Games similar to Genshin Impact

In 2020 Genshin Impact made a real splash, garnering over 10 million pre-orders alone. And after the release the fate of the project turned out great. Some critics, of course, scolded the cartoon game for some inherent nuances of the free-play format. But the audience accepted it with flying colors, and not only in China and not only on mobile devices. The HoYoverse still has a huge army of fans - and the excitement around the recent Honkai Star Rail, which was released by the same studio, is more proof of that.

The Genshin Impact formula can be divided into three parts. First, the game is available for free - you can get rare heroes without investing a penny. Secondly, contributed to the cartoon style, reminiscent of anime. Finally, the "gacha" (or "gatya") - the element of surprise, when you do not know in advance which character or helper you will discover, and you can build a whole collection from the ones that are already open - also played a role. Clearly, almost every gamer in the world is familiar with Genshin. But what to do if you want to try something similar? We have chosen games that can at least partially replace Genshin Impact for those who have passed the original up and down.

In contrast to Genshin, this game is a full-fledged MMORPG, although it can be difficult to distinguish the two projects externally, especially if you are not on the subject. In design style Tower of Fantasy also resembles a Japanese cartoon, where girls in colorful outfits battle monsters and robots among a variety of locations. And here, too, there is an element of gacha: as we complete quests, we unlock more and more characters, and then change them depending on the situation. There are also ways to develop relationships to equip your wards with additional talents. But the developers from Hotta didn't repeat the HoYoverse studio's experience one-to-one - they made a lot of creative decisions as well.

The mood of Tower of Fantasy is more serious, and the entourage is sci-fi - not fantasy. In addition, there is much more going on in the virtual world, including the exploration of the depths of the sea. The plot focuses on the planet Hades, which humans inhabited in the twenty-fourth century to catch the comet Mara with the help of Fantasia Tower and siphon resources from it. But the brilliant plan on paper turned into a disaster - many of the colony's inhabitants died and the survivors faced deadly creatures, including mad robots, mutants and zombies. And another important point: if in Genshin you control a whole squad, limited by the capabilities of each of its members, in "The Tower" you have one character with a changeable appearance. But there are more activities available for him, and development, as a serious MMORPG, is more diverse.

We can't ignore Honkai: Star Rail, a new game from the authors of Genshin Impact. The main intrigue before the release was how similar the two works of the same developer are. The answer turned out to be ambiguous: they have a lot in common, but in general they are different games. Yes, there is no going anywhere conditional free-to-play model, and in addition has remained in place anime style. And the basis of gameplay is the same: you have to perform tasks alone or with friends, collect experience and resources to periodically add a random character to your collection.

But this time the HoYoverse writers tell us a more mature and eventful story, with room for personal dramas, hard choices and epic adventures in space. At the center of the plot is the struggle of humans against a force called the Honkai, which destroys civilizations at their peak. To stop the threat, humanity gathers a squad of Valkyries - fighting maidens (and a few guys, for that matter), capable of giving a decent response to the forces of evil. In the role of defenders of the universe and act gamers, collecting after "jumps", the analogue of "prayers" from "Genshin", a team of characters of varying degrees of rarity. Another important difference was the developers' transition from real-time battles to turn-based battles in the spirit of Japanese RPGs.

Honkai Impact 3rd, on the other hand, is the slasher the HoYoverse staff started their journey to fame with. And it has much more in common with Genshin Impact than Star Rail. A great option for those who would like to learn more about the origins of Chinese hits. The game, if anything, is available for free on all platforms, including computers, so it is no problem to download it from the Steam store. Just keep in mind: the control of characters here is more complex, borrowing from other representatives of the genre is more obvious, and the choice of activities in the co-op is poorer than in the later works of the studio. But the principles are generally familiar: you command the Valkyries, mined through gacha-mechanics, who must stop the Honkai and save the galaxy.

Combat in Honkai Impact 3rd is based on combinations of punches that you have to memorize to achieve spectacular victories. And each character has its own characteristics and skills - there is a wide field for experimentation and finding your favorite heroes. And in parallel pumping develops a story about the confrontation of good and evil. It is noteworthy that even in the early HoYoverse project there were already animated and voiced by actors storyboards, mini-games like races and collaborative puzzle solving in multiplayer. And cartoon girls in short dresses, of course.

Want to get the same experience as Honkai or Genshin, but without running those games? Then turn to the most successful imitation, Punishing: Gray Raven. It was created on the wave of success of the HoYoverse studio, when it became clear to everyone that the Chinese developers have discovered a gold mine. Gamers who are familiar with the genre, note the almost complete similarity RPG RPG Hong Kong company Kuro Game with Honkai Impact 3rd - there is the same visual style, made in the mold of slasher control, gacha with lots of chunks and kunami from anime, hordes of evil robots, movement through the virtual world with a small squad and sci-fi setting. And for the entertainment itself, of course, no money is asked. At least in the early stages.

