of the most compelling fantasy settings in modern gaming.

We recommend it wholeheartedly to any player who loves to lose themselves in a beautiful, ever-expanding world and can exercise restraint with its gacha mechanics. You will love it if you prioritise exploration, story, and character collection above all else. However, we cannot recommend it to players who are easily frustrated by free-to-play grind, who dislike the psychological pressure of randomised purchases, or who seek a traditional, buy-once RPG with a fixed party and conclusive ending. In the end, Genshin Impact is a game of extraordinary contradictions: it is both free and potentially very expensive, deeply single-player yet persistently online, and offers some of the industry's best content alongside its most controversial business practices. Your enjoyment will depend entirely on which side of that line you fall.