Before 2020, Chinese game developer company miHoYo was not as well-known as the others; after all, how big could a mostly-mobile-game developer get? Although their fanbase adored them for their Honkai Impact series, mobile games just weren’t getting the same fire and coverage as their PC and console counterparts. But while the rest of the world was hooked around Nintendo’s new game “Fire Emblem: Three Houses” and Respawn Entertainment’s “Apex Legends,” 2019 was miHoYo’s year to enter their final testing stages of what was soon to be their biggest hit: “Genshin Impact.”

Just like their “Honkai Impact,” “Genshin” will be an anime-styled RPG (role-playing game) set in a fantasy world. Teyvat, the world players will first spawn in, is “a fantasy world where the seven elements flow and converge. In the distant past, the Archons granted mortals unique elemental abilities. With the help of such powers, people formed a bountiful homeland out of the wilderness,” according to the game’s official website. As players complete quests to explore the vast Teyvat, they increase their Adventure Rank, which unlocks new quests, and their World Rank, which increases the strength of their enemies, simultaneously raising the rarity of rewards given after their enemies’ defeat.

Finally, after two beta tests in June of 2019 and July in 2020, miHoYo’s “Genshin Impact” released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Android, and iOS on Sept. 28, 2020. Currently, it has received many favorable reviews with only a few minor issues, including the improvement of the currency system and co-op mode.

“I have heard [about] “Genshin” before it was released from YouTubers I watch, but I didn’t really think it would get this big,” sophomore Grace Ryu said. “My friends all started talking about it one day and I got curious so I tried it out, and now I play almost every day. My first impression was that it seemed very interesting, and I loved the graphics and the effort the developers put into the game. Some things I enjoy about the game is that there is a story line and how everything is connected somehow. I like how they incorporated a gacha style character pick so every time it’s a surprise.”

To clarify, a ‘gacha’ is traditionally a capsule machine where the user inserts money (Genshin uses an in-game currency system called ‘Resin’) to receive an egg containing a prize. Many games use this random-prize system to reward players.