Genshin Impact review

This Genshin Impact review is based on official sources and player reviews, not on our own play time. HoYoverse's open-world action RPG launched on September 28, 2020, and is free on Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox, iOS and Android with cross-progression. Characters and weapons come from Wishes, a gacha with published rates: 0.6% base for a 5-star character and a guarantee within 90 pulls. Money buys Genesis Crystals, Battle Pass upgrades and the Blessing of the Welkin Moon.

What is Genshin Impact?

Genshin Impact is an open-world action RPG developed and published by HoYoverse (COGNOSPHERE PTE. LTD.). It launched worldwide on September 28, 2020. The ESRB describes it as a role-playing game in which you search for a lost sibling in a fantasy world, exploring an open world from a third-person view and fighting with swords and ranged attacks.

You build a party of characters tied to elements such as Anemo, Hydro and Cryo, and combat revolves around elemental reactions. The story moves forward in Archon Quests set in a series of nations. Version 7.1, "A Rekviem for the Underworld," went live on September 23, 2026, continuing the Snezhnaya chapter with two new 5-star characters, Vesna and Vodyanitsa. HoYoverse says Version 7.2 arrives on November 4, 2026.

Next to the main game, Miliastra Wonderland offers a lobby, cosmetics and a creation editor; Version 7.1 added client-side scripting and collaborative editing to that editor. HoYoverse says co-op and cross-progression work across PlayStation, Xbox, PC, Android and iOS.

Is Genshin Impact free to play?

Yes. Genshin Impact costs nothing to download on any platform. The App Store and Google Play list it as free with in-app purchases, and the Epic Games Store lists it as free.

Free players earn Primogems, the currency that goes toward Wishes, through quests and events. HoYoverse's Version 7.1 announcement gives examples: the new Archon Quest pays 620 Primogems, and the sixth-anniversary rewards include Primogems ×1,600, Intertwined Fate ×10 and one standard 5-star character of your choice. For the first time, players who finish the latest Archon Quest can also pick one event-exclusive 5-star character for free from a select lineup during Version 7.1.

Genesis Crystals are the paid currency, and the game has a screen for converting them into Primogems. The Battle Pass has a paid upgrade called Gnostic Hymn; per the Version 7.0 notes, unlocking it and reaching Level 30 lets you choose one weapon from the BP Bounty.

Is Genshin Impact pay to win? What money buys

Genshin Impact has no PvP mode, so purchases only matter against the game itself. Here is what is for sale.

Characters and weapons come from Wishes, a gacha. HoYoverse publishes the rates on its Wish Details page, which the game opens from the Wish screen. For the current character event wish, the base chance of a 5-star character is 0.600%, the consolidated chance including the guarantee is 1.600%, and one is guaranteed within 90 pulls. A 5-star has a 50% chance to be the featured character; if it is not, the next one is. A rule called Capturing Radiance raises the consolidated chance of getting the featured character to 55%. The weapon event wish lists 0.700% base, 1.850% consolidated and a guarantee within 80 pulls.

As of October 30, 2026, the US App Store lists Genesis Crystals from 60 for $0.99 to 6,480 for $99.99, a Blessings Bundle at $4.99, Gnostic Hymn at $9.99, Gnostic Chorus at $19.99 and Intertwined Fate ×10 at $21.99. The Blessing of the Welkin Moon runs out after its period; HoYoverse added an expiry reminder for it in Version 5.5.

Based on what the official stores sell, we rate it as mildly pay to win; we will check this again when we play it ourselves.

Genshin Impact on PC, Mac, consoles and mobile

On Windows, Genshin Impact installs through HoYoverse's HoYoPlay launcher, linked from the official site, or through the Epic Games Store, where it has been listed since June 8, 2021, and which also asks for an Epic account. It is not on Steam. HoYoverse's list of supported devices covers Android, iOS, PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, with no macOS version.

On phones and tablets, the game is on Google Play and on the App Store, where the listing is currently titled Genshin Impact 6th Anniversary. Progress follows your HoYoverse account: the Version 7.1 announcement says cross-progression and co-op work across PlayStation, Xbox, PC, Android and iOS.

For mobile, HoYoverse's current minimum is Android 10 with a Snapdragon 660 or Helio G88-class chip and 4 GB of RAM, or an iPhone 8 Plus or iPhone X (Apple A11) on iOS 13. Its recommended phones start at a Snapdragon 855 with 6 GB of RAM on Android 12, or an iPhone 12. The App Store download is about 3.8 GB.

Genshin Impact system requirements

HoYoverse raised its device specifications in 2025, and the Epic Games Store lists the same processor, memory and graphics tiers together with storage figures.

Minimum: 64-bit Windows 10, a 6th-generation Intel Core i5 or an AMD Ryzen-series processor, 8 GB of RAM, an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 or equivalent (HoYoverse also accepts Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics), DirectX 11 and 110 GB of storage.

Recommended: 64-bit Windows 10 or 11, a 7th-generation Intel Core i7 or an AMD Ryzen 5000-series processor, 16 GB of RAM, an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB or better, DirectX 11 and 150 GB of storage.

Storage is the heaviest requirement. Each version update also needs extra room for pre-installation; HoYoverse estimated about 10 GB on PC for Version 7.1. HoYoverse says devices below the minimum may still launch the game but can show frame drops, instability or crashes.

Games like Genshin Impact

These free open-world RPGs from our catalog are the closest matches on paper:

Wuthering Waves: Kuro Games' open-world action RPG on Windows, Mac (through the App Store), iOS, Android, PlayStation 5 and Xbox. Its gacha guarantees a 5-star within 80 pulls.

Neverness To Everness: a supernatural open-world RPG from Hotta Studio and Perfect World Games, launched on April 29, 2026, on PC, PS5, Mac, iOS and Android.

Where Winds Meet: NetEase Games' wuxia open-world action RPG on Windows, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, iOS and Android, with cross-play and cross-progression.

Arknights: Endfield: Hypergryph's real-time 3D RPG with factory building, released on January 22, 2026, on Windows, PS5, iOS and Android.

• Wuthering Waves
• Neverness To Everness
• Where Winds Meet
• Arknights: Endfield

Our ranked list: Games like Genshin Impact