Free-to-play games don’t gather that much attention unless they are backed by a huge company. Fortnite, for example, not only came from a big company, Epic, but they were also an early copycat of PUBG and the battle royale genre. While Genshin Impact does not hail from a big developer, it is chasing another popular game aka The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
The things this game has in common with Nintendo’s mega hit, which they like to coin as an open-air game, are too numerous to count. While it may be a clone, it is seemingly well put together and free to boot. So here is everything one needs to know before jumping in along with a few handy tips.
10 Gacha Mechanics
This is not a typical free to play game in that it features more gacha type mechanics than Fortnite who mostly makes money on extra skins. There are skins one can win in a random lottery here too, but there are also characters and high powered weapons locked away. That said, the game does dish out currency so one can dip their toe into the extras for free. It may sound fishy, but this game does a good job keeping these things locked away.
9 Check Rooftops
In the first town, players will be rewarded with a glider thus allowing them to fly around. Before venturing off into the brave wilderness, fly around to some rooftops.
There may be some random chests with loot inside. There probably won’t be anything groundbreaking in them but the more loot and resources the better.
8 Learn To Cook
Right outside of the town, which may be hard to find depending on the route taken, is an NPC by a campfire. She will teach players how to cook along with give out some ingredients and recipes too. Like in Breath of the Wild, it is a good tip to collect as much food resources as possible. It’s very easy and cheap to make a lot of food to restore health.
7 Slow Start, But Keep At It
It takes awhile to get to the aforementioned first town and to fully unlock the game. One doesn’t have to linearly progress through the story before one can explore. Most of the beginning map is open but there are some things locked away that will make things easier. The tip here then is to unlock all four temples which will not only open up more mechanics, but swappable characters as well to create a full party. This will take about two to three hours.
6 Loot Game
Genshin Impact shares a lot with Breath of the Wild but there are also some aspects taken from other games as well. For example, this is a loot driven game. From accessories to weapons, one will constantly find new gear. All of this can be upgraded as well by feeding old stuff into new equipment. It may be tempting to constantly trash lesser gear, but here is a hot tip. Save as much as possible until the game gets too hard. With an ever expanding party, one never knows when one might need to outfit them as well.
5 Height Advantage
There are two aspects to height which can be great beginning tips. First, if one is using a ranged character, like Amber who has a bow, look out for elevated advantage points. Gliding on top of a cliff and then shooting down on a monster camp will keep players safe. Also, when one wants to go near the action, glide down then use the action button to basically dive bomb enemies.
4 Learning The Elements
One of the best aspects of the game is how it lets players interact with elements. Every character is attuned to an element and getting to know how these elements combine with others, or what enemies are weak to what can be advantageous in battle. For example, if one gets enemies wet and then uses an ice power, they will freeze. Similarly wet enemies can be electrocuted. There is a lot to it so become a student of the elements and they will not steer one wrong.
3 Creating A Party
As mentioned several times now, the game will reward players with new characters. One can equip four party members at a time and swapping between them is as easy as hitting the up, down, left, or right directions on the D-Pad, on the PS4 version that is. If a character dies they can be revived easily with food, or replaced altogether outside of battle. The bigger the roster, the more damage the team can take.
2 Gated Quests
Once the temples are taken care of, the game will sort of lock players out of the main quest until they advance their Adventure rank up to ten.
By this point players will probably be at eight so take this opportunity to search for side quests from the townsfolk or just start exploring. Once ten is reach, continue on, but beware, this will be a constant source of blockage. That is to say always be mindful of increasing one’s adventuring ranks.
1 Everything Earns You Rewards
Practically everything one does in the game rewards players. From increasing the aforementioned guild ranks to discovering new locations to achievements, this game will not let up. This will not only reward players with a steady income of loot and resources, but it also negates the need for using real money. Always be checking the various pages and vendors for said rewards.
NEXT: 10 Things We Wish We Knew Before Starting Crash Bandicoot 4
