Genshin Impact (PS5)

[DaHeckIzDat]

I tried this game back when it first came out, but didn't make it very far before losing interest. I've thought about going back to it a few times since then, but for reasons that are completely outside my understanding, you're not allowed to start a new game. Ever. I get that your game is tied to your PlayStation account, but is there really no way for there to be more than one save file on an account? And considering what kind of game this is, you'd think the devs would be only too happy to let you erase all your progress and start over, but more on that soon. Anyway, I only made it about a half hour in, so I finally decided to watch a YouTube playthrough to get caught up on the story and jump back in.

It's obvious this game is trying to be discount Breath of the Wild. You can climb any surface so long as you have enough stamina, and you get a glider right off the bat. And while I'm definitely open to there being more BotW-likes (that aren't called Fenyx Rising) the discount in discount BotW can't be understated. The game is playable, but nothing feels as smooth or natural as it does in BotW. Most notably, the exploration sucks. BotW was the first game that made me appreciate just wandering around and seeing what was behind every corner. That's because there was something worth finding behind every corner. The world in Genshin Impact is just...there. Not once did I see something in the distance and feel any desire to make the trek to see it up close.

The combat is a lot faster paced, but not in a good way. Each character can only use one type of weapon, and they each have two spells, a small one with a five second cooldown, and a big one that refills a little with each enemy you kill. The combat is extremely button-mashy, and not the least but satisfying. For archers, I hate that you have to hold the square button down to go into "aiming mode" and then reach over to the right stick with your other hand to move the reticle. This game is more than five years old and gets updated practically on a daily basis, so why hasn't such an obviously bad design choice been patched out yet?

And then there's the blatant monetization. I guess it's somewhat understandable since the game itself is free to play. The devs have to get their money from somewhere, right? But if you're going to do that, then do what Fortnite did and make all the microtransactions purely cosmetic. Genshin Impact's "thing" is that it's got a buttload of sexy anime characters to play as, some of whom are significantly better than the others. It starts you off with a few mediocre characters, but then constantly dangles better ones in front of you. And how do you unlock these new characters? Here's a hint: it involves that little plastic card in your wallet. And the worst part is, you can't even buy new characters directly. You have to buy lootboxes, and if you somehow don't know lootboxes work by now, it's literally gambling, except that with gambling, there's a chance you'll walk away with something worthwhile. Maybe you'll get the character you want, but more likely you'll just get a handful of bad to mediocre characters. But don't let it get you down! I'm sure you'll get it next time. Just keep throwing money at your TV until it happens, okay?

No thanks. There's nothing this game does that other games (namely BotW) don't do several times better. And with those games, at least you get everything from one purchase. I genuinely have no idea how this game got to be so insanely popular.

[Quick_Man]

The game only has one save file because of its monetization, commonly known as "gacha".

The loudest voices fighting against this predatory nightmare of monetization and lootboxes like Jim Sterling were just written off as woke SJWs that didn't know anything about gaming as early as 10-15 years ago, and, well, we all gave up bothering to fight against it. The people who want it can have it while the rest of us play actual video games. But look where we are now. Even the newest Persona game is a sloppy gachafest.

[Stalvern]

I genuinely have no idea how this game got to be so insanely popular.

It's a Skinner box for gambling addicts. They're a huge market because the game industry is dedicated to putting kids on that path.