Hello!
Thanks for the question. As someone who started playing Genshin Impact during its initial release, I hope that I can help answer some questions regarding the game. I logged on almost every day consistently for about half a year until I quit in March of 2021, so I believe I have enough experience with the gameplay and the community to give a detailed response. I’ve split my response into two aspects of the game: the gameplay and the gacha aspect.
note: this is my opinion
Gameplay Experience:
Genshin Impact is undeniably a great game. It has beautiful art, unique mechanics, and an interesting storyline. Many people compare the game’s gameplay to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild because of their similarities as an open-world game. Personally, my favorite part about Genshin Impact is its music, as each city you traverse in the game has multiple soundtracks fitting their setting. Being able to combine different characters’ abilities to elemental reactions is really fun and creates an enjoyable combat experience too. However, the game is a massive time investment, as there’s a system of in-game currency called “resin” which regenerates over time for free but caps out on a daily basis. Resin is used to access any part of the game that allows for progression, essentially handicapping one’s ability to play a lot at once, while encouraging players to log on consistently every day as they’ll miss out on key resources for progression if they don’t. This is the primary reason why I stopped playing the game, as logging on every day felt like doing “chores” to manifest for the next new character or item. This is why I believe that gameplay is only a small factor as to why players play Genshin Impact.
Gacha (Gambling):
Genshin Impact is a gacha game, meaning that there is a mechanic of spending currency on items that have random chances of dropping. Think of it like loot crates or a toy vending machine; the result you get is completely based on luck. Summoning for characters uses the gacha system, so players often spend months saving their precious primogems (in-game currency) to get a shot at unlocking limited-edition characters whichare usually only available for two weeks. Those who are less patient can shell out real money for primogems, sometimes even with the cost of hundreds or thousands of dollars. Besides summoning for limited characters, there is also random chance when it comes to what artifacts you unlock (items that enhance your characters’ stats). Some players spend weeks spending their daily ration of resin on the same domain, which is basically a small-scale combat arena where you can farm for artifacts. Since artifacts can only enhance a limited amount of stats, it is really down to luck whether or not you get the right artifact. Coming from personal experience, I remember coming home after school every day to spend all 160 of my resin on the same domain for practically a month in preparation for a new character just to get incremental damage buffs. Was it worth it? Not really... but that’s the only way to progress in the game in terms of raw damage output. The aspect of random chance keeps people hooked, as the game can be very addictive, which is why people spend hours grinding the game, and some even spend large sums of money.
So for your question, “why do all the guys like Genshin Impact”, chances are they are farming for a specific character because they like them, or because they just want to maximize the damage output of their characters. As someone who used to enjoy the game, I can understand the appeal of it: it’s fun, has great gameplay and art, and fills up your time when you’re sitting on the toilet. However, the game has its fair share of criticisms, like promoting gender stereotypes, encouraging the fetishization of characters, and keeping players hooked with its systematic usage of random number-generated (RNG) drops. That’s why after half a year of playing, I stopped playing as I lost fun in the game. I saw the game as a chore, as something to do for the sake of it. I may be biased as someone who is a completionist and tries to get the best stats and do whatever is “meta”. But the meta changes, and new content will always be released. The developers of the game have a planned 10-year-long roadmap ahead, so there’s no point in trying to do everything all at once, especially if you’re a free-to-play player. If you are able to maintain a healthy balance with the game and just play it casually for fun, then I don’t see a problem with it. But I worry that the appeal of the game may also lead to many adverse effects, as the community can be obsessed with gambling and fetishizing characters which can be very unhealthy.
In summary, guys like Genshin Impact because it’s a fun game. It has amazing lore, art, and music. Hopefully this helps answer your question.
Dear Letterbox