4/5 ★ – Vladhytor's review of Genshin Impact.

💬 First Thoughts What can I say about games built around gacha monetization, right? They're games I rarely give a full 5-star rating to — for many reasons, but mostly because of how exploitative gacha systems are. Still… you will NEVER convince me that Genshin Impact is a bad game. 🔍 How It Started I found out about Genshin just a few days before its global release, about 4 days before launch. I saw the anime-style graphics and thought it looked interesting. I went to the official website, and like I always do when a game catches my eye, I started digging deeper. I realized it was a character-based game, and that’s when I saw Beidou and Jean — and I was instantly hooked. I thought, “Wow, I really want to play as these two, they’re gorgeous!” (I didn’t even know what gacha meant at that time). So I pre-registered and waited for launch day. 🕹️ The Early Days My journey began on September 28, 2020, the exact day of the global release. We were still deep in the pandemic, locked inside since March, not studying, not working, and I was completely burned out from playing competitive games like LoL day in and day out. It’s hard to describe exactly what I felt that day, but what I can say is… it was magical. I stepped into a bright, living world full of color. Mondstadt will always feel like a breath of fresh air. I’ll never forget fishing Paimon out of the water and meeting her for the first time. (A lot of people hate Paimon, but I love you, Paimon.) 📖 Story & RPG Elements Before being a gacha, Genshin is an RPG — and as an RPG, it’s quite competent. Sure, it’s not a high-roleplay experience. You can put yourself in Aether’s shoes (or Lumine’s, if you made the wrong choice 😅), but it’s a linear story. Your choices are completely limited — or better said, non-existent. You’re simply someone walking through a story that’s already been written, discovering it piece by piece. And while that may stop Genshin from being among the best RPGs I’ve ever played, it doesn’t make it bad. In fact, in my opinion, they’re building a fantastic world and story — a narrative that fluctuates between bad, average, good, and truly excellent writing, but that, overall, delivers memorable moments and keeps you genuinely excited for the next chapter in your journey. 🎼 Soundtrack & Atmosphere The music? That’s a whole different level. Hoyoverse has a phenomenal orchestra, and the research and cultural adaptation they do for each nation is honestly amazing. They bring musical influences from real-world regions that inspired each in-game country, and it’s just... chef’s kiss. ⚔️ Combat System Combat is average to good — nothing groundbreaking or extremely memorable. The system revolves around elemental combos, which are simple, functional, and make the game fun to play. Some characters really push the boundaries of this system, with unique mechanics and cool animations. But for the most part, it’s just decent. It works. It’s enjoyable, but it’s not the core highlight of the experience. 💰 Monetization & F2P Experience Now, the main negative points are the same ones that haunt almost every gacha game: the monetization is predatory. I already said that. But I want to add something: Yes, you can play Genshin completely free — without even paying for the most basic VIP. Of course, this comes at a price: you’ll need to log in every single day, including holidays, never miss an event, and spend hours and hours exploring the map to collect primogems through various activities. That can get tiring, I understand. But still, among all the games with this model, Genshin is one of the most F2P-friendly. Talking about powercreep is tricky. For me, powercreep happens when a new character completely overshadows an old one, and you need the new unit just to clear content. That doesn’t happen in Genshin — at least not in an extreme way. Yes, sometimes a newer DPS character might outperform an older one of the same element, but not to the point where the old one becomes unusable. You can still beat the endgame with your favorite older characters and get the same rewards you always did. And that matters. A lot. 🧍 Characters & Attachment I started this journey in love with Jean and Beidou, and today I’ve collected a long list of characters that I absolutely adore — whether it’s because of their appearance, their story, or their gameplay. And even after all these years of new releases, they’re still part of my favorites. But to this day... no character has ever had the same impact on me as the one I met at the end of the launch story quest. I may have started because of Jean and Beidou, but the character who made me stay was La Signora. To this day, she remains my favorite character in all of Genshin Impact. I still hope Hoyoverse will make her playable someday. She deserved better. Rosalyne will always be dear to me — every single appearance of hers was a delight. Elegant, tragic, powerful... La Signora was art. And I will never stop rooting for her return. 🏁 Final Thoughts Genshin Impact isn’t perfect. It’s a gacha game, and it has its flaws. But it’s a game that’s been with me for 5 years. It gave me unforgettable memories. It moved me. It inspired me. And that's worth more than any monetization system that I'm not even remotely obliged to interact with. Genshin Impact is special. And it always will be.