Genshin Impact is an open-world massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) that took the world by storm. Genshin is a gacha game, meaning it’s play-to-win. It follows a set of twins who travel between worlds until an unknown god prevents them from crossing into the next one. In the game’s opening cutscene, the player can pick one of the twins—Aether or Lumine—to act as their protagonist for the game. The twin you don’t pick is taken away by the unknown god. Then, for plot convenience, you pass out. When you wake, you find yourself in the vast land of Teyvat. Your only companion is Paimon, a floating fairy with a love for food. Paimon takes you through a series of tutorials until you find a structure called the “Statue of The Seven.” Upon touching the statue, you receive the power of Anemo (wind). You and Paimon travel to the City of Freedom and home of the Anemo element, Mondstad, to seek answers about these newfound powers. In Mondstadt, you meet three key characters: Outrider Amber, Captain Kaeya and Librarian Lisa, who join your party. There are two main goals in Genshin: find your lost sibling so you can return home, and protect Teyvat from otherworldly dangers. In order to find your lost sibling and gain the power to travel between worlds again, you must find “The Seven.” The Seven are gods that represent the seven elements of Teyvat: Anemo, Geo, Electro, Dendro, Hydro, Cryo and Pyro. You and Paimon believes that with their help, you can find your lost sibling.

There’s a lot to do in this game between character quests, daily quests, commissions from citizens, weekly bosses and monthly events, which is why I believe it did so well during quarantine. There are hours upon hours of content. If you are wondering how many hours I have in this game, I’m a little embarrassed to say it’s 1,673. There is truly no limit to Genshin content.

While the plot is interesting, it’s not the core of this game. The core is neither boss-fighting nor leveling up your characters, it’s gambling. Genshin Impact has a banner and rolling system. Monthly banners advertising new characters and weapons will test your luck. To win the new characters or weapons, you need to spend Primogems and “roll” on banners. You earn Primogems by playing the game. You can earn anywhere from five to 100 gems through questing. However, if you don’t play too much, or blew all of your Primogems on one banner, there is another option: money. Streamers and normal players will spend from hundreds to thousands of real dollars just to roll for these characters and weapons. Thankfully, there is a pity system in place for those with terrible luck. If you roll 79 times and don’t receive a 5-star item or character, you’re guaranteed a 5-star character or weapon on your 80th roll. I enjoy the story and battle mechanics of Genshin, but it’s just a shame that most of it comes at a price.

However, no banners or rolling is required to obtain the characters Amber, Kaeya and Lisa. These three are known as the F2P team (Free-2-Play) and anyone who uses this team or refuses to spend money on banners are called “F2P players.”

My favorite aspect of the game is the graphics. Graphics can make or break a game. In Genshin’s case, the animation runs clean and smooth on any device. Playing mobile, of course, is the occasional exception. However, Genshin still won Best Mobile Game of the Year at the 2020 Game Awards.

I’m giving this game my first 10/10 review. I strongly recommend playing this expertly made game to anyone who is a fan of MMORPG’s or is just looking for a way to pass time.