You might remember last year when a Chinese game studio called miHoYo revealed its Breath of the Wild clone to the world. Some took it as a cool version of the amazing Nintendo game and can't wait to play it. Some got really angry and crashed a PlayStation 4 because it looked alarmingly like the Switch game of Legend of Zelda. Genshin Impact is a free-to-play, fantasy, open-world action role-playing game that will be released on PS4, PC and iOS on September 28th. But will the dev studio