Genshin Impact is a free, open world, adventurous RPG with a lot of potential… and a lot of issues. Putting aside the questionable character design choices and predatory gatcha system for characters and weapons, it’s a goddamn unnecessary grind to level up characters that you “wish” for, all to keep people interested, and yet even that fails because it’s so goddamn grind-y!!
I’ll get back to Tokyo Mew Mew New in a minute, I really gotta get this out of my brain.
I hadn’t been playing Genshin for months before the summer event, and that’s mostly because of the stupid gatcha system that the game uses for items called artifacts, which are the main way to make your character stronger or build them in a specific or special way. I hesitate to call it a gatcha system though, because in order to get these artifacts, you need to complete a combat challenge and use one of the dozens of in-game currency called resin. You only get so much free resin in one day, which means limited chances, but you can buy with primogems, which you can buy with some kind of crystal, which you get by spending IRL money. Do you see the issue here? It’s an extremely convoluted system that really doesn’t need to be there.
The resin or limited chances doesn’t bother me all that much though. It’s the fact that the whole process of obtaining a decent artifact is a grind, because you only get MAYBE one or two high-level artifacts per challenge, and if the stats aren’t what you’re looking for, then I guess you just wasted your time and you have to do it again. And then if you need something for a different character, a different artifact altogether, then you have to do it again. And again. And again. There is no real alternative to getting high-level artifacts, which can make or break a character build.
And if you don’t have a decent character build, then everything else becomes a grind. You can’t really get bosses done quickly, which means you can get those materials to level up your characters, which means basically any and all combat situations suck. And you can’t even level up characters by beating down on the little mobs either, because the experience they give is equivalent to a shaving off a penny. It’s a vicious cycle that even IRL money can’t fix in any direct way, which just seems really dumb for a company whose revenue comes from player purchases of time-exclusive characters.
Now, this was an okay system for early game players, when events seemed further between and the overall difficulty level was lower. But now they keep upping the difficulty as each new area is released, and it’s reaching tectonic plate levels of grind. It’s become a process between events to just “do your dailies” and then log off, which seems like such a waste on an otherwise really pretty game.
I just fucking hate the artifact system so much.
The developers, Mihoyo/Hoyoverse, also have an issue with skin colors, and to a greater extent, just diversity in general. I can put aside the lack of variations in character body types right now, considering that they basically sell sexy waifus and husbandos to lonely anime fans (the hangout events made those intentions MUCH clearer). However, the previous descriptions used for characters like Kaeya and Xinyan gave me a huge icky feeling, and the comparison between hilichurls and aboriginal people seemed pretty clear when that whole controversy reared it’s head. I wanted to withhold (most) judgement until we got to an update that featured inspiration from a primarily non-white or asian culture; you know, an update that would be pretty obvious if the majority of the characters didn’t have skin tone variations. And so the Sumeru character leaks happened. And I am disappointed, but honestly not surprised. I just hope that HYV tries to do better in the future, and I’ll keep voicing my dumb little while girl opinions in their surveys.
These are honestly my biggest complaints of the game so far. But even then, it’s kind of pointless to complaint because it’s a FREE game, and even where I could spend money, I don’t (unless it’s gifted to me for that purpose). And the money that the developers get from the big spenders is certainly put to good use. Each new area and event has been (relatively) better than the last, and new areas are being released more frequently (although I hope that means that they hired more people and didn’t go the mandatory overtime route like some game companies). The music and visuals are fantastic, too, and the variety of characters and ways to build a party all certainly make this game a huge treat for the best price tag of zero dollars.
Anyway, this wasn’t meant to be some kind of opinion article; I just had a lot on my mind after seeing the new Sumeru teasers and I just really needed to get it out of my head. I stopped streaming Genshin because of all these anxious feelings I had, so I hope that maybe getting this off my chest will encourage me to stream it again in the future, at least until I can get a capture card… I can’t wait to stream NEO: TWEWY, guys that game is sO FUN GO PLAY TWEWY IT’S WORTH IT I PROMISE!!
I hadn’t been playing Genshin for months before the summer event, and that’s mostly because of the stupid gatcha system that the game uses for items called artifacts, which are the main way to make your character stronger or build them in a specific or special way. I hesitate to call it a gatcha system though, because in order to get these artifacts, you need to complete a combat challenge and use one of the dozens of in-game currency called resin. You only get so much free resin in one day, which means limited chances, but you can buy with primogems, which you can buy with some kind of crystal, which you get by spending IRL money. Do you see the issue here? It’s an extremely convoluted system that really doesn’t need to be there.
The resin or limited chances doesn’t bother me all that much though. It’s the fact that the whole process of obtaining a decent artifact is a grind, because you only get MAYBE one or two high-level artifacts per challenge, and if the stats aren’t what you’re looking for, then I guess you just wasted your time and you have to do it again. And then if you need something for a different character, a different artifact altogether, then you have to do it again. And again. And again. There is no real alternative to getting high-level artifacts, which can make or break a character build.
And if you don’t have a decent character build, then everything else becomes a grind. You can’t really get bosses done quickly, which means you can get those materials to level up your characters, which means basically any and all combat situations suck. And you can’t even level up characters by beating down on the little mobs either, because the experience they give is equivalent to a shaving off a penny. It’s a vicious cycle that even IRL money can’t fix in any direct way, which just seems really dumb for a company whose revenue comes from player purchases of time-exclusive characters.
Now, this was an okay system for early game players, when events seemed further between and the overall difficulty level was lower. But now they keep upping the difficulty as each new area is released, and it’s reaching tectonic plate levels of grind. It’s become a process between events to just “do your dailies” and then log off, which seems like such a waste on an otherwise really pretty game.
I just fucking hate the artifact system so much.
The developers, Mihoyo/Hoyoverse, also have an issue with skin colors, and to a greater extent, just diversity in general. I can put aside the lack of variations in character body types right now, considering that they basically sell sexy waifus and husbandos to lonely anime fans (the hangout events made those intentions MUCH clearer). However, the previous descriptions used for characters like Kaeya and Xinyan gave me a huge icky feeling, and the comparison between hilichurls and aboriginal people seemed pretty clear when that whole controversy reared it’s head. I wanted to withhold (most) judgement until we got to an update that featured inspiration from a primarily non-white or asian culture; you know, an update that would be pretty obvious if the majority of the characters didn’t have skin tone variations. And so the Sumeru character leaks happened. And I am disappointed, but honestly not surprised. I just hope that HYV tries to do better in the future, and I’ll keep voicing my dumb little while girl opinions in their surveys.
These are honestly my biggest complaints of the game so far. But even then, it’s kind of pointless to complaint because it’s a FREE game, and even where I could spend money, I don’t (unless it’s gifted to me for that purpose). And the money that the developers get from the big spenders is certainly put to good use. Each new area and event has been (relatively) better than the last, and new areas are being released more frequently (although I hope that means that they hired more people and didn’t go the mandatory overtime route like some game companies). The music and visuals are fantastic, too, and the variety of characters and ways to build a party all certainly make this game a huge treat for the best price tag of zero dollars.
Anyway, this wasn’t meant to be some kind of opinion article; I just had a lot on my mind after seeing the new Sumeru teasers and I just really needed to get it out of my head. I stopped streaming Genshin because of all these anxious feelings I had, so I hope that maybe getting this off my chest will encourage me to stream it again in the future, at least until I can get a capture card… I can’t wait to stream NEO: TWEWY, guys that game is sO FUN GO PLAY TWEWY IT’S WORTH IT I PROMISE!!