First announced last year, Genshin Impact will soon be officially launching for consoles and mobile devices. While Genshin Impact initially drew comparisons to Breath of the Wild, the two games share little besides aesthetic. Genshin Impact's story, it seems, follows a different track from Breath of the Wild, almost to an extreme.
A few things can be confusing about Genshin Impact upon first viewing, but it is now very clear what the game is. Genshin Impact is an open-world action-RPG, with players able to switch between a party of 4 characters mid-action. Think of a mix of World of Warcraft without the multiplayer and the Tales of series without the battles taking place in a small arena. There are some world traversing elements similar to Breath of the Wild, but in both story and gameplay, it differs a lot.
The story of Genshin Impact, or at least parts of it, has been available on its website for a while in the form of an accompanying manga, but has been further clarified by a story teaser trailer released today. The teaser talks about how Mondstadt, a city in the game, was once walled by stone and ruled by a tyrant. The narrator, who is most likely the current Archon of wind, tells of how he met a young bard who incited rebellion, which was successful and the tyrant was defeated. More will be known after Genshin Impact's release, but this is the most clear-cut backstory players have so far.
This teaser is most likely related to the backstory of Venti, one of several characters with a backstory described as "mysterious." Venti bears a striking resemblance to the boy in the video, and according to a comment in the video, is most likely a recreation or reincarnation of him. Considering the fact that Genshin Impact has had several closed betas, the last of which was on July 2, it makes sense players have been collecting the game's lore.
Because Genshin Impact is designed to be ongoing, just like a live service game, its story will likely not be complete on launch. On top of that, Genshin Impact will be free to play. Genshin is the spiritual successor to Honkai Impact, a series of mobile games from the same developer (miHoYo). The gameplay of Genshin Impact is not affected by this, but the amount players can loot is.
Genshin Impact launches free-to-play on September 28 for Mobile, PC, and PS4, with a Switch version in development.
