GameTech: Genshin Impact takes a big leaf from Breath Of The Wild
Genshin Impact is available as a free download.
Breath of the Wild had a big impact when it was released. Since then, no one has managed to emulate it, and only Nintendo customers have enjoyed it. Now, a game inspired by the Zelda masterpiece is looking to make an impact of its own – Genshin Impact.
It only takes one look at the trailers of Genshin Impact to see the influences. Genshin Impact doesn’t just wear its inspiration on its sleeves – it stitches Breath of the Wild into the whole suit. Not only does the colourful world and enemy design closely resemble Nintendo’s opus, but many aspects of the gameplay do too.
For a start, you can explore an open world without restrictions, just like Breath of the Wild. The only things holding you back are modes of transport, and stamina. In fact, you’ll spend a good portion of your time gliding around the landscape and climbing. You can stop at dungeons and complete challenges. The main mode of healing is cooking meals. Sound familiar?
Where Genshin Impact differs itself hugely is in the presentation of story, and in the combat. The story is heavily anime-inspired, and will definitely grate on those who don’t enjoy high-pitched squeals of joy and talk of ‘courage’ and ‘trusting the wind’. On the other hand, for those who do enjoy anime presentation, Genshin Impact is high quality, on a par with the Tales series and other Japanese RPGs.
As for the combat, it is far more fast-paced and action orientated than Breath of the Wild, leaning more into the use of different elements and environmental settings to create variety and fun challenges. Overall, Genshin Impact does a very nice job of emulating the tone and structure of Breath of the Wild, while being a very different game under the hood.
The main disadvantage to Genshin Impact is also its biggest strength, because Genshin Impact is free to play. That means you can download the entire game for free and start playing on mobile, console or PC now. Always a plus! Where the developers make their money is through ‘gatcha’ monetisation, which is the Japanese equivalent of loot boxes and usually more prevalent in mobile gaming. This means you’ll need to pay in order to access equipment, levels and characters quicker than via normal gameplay. However, from what we’ve seen so far, Genshin Impact is very enjoyable, and playable, without the gatcha elements.
It may not be a breath of fresh air, but as a tribute to Breath of the Wild, this is definitely a game worth checking out. Genshin Impact may have none of Nintendo’s ingenuity, but instead of being wild – it’s free.
Meanwhile, three of Nintendo’s greatest ever games have all been released together, in one package, to celebrate Mario’s anniversary. The package is called Super Mario 3D All-stars, and it contains Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy, all ‘remastered’ for the bundle.
We certainly can’t complain about the quality of games on show – each of these games are bonafide classics, and extremely playable to this day. However, the quality of the release itself has left something to be desired. The graphical upgrades on show for a ‘remaster’ are not what one might expect, with little to no effort placed on enhancing the originals, and Super Mario 3D All-Stars will also only be available until next March, then it will cease to be available for purchase. This even extends to the digital version, which makes little sense.
Still, if you can put up with those limitations, there’s no denying the history and genius on display for each of the three games. Mario, we salute you!
Nintendo (and Mario’s) influence are clearly seen in the incredible Spelunky 2, which released a few weeks ago and continues to amaze gamers on Twitch and other streaming platforms. In Spelunky 2, creator Derek Yu has taken secrets and easter eggs to the next level (sometimes literally) and even after two weeks of non-stop exploration, no gamer has cracked every mystery on offer. All that might be about to change, however, as the PC version of the game released yesterday. This means gamers can ‘cheat’ a little by exploring the game’s source code for direct information on unsolved mysteries. Hopefully, Derek has hidden his biggest secrets well.
