Genshin Impact Reviews

Genshin Impact is ranked in the 86th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
84 / 100
Oct 16, 2020

Genshin Impact's open world and clever combat are fantastic, but its endgame tries way too hard to milk you for cash.

Read full review

Travis Northup
Top Critic
9 / 10.0
Oct 13, 2020

An incredible open-world and addictive exploration make Genshin Impact anime-zing adventure.

Read full review

9.3 / 10.0
Oct 2, 2020

This is an amazing smorgasbord of exploration, discovery, combat, and customization worthy of your attention – despite the presence of a predatory monetization model

Read full review

Polygon
Top Critic
Unscored
Oct 7, 2022

And so I chip away and bristle against it where I can. I will allow myself to grind, but I will listen to a podcast during the most unbearable moments. I will not feel bad about getting every last Primogem. I will accept that my brain might feel an itch for a while, because I simply will not get to that “one world quest” for a week, and my log might be more clogged than I’d like it to be. Instead of worrying, I will simply close the game and try to forget about it for a few days. Then, on a fresh Saturday morning, I will return to its beautiful world, and find that my flowers have regrown.

Read full review

GameSpot
Top Critic
7 / 10
Oct 13, 2020

Genshin Impact offers a very well-made action-RPG as a free-to-play service--though it's not without a few caveats.

Read full review

Kotaku
Top Critic
Unscored
Dec 16, 2022

HoYoverse usually releases a major nation every year, and our next destination is the France-based region of Fontaine. This is where the god of justice resides, but I find this a little ironic. It says in the lore that she’s not willing to challenge the divine—the rulers in Celestia who have colonized this world and caused multiple genocides against its inhabitants. How could she be just if she won’t challenge the rulers who demand the world’s fealty by force? By now, I know that HoYoverse has a good answer planned. We just need to wait an entire year to find out what it is.

Read full review

4 / 5.0
Oct 6, 2020

Though the story elements won't be to everyone's taste - and as such, the efforts the game makes to inject a sense of drama and interpretation stakes can fall flat and veer into being completely off-putting - the sheer breadth and scale that Genshin Impact offers means that the brief lows in no way impact on the many lofty highs offered up.

Read full review

8 / 10.0
Oct 21, 2020

With a dense open world inspired by Breath of the Wild, Genshin Impact provides hours of free entertainment with its rich combat and deep RPG systems.

Read full review

7.7 / 10.0
Oct 13, 2020

A discreet and relaxing action-rpg, which thanks to its model business manages to be a completely free single player experience.

Review in Italian | Read full review

8 / 10
Oct 5, 2020

Genshin Impact needs to be played to be believed. This is an addictive open-world adventure with gorgeous art and unique combat...and it's free! The character designs are sharp and beautiful, while the pastel-style world itself is full of jaw-dropping colour and natural vistas...and it's free! Sure, there's the admittedly stingy gacha system, but if you just want an immersive and peaceful world to climb and fly around in for hours, then Genshin Impact is for you.

Read full review

7.5 / 10.0
Oct 2, 2020

Genshin Impact could be a little more lively than it is when leveling, but the beauty of its world helps suck you in. You really can't beat free, so long as you resist the rather tame temptations to spend money.

Read full review

Oct 8, 2020

Despite its often less-than-subtle nods to Nintendo's Breath of the Wild, Genshin Impact does enough differently to stand apart. Throw in punchier combat, a more traditional story packed with interesting characters, and an outstanding score and Genshin Impact easily sits among the upper echelon of games released this year. Hopefully miHoYo relaxes the stamina system and gacha rates soon, because Teyvat is a world absolutely worth revisting. They're just making it difficult for anyone but gacha fans to find the motivation to hold on.

Read full review

9 / 10.0
Oct 7, 2020

With a massive, gorgeous world and wildly satisfying combat, Genshin Impact can rival the fun-factor of any AAA game released this year, and it’s completely possible to enjoy without spending a dime.

Read full review

Unscored
May 25, 2024

Overall, the current patch is a huge improvement from the content presented in the previous update, Version 4.5. The combination of strong story quests and a beautifully designed underwater area to explore along with a powerful new playable character make up for the unremarkable events in the update. The update is surprisingly good considering it is a late-year patch that is filling in some content gaps before the massive update that will see the release of Natlan in Genshin Impact later this year.

Read full review

7 / 10.0
Oct 16, 2020

Genshin Impact is a remarkable game in many respects, boasting vibrant visuals, a rich, sprawling world, deep systems, and finely-tuned action. Unfortunately, the game's free-to-play gacha business model often undermines its own sense of adventure and excitement. Genshin Impact is a good -- potentially great -- game locked in a loot box it can't quite escape.

Read full review

9 / 10.0
Oct 5, 2020

Genshin Impact provides you with more content as a free to play game than most full-price titles do. With so much to offer, you can easily get lost in its lush world, fun and exciting combat, and deep exploration. Genshin impact is easily one of the best surprises of the year and should be a model for how future free-to-play titles should be constructed.

Read full review

PCMag
Top Critic
Apr 23, 2020

Despite its superficial similarities to a certain popular Nintendo property, Genshin Impact has grown into a phenomenal, free-to-play action-RPG that offers creative combat and an engrossing world to explore.

Read full review

8 / 10.0
Oct 16, 2020

Genshin Impact may be one of the biggest surprises of the year: A free-to-play RPG that gives players an absurd amount of freedom and content to dip into. Some barriers can still be found in the absurdly rare drop rates for premium characters and the world shows some growing pains, but you're still receiving a gorgeous fantasy world that doesn't press-gang you into spending money on it.

Read full review

4 / 5.0
Oct 6, 2020

Put aside your reservations about free-to-play mobile RPGs, gacha mechanics, and weeby storytelling: Genshin Impact is totally unique. I came in a skeptic and now find myself genuinely relishing hours more time spent chaining elemental combos, grinding for new characters, and the intrigue of its ongoing story.

Read full review

GamingBolt
Top Critic
8 / 10.0
May 5, 2021

Genshin Impact remains an unbelievable proposition as a free to play title, and the PS5 version of it remains the best way to check it out on consoles for now, in spite of several missed opportunities for obvious and meaningful upgrades.

Read full review