Genshin Impact

***Genshin Impact*** is a free-to-play action role-playing game developed and published by miHoYo. The game features a fantasy open world environment and action based battle system using elemental magic, character switching and uses gacha game monetization for players to obtain new characters, weapons, and other resources. The game is online-only and features a limited multiplayer mode allowing up to four players to play together. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Android and iOS on September 28, 2020, and is also planned for release on the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5.

*Genshin Impact* takes place in the world of Teyvat, which is home to seven distinct nations. Each nation is tied to an element and worships a god associated with it. The story follows a twin, referred to as the Traveler, who travelled across many worlds but become separated from their other twin by an unknown god in Teyvat. They travel across Teyvat with their newfound companion, Paimon, in search of their lost sibling, and becomes involved in the affairs of other gods. The game received a generally positive reception, with critics praising the combat and open-world freedom, while some criticism was raised at its endgame. The game grossed over $250 million within a month, making it one of the largest mobile game launches in history.

## Gameplay

The player can control their character and perform actions such as running, climbing, swimming, and gliding which are limited by stamina. Some characters possess abilities that can alter the environment, such as freezing water to create a path that can aid the player in traversing terrain. Many teleportation nodes exist throughout the world that players can warp to, and some unique statues heal and revive characters as well as provide benefits such as increasing player stamina if the proper item is offered. Items such as food and ore may be procured from the open world, while enemies and treasure chests drop other types of resources that may be used in enhancing a character's strength. Players can obtain food from hunting animals, gathering wild fruit and vegetables, or purchasing them from a store. Most ingredients can be cooked into a dish. Some meals regenerate characters' health, while others boost various statistics. Mining can be done by attacking and destroying mining nodes to produce ore. Ore can be refined and then used to enhance weapon strength or create weapons.

Each character has two unique combat skills: an elemental skill and an elemental burst. The elemental skill can be used at any time except for the cooldown period immediately after use. In contrast, the elemental burst has an energy cost, requiring the user to amass sufficient elemental energy by defeating enemies or inflicting elemental statuses. Characters have control over one of seven natural elements: Cryo, Dendro, Pyro, Hydro, Anemo, Electro and Geo, which correspond to ice, nature, fire, water, air, electricity, and earth respectively. These elements can interact in different ways; for example, if a Hydro attack hits a target, the enemy will be inflicted with the "Wet" status, and if they are hit with a Cryo attack, it will inflict "Cold." These two statuses combine into the "Frozen" status, temporarily preventing the target from performing any actions or until the player deals enough physical damage to the enemy. Switching between characters during combat and executing those skills allows those elemental interactions to take place. Certain elemental abilities may be required to solve puzzles within the overworld.