What is Genshin Impact?

In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.

It's rabbit hole time, ladies and gentlemen! Not too long ago I came across an article reporting about the impending port of the game, Genshin Impact, on the Nintendo Switch. This post was accompanied with the helpful phrase "Awkward!" to let us all know how this news should makes us feel. And why shouldn't it, I thought. Genshin Impact on the switch, pfff, that's so awkward. Heck, I'm feeling awkward right now just talking about it. What an uncomfortable and unsettling turn of events that undeniably is... Yeah, I didn't know what Genshin Impact was either; so I started up the ol' investigating tab and started diving into the weird and wonderful world of the blatant rip off.

When first announced for it's PC and Mobile release back in June last year, there was an instant moment of "Haven't I seen this somewhere before?" for the majority of those that watched it. You see the game looked good, really good in fact; aesthetically, it benefited from this soft-edged brush artstyle which made everything adopt this dream-like painting-esque look to it. One might even go so far as to label the art style 'pioneering', if it hadn't been for the fact that it was identical to the same art style that wowed the world in 2017 with the launch of 'The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild'. Now, similar art styles wouldn't be so much an indication of 'plagarism' if it wasn't for how distinct and iconic BOW's style actually is. But the similarities didn't end there, not by a long shot. Enemies seemed to copy the same colour grading, particle effects react in a disturbingly similar fashion, and the title even features an experimental cooking system. (Something 'Breath of the Wild' introduced to a Zelda audience.)

I'm by no means the first person to notice these similarities either. If you type 'Breath of the Wild Clone' into google, you'll be met with a plethora of articles about this game, showing that the studio have managed to cultivate something of an reputation through their alleged plagiarism. This isn't a new stigma either, even when the title was first debuted at the China Joy gaming Expo inside of Sony's official booth, folk were quick to point out this game for what it really was, a copy-paste job. One man was so annoyed about, not only this game, but the fact that Sony were officially promoting it, that he smashed his PS4 at ChinaJoy. (It's unclear why he bought his PS4 to a convention in the first place, but the image is pretty powerful. Actually the image kinda sucks, but the intent which made that image was pretty powerful. Actually the intent is kinda stupid, but the heart behind the intent which made the image was pretty powerful.) He wasn't the only one mad either; a huge protest formed outside of Sony's booth at the event of people so incensed that they were holding their Switches in the air alongside copies of 'Breath of the Wild', (Again, why did they bring them?) whilst flipping the booth off. (Which makes it kind of look like some of them are flipping their 'Breath of the Wild' game cases off, but I get the idea.)

This deluge of bad press didn't just end at the shameless creators, but also got levied at Sony's feet for having the audacity to promote this. (Seems some people wilfully forget the blatant lack of scruples that the Eastern branch of Sony has.) Fans rallied against the tech-giant, calling their behavior 'shamefull' and demanding a pull back on marketing which, surprise surprise, was never going to happen. One outlet who attended the event noticed how Genshin was the most popular game at Sony's ChinaJoy booth, with long lines despite the protest. (Or maybe because of it.) And that may be because the game resembles one of the best games of the last decade. Heck, if I was there I'd probably want to check it out, even if just to satiate my own morbid curiosity. This game has become something of a hit and that is the sort of thing that is probably worth a discussion about down the line.

But before we get to that, we should probably cover the basics, like: Who the heck had the gall to rip-off 'Breath of the Wild'? Well, that dubious honour goes to Japanese developer, MiHoYo, who are apparently best known for their 'hack and slash RPG': 'Honkai Impact 3rd'. (They like that 'impact' word, huh?) To their credit, 'Honkai' looks like a well-animated hack-and-slash adventure which is a cut above the sludge of low effort DS titles; (Which all seemed to be set in Akihabara, for some reason.) but judging from the presentation and trailers that I've seen, it is still as lacking in the story department. (Something about the tagline "Fight for all that's beautiful in the world" makes me want to burn down a rainforest.) Ostensibly, the game is about little more than a variety of colourful young Anime girls dressed in various questionable attire and wielding guns and swords. (Never seen that one before- way to push the envelope guys!)

However, we're picking on their previous titles when we should be ripping the limbs off of their newest game, that is what this blog is about afterall. So what is Genshin Impact? Well, it's a open world game that takes the framework of 'BOW', replaces the character assets and plays like a light MMO. (With levelled enemies and ability slots.) The new characters are mostly Anime girls again, although I think I spotted one stereotypical 'blank slate-self insert' male character for half a second, and they all look like drafts that were rejected from being secondary Xenoblade characters for somehow being too forgettable and too distinct at the same time. For their credit, I will once again point out that the game world looks simply stunning (For obvious reasons) and the one boss monster they showcased in their 'gameplay trailer' almost rivalled BOW in terms of epic scale. (Although, it still seemed just a little bit creatively lazy.) Wait. Did I just see that? For some reason the Devs thought it was smart to showcase their PC dying, only to reveal that the death animation is the exact same as BOW's teleport animation? (Guys, how hard is it to come up with a death animation? Come on!)

I can't believe that I'm saying this, but there are actually some people who defend this title and argue that it's emulating a 'Studio Ghibli' art style. Which is actually worrying to see how people will cite 'Studio Ghibli' as a bastion of incredible art without, it seems, actually watching one of their films. (For reference, 'Forgotten Anne' is more similar to their style.) Although, I can certainly understand something of an ulterior motive for Sony fans to defend this title, it does actually look a little cool. 'Breath of the Wild' is famously a Nintendo exclusive, and that limits a decent amount of the gaming audience who don't want to put up with the Switch or Nintendo's love-affair with excessive premium pricing. This title looks like a slight shadow on 'Breath of the Wild', and I can understand people wanting to experience that world if even in a tangential way. But should we stand for plagiarism for the sake of enjoyment?

To be clear, I do not think that this is a case of straight code-ripping; this is probably more a theft of ideas, and that's a more difficult beast to approach. There are those who subscribe to the belief that 'good artists borrow and great artists steal' and it can be hard to hold those principles whilst going after a rip off product like this. Did this game profit from copying BOW's art style? Yes. But all the rest of game's mediocrity is completely it's own, and that's probably not grounds for a total legal rejection. Now, this isn't exactly comforting for the artists who put their hearts and minds into making something distinct and new, but there's a growing number of people who just don't seem to care about that aspect. There is a larger argument to be had about this issue, but today is not the day I'll take part in it. Until then, I recommend that you take a look at Genshin Impact on YouTube and determine yourself just how guilty this game is.