Ever since its reveal, Genshin Impact was seen by most gamers as a clone of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which was upsetting enough for a fan to smash a PS4 console in protest. However, the game has been available on multiple platforms free of charge for over a week, and players have found Genshin Impact actually stands out, when compared to Nintendo's adventure juggernaut. The Zelda inspiration is extremely clear on the surface, but those who dig deeper into Genshin Impact will find it's actually more of an open-world RPG than a Zelda clone.
Breath of the Wild was a revolutionary title that changed the way players viewed not only Zelda games but open-world games as a whole. Link was given the ability to climb nearly every surface in the game, as well as jump and glide from any height using a paraglider. These two mechanics, coupled with the game's overwhelming sense of freedom, made Breath of the Wild an absolute blast, exploring Hyrule and discovering its abundance of secrets.
Genshin Impact uses not only a very similar art style but an open world with the climbing, gliding, and cooking mechanics of Breath of the Wild, which made it appear to be a copy. While it is true that Genshin Impact lifts these aspects from the latest 3D Zelda title, the game has an identity of its own, and the games have far less in common than it would appear at first.
All The Ways Genshin Impact Is Different From Breath Of The Wild
Breath of the Wild offered Link different attacks and ways to interact with the environment, with various weapons and runes he would find in his quest, but Genshin Impact instead boasts a bunch of playable characters obtainable through normal gameplay or with real-world-currency, gotcha-style purchases. Players can create a party of four characters and swap between them at any point to take advantage of each one's unique moves and abilities. Luckily, those aforementioned microtransactions are not necessary for players to enjoy the experience.
These characters can also be leveled up and customized through various types of loot found by completing challenges or discovering chests. Players can attach items called artifacts to their characters, which will alter the stats of each one. They can even level up their weapons, which - unlike in Breath of the Wild - do not break. Because of this, becoming powerful in Genshin Impact is about building a team that works with one's playstyle and sticking to it, whereas Breath of the Wild's progression system forces players to adapt to each situation on the fly and makes them use whatever weapons or resources they have at that time. Both systems are extremely fun to play, but they're naturally different from each other.
Another big difference between Breath of the Wild and Genshin Impact is their stories. Breath of the Wild takes place after an amnesia-burdened Link awakes from a 100-year slumber. He takes on a mission to defeat Ganon, save Zelda, and recover his memories along the way. There are a decent amount of cutscenes in the present, but most of them are Link's memories of the past that players find throughout the world, which is a big motivator to continue exploring. Genshin Impact's tale of searching for a kidnapped twin is far more direct and offers players quest markers so they can easily follow the main story. The characters that players meet are more relevant in the story than most of Breath of the Wild's cast, and Genshin Impact's cutscenes are far more frequent than those in Zelda. Because of this, its story is much harder to ignore than Zelda's.
It's easy to understand why many initially believed that Genshin Impact was going to be a Zelda clone. The game's aesthetic, especially in terms of its world, closely mimics what blew gamers' minds back in 2017. Genshin Impact's climbing and gliding mechanics only sealed the deal that its reputation would be that of nothing more than a corporate cash grab, hoping to claim some of the glory Zelda laid out before it. The truth is that Genshin Impact has more prevalent story and a unique, character-based combat system that ditches the weapon durability so many Zelda players hated. While it is limited, Genshin Impact's multiplayer also offers players ways to play co-operatively online, which is something completely absent from Breath of the Wild. The comparison between Genshin Impact and Breath of the Wild should be considered a lesson to gamers that it's unfair to judge a book by its cover - or a video game by its trailer.