Game Design Analysis: Genshin Impact

In-game Screenshot

Description:
Genshin Impact is a free-to-play open-world role playing game developed and published by MiHoYo. It features a fantasy environment and a battle system that uses different magical elements with different characters. It also features a gacha game system where you can pay to get new characters, weapons and other materials.

Link to official English website: https://genshin.mihoyo.com/en/home

Lens #4: The Lens of Surprise:
Being an open-world game, Genshin Impact contains many surprises which reside in the hidden puzzles and hidden achievement. Puzzles in Genshin Impact typically give chests which reward player resources required in the game. Some puzzles are not very obvious and may be overlooked if nobody is to talk about it. For example, one need to step on a series of rocks in a certain order to receive a chest, and the only clue given is just a tiny spark of light on the rock. There are also achievements that requires the player to certain task to get it, where it is also not stated in the game. Thus getting those hidden puzzles and hidden achievements bring out a sense of surprises as they lie in places player least expected.

Lens #9: The Elemental Tetrad:
Mechanics:
Players able to wander around the world by walking, running, swimming, climbing and gliding. They uses characters with their own unique elements which may work with other elements to perform better. Players level up by getting experience through exploration and quest, and their characters level up by using resources.
Story:
The main character is a dimension traveler who get stuck in the world of Teyvat due to a nameless god. He or she also loses contact with the other sibling and is on a journey to reunite with each other, accompanied by a companion named Paimon.
Aesthetic:
The game has an anime styled 3D graphic which bring out the fantasy feel of the world.
Technology:
Genshin Impact is made with Unity, where it allows cross platform gameplay between phones, PC and even PlayStation.

Lens #29: The Lens of Secrets:
Many players know and understand the current state of the game, but not many players are able to know the future content or even predict it, Hence the knowledge of the future content is a secret kept by MiHoYo, but still some players are to dive deep to uncover it, where they leak it to the public. With the knowledge of the future content, some players are able to plan on how to use their resources wisely and not be left behind. However, not all the leaks are correct as some are fake news. Therefore, some important leaks that are known to some may not be available to others, causing a sense of outrage as the leaks are kept in secret from them, making them feel unfair and unjustice.

In-game Screenshot

Lens #36: The Lens of Chance:
Having a gacha game system, players are able get items with certain rates, and paying will help to increase the number of tries. Those items are categorized by number of stars they have, where items with five stars have the lowest rate and are the hardest to get. Hence there is randomness in getting those items where the lucky ones may get more than one would expect, where it all depends on chance.

Lens #53: The Lens of Balance:
Despite having a pay to win option in the gacha side, the game itself is still fairly balanced where the starting characters are good enough to complete most of the game contents. Some rare characters may seem to be overpowered, but those common characters can also be built to match the power of those rare characters. Hence Genshin Impact currently has its characters balance in control, where characters have their own unique skillsets and mechanics to learn and play.

Lens #78: The Lens of Story:
Genshin Impact contains many stories, where players can learn about the main character, side characters and even non-playable characters. Their stories itself bring out the secret in them and their surrounding, where players will understand the world of Teyvat more. Some stories may even lead to the other stories, where players can see the links between them all.

Overall Genshin Impact is a game where the exploration of the world of Teyvat is never-ending, and even more will be revealed in the future.

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