Regardless of appearance or gender, the characters in Gray Raven are divided into three classes, with an emphasis on attack, defense, and support. Based on this, the user must create a quartet of heroes to effectively eliminate rebel machines on a variety of levels. As you pump up, fighters get ranks - private, sergeant, lieutenant, and so on. And after the single player mode you can take a look at the multiplayer and go on a raid with friends against the boss. Yes, it is also available here. But it should be remembered that at some point the game will put you before the choice: to pay real money for amplification or engage in long fiddling with enemies on the locations to hunt, to raise your defenders of the Earth to a more or less decent level.

While Gray Raven is modeled after Honkai Impact 3rd, The Legend of Neverland is an outright imitation of Genshin Impact. GameArk Global released their game on all platforms, including PC, and made it available for free. Four classes are available to you here: swordsman, ranger, scholar, and craftsman - members of the latter only open at level 65 and are able to use mechanisms, including firearms. As it should be in fairy tales, the characters fight against the evil that intends to work the kingdom of Cabala, and the defenders of the world spend their breaks between missions in the last stronghold of humanity - Neverland, where you can also meet other players.

The Legend of Neverland has two aspects that set it apart from the Genshin clones. First, there are many peaceful activities. You can mine ore in the mountains for a fee, cook different delicacies, catch insects and fish, work in the forge to create new items and even chemistry in the lab, growing magic crystals. In other words, it's not all about fighting. Secondly, gacha-mechanics concerns not the heroes themselves, but their little helpers - flower fairies. They must be summoned and developed at their own discretion in order to gain maximum bonuses on the battlefield. You can only take two of these fairies with you, but there are a great many of them in the game.

This conditionally free MMORPG with elements of gacha will appeal to those people who would like to play in a fantasy environment - without battles in space and the rebellion of machines. Summoners War: Chronicles takes place in the kingdom of Rachel, which is invaded by monsters from parallel worlds, and you have to stop them, acting as a student of the magic academy. Each character has a set of helpers, you can change them on the situation, summon new ones or dispose of old ones by exchanging them for resources. There's no open world in Com2uS, but there are chapter-based locations where you're free to roam in any direction.

As for the gacha mechanics, they are as traditional as can be. Characters use spells to summon creatures to help them, just like in the Pokemon cartoon, and then use them on the battlefield. Each helper has special properties that are needed at one time or another - one animal, for example, heals, and the other cripples, the third freezes, the fourth burns. Partners are also divided by rarity. But you can only keep three of them in an active squad, using their special moves through the "Soul Connection". In general, the collector will be where to turn. In addition, the authors of Chronicles have come up with an interesting plot, decorated with staged scenes.

You should agree that not all users are equally happy with what Genshin Impact has to offer. The action is not enough, the effects in combat are not enough, the story is too naive, the female characters' outfits are not too revealing. Action Taimanin answers to all of these questions at once. That's where the developers really give everything at once, and even for free - the game can easily be downloaded on Steam. But we should note at once: this is the most decent thing that is in the Taimanin universe. That is, the entertainment is quite suitable for a wide audience, while the other works in this franchise, including the anime series and comics, it is time to put a sign "18+".

The story focuses on the adventures of ninja girls. They patrol the streets of Japanese cities and destroy demons that are generally forbidden to appear among humans. At the same time ladies are eliminating terrorists, saving civilians from biological weapons and perform other tasks of national importance. The story in the game is surprisingly serious, full of personal experiences and romance. Initially you have three characters available, but over time you can open more than thirty, and even outfits for them - the principles of gacha here are arranged traditionally. At the same time the gameplay corresponds to the canons of slasher: there is a full control over the movements, weak and strong attacks, evasions and combinations. Available and automation of actions, and in the breaks you can for the prize to race the bike on a track with obstacles.

In the end, let us remember the gacha game, which made a lot of noise not only in its homeland, Korea, but all over the world. It is not even in the style of anime and not in the abundance of female characters, but in the fact that the developers have acted, as they say, on the brink. If only a little more - and Goddess of Victory: Nikke would have been written down in the entertainment for adults. And so we managed to stay within the bounds of propriety, and the animation of women's roundness shaking when firing a rifle. And even a plot to add to this fascinating spectacle. Imagine that the Earth was attacked by aliens, the remnants of humans took refuge in a bunker called the Ark, and instead they sent female robots - nikki. All of them, of course, are beautiful, but the number of places in the squad is limited, so you have to approach the creation of the team wisely.

Unlike all the previous projects in the selection, the gameplay here is as simple as possible. We are offered a chain of missions in the form of a virtual shooting gallery, where girls sit behind shelters and shoot monsters, at the same time getting trophies with experience points. For some battles there is an automatic mode - you just have to enjoy the spectacle. And in between tasks you can exchange a few words with your charges and go through a little story in the form of a short visual novel. Of course, the main value in the game are new nicknames - opening them without investing real currency is difficult, but possible.

What games similar to Genshin Impact are you familiar with?