Review: Genshin Impact
When a player "loses" the 50/50, there is a 5% chance that they will still obtain the featured event character. This is marked with a special animation. As a result, the 50/50 system should be thought of as a 55/45 system, where there is a 55% chance of obtaining the featured character, and a 45% chance of "losing." However, most players still use the term 50/50 for ease and brev
But as alluded to near the beginning of this review, Genshin Impact does falter at the point where it seems the game is destined for undeniably phenomenal heights. Not entirely a deal-breaker or one that takes the player completely out of the accomplished immersion of its world or even its combat. But when totted up, does signal a game that could've used a bit more checking-over. When it comes to tackling some of the more technical components, Genshin Impact drops the ball one too many times. Even if you were to disregard the nature of the narrative or the way in which a group of characters can, at their worst, talk extensively (and absently off-screen worst of all), there's a notable disconnect when the game, for example, continues to refer to your male sibling character as "she" or "her." It isn't the only basic error that crops up with many an instance of dialogue cutting off mid-conversation, not matching up with what's written on-screen and at one point, a mere line of dialogue getting stuck on-screen for the rest of one's play session.
But perhaps the most crucial consolation in this part especially is indeed the breadth of content on offer in Genshin Impact. From environmental puzzles to work out, to small enemy camps to clear, to brief challenges that reward another chest to open, even just taking a glance at the map and spotting a more conspicuous landmark. To venture to said landmark and find a higher-level and [thankfully] more aggressive boss show up. Most of these content placements do feed back into the continual progression of XP and AR and currency (and of the game doing its subtle best to convince us to drop some money into the Gacha side of things). Like its inspirations, some of these are more blatant and unapologetic than others. But where Genshin's true purposes may not always be purely innocent in nature, what stops the experience from turning in sour or predatory most of all, is the thoughtful craft at which the world is structured. How, like Breath of the Wild, there's no right answer to exploring in of itself, but there's an answer to such things like "how do I get that collectible when it's all the way up there?"
As you can see, there has been a diverse line-up of video games to be thankful for this past year. Let us know one of your favorite releases of 2020 in the comments below and share how it may have impacted your life in any way!
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. A free-to-play Slg game missions whose content rivals the more higher-budgeted AAA releases of the past few years. Where miHoYo's inspirations and references may be a little too on-the-nose or obvious in parts, it's similarly made up for via its wealth of content and of an exploration element that is well designed, but more importantly brilliantly emergent. In one moment, it might be the intrigue of a distant landmark, or in another the wild and flashy power-trip that is its elemental-based combat. Wherever it takes you, Genshin Impact is a more-than-convincing proposition, not least for those adamant on never spending a single cent in-game. The grind to get there may not always feel wholly natural or that players are genuinely being left to wander without restraint, but Genshin Impact's meticulous approach to environment design above all pulls through in many wonderful ways. Crafting one of the year's more immersive and surprisingly rich open-world RPGs.
When it comes to pure video game fun, it doesn’t get much better than Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. While stating that a sports game, as extreme as it may be, is one of the best examples of the entertainment value of the medium may be confusing to some, anybody who has played Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater knows exactly why this is true. Striking the perfect balance between challenge and fun, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was one of the first and best examples of a 3D game capturing the basic appeal of 2D games upon its release in 1999. It was a game that you could turn your brain off to play to melt away the hours, but the constant challenge of trying to perfect tricks or top that perfect run gave it enough pull and pattern repetition to keep you engaged, much as some of the best arcade games did in the ’80s. While its sequel reached the same heights, there was a notable downgrade as the series went on, culminating in some iterations that seemingly put the final nail in the coffin for the series. When Activision announced that Vicarious Visions would be bringing the series back by ways of remaking its first two entries, it was as cause for as much celebration as it was anxiety. Thankfully, though, they managed to strike the perfect balance of honoring the basic vibe of the original games while updating them just enough to fit in with modern sensibilities. Playing and looking basically as your rose-tinted mind remembers it did in 1999, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is a perfect example of how to revive a classic and will allow a new generation of gamers to experience the pure joy the games brought so many years ago. In a medium with ever-increasing complexity, a masterfully-executed revival is something we can all be thankful for.