What would you do if you were stuck in a strange new world, searching for your lost twin? The relatively new video game called Genshin Impact may give some insight. 

Genshin Impact is an open-world action RPG (role-playing game) that has gotten increasingly popular ever since it’s debut. It was developed and published by a Chinese company called miHoYo, located in Shanghai. 

If you enjoy these types of games with an anime/cartoon style, I highly recommend checking it out. It’s not for everybody, but the nice thing about it is that it’s free. (Of course there are in-game purchases, but they are not needed to play the game.)

The story begins with two twin siblings, a brother and a sister, fighting an unknown god. In the midst of the cutscene, it stops and prompts you to choose which character you want to play as: the girl or boy sibling. Depending on who you choose, the other gets captured by the god. You’re then seemingly transported to a beachside in the world called Teyvat, talking to your eventual traveling companion Paimon (who you comically fished out of the water). 

The rest of the game’s main plot revolves around the player trying to get their sibling back, while also helping the people in Teyvat. You meet more characters along the way as well and you get to discover the rest of the world at your leisure. 

The game is not completely linear, and you don’t have to do the main story quests right away. There’s a plentiful amount of things you can do in the game, from daily quests to beating up monsters for materials. It’s also really easy to get distracted by random treasure chests atop cliffs or in valleys.

Not only is the gameplay addicting, but also the graphics are stunning. When traversing Teyvat and searching for treasures and quests, there’s always that one spot that is perfect for watching the sunset or looking at the stars in the sky. 

The music is so peaceful too. My favorite music is when you visit Stormterror’s Lair; the music sounds eerie and ominous, yet, there’s a hint of melancholy to it. It fits the atmosphere perfectly.

It’s hard not to fall in love with each of the characters. The art style and graphics alone make them appealing to look at, but combine that with their own unique stories and personalities, they become likable. As you level your characters up, you learn more about their story and who they are too. Some characters have story quests that you can unlock and there’s sure to be more content for their stories in the future. 

About every month they have a new update with new events and other things to do. They also have banners to unlock even more characters and weapons if you so choose. They recently updated the game with a new character that everybody has been waiting anxiously to get their hands on, even me. The downside to this is that the banners are all luck based, and you don’t always get the characters or weapons you want. When pulling on the banners, you use in-game currency, but if you don’t have enough you have the option to pay real money for more in-game currency.

In regards to how much things cost, it usually depends on what you need/want. There is something I would recommend spending some cash on if you are short on in-game currency: The Blessing of the Welkin Moon. It gives you daily gems every time you log in for a month and it is only five dollars. Generally, the prices can range from one dollar to one hundred dollars. 

Genshin Impact is free to download and available on PS4, Mobile, and PC. They are looking to get it on the Nintendo Switch as well. You can also play the game with friends which can be a lot of fun, and tag-teaming strong enemies definitely helps.