Featured Article Summary #264

Genshin Impact is an action role-playing game released in 2020 by miHoYo (HoYoverse). It is set in an anime-style open world and uses action combat based on elemental magic, where players can switch characters, along with a major main story. The game is free to play and earns money through gacha mechanics, and it receives regular updates through a games-as-a-service model. It launched on Android, iOS, PlayStation 4, and Windows, later adding PlayStation 5 in 2021 and Xbox Series X/S in 2024, with a HarmonyOS NEXT version released in China in 2025; PlayStation 4 support ended in April 2026. The story takes place in the fantasy world of Teyvat, which has seven nations linked to different elements, and it follows a Traveler searching for their lost twin with help from Paimon. The game has earned mostly positive reviews for its combat and open world, but faced criticism over endgame content and monetization, along with controversies related to censorship and privacy concerns, while also achieving major commercial success and winning multiple awards. Genshin Impact is an open-world game where you control one of four characters and can quickly switch among them in combat. As you explore freely, take on challenges and bosses, and improve characters with experience, artifacts, and weapons, you also earn Adventure Rank, which increases world difficulty and reward quality. The game includes free movement options like climbing and gliding, fast travel via teleport points and Statues of The Seven, crafting and refining materials, domains for upgrade materials, and cooking for buffs. There is also co-op multiplayer for up to four players, available starting at Adventure Rank 16 and supports cross-platform play. Players can unlock some new characters by completing specific quests or joining limited-time events. Most characters and weapons are instead obtained through the game’s gacha system, “Wishes,” using Primogems earned from gameplay or purchased. A pity system ensures players receive rare items after a certain number of pulls. In Genshin Impact, each character uses one of seven elements—Anemo, Geo, Pyro, Hydro, Cryo, Electro, or Dendro. When elements react, they create effects such as applying “Wet” with Hydro and then freezing the enemy when Cryo is used after it. Characters also have an Elemental Skill (with cooldown) and an Elemental Burst (a powerful ultimate that needs elemental energy), and players can combine these moves—and even use the environment—to exploit enemy weaknesses and solve element-related puzzles. Genius Invokation TCG is a tabletop collectible card game added to Genshin Impact in Version 3.3 (December 2022). Players take turns in battles using a deck of three characters and thirty supporting cards, and win by knocking out all of an opponent’s character cards, with dice rolls limiting what you can play each round. Elemental reactions work the same way as in the main game, and the mode can be played by challenging NPCs, other characters, or real players in co-op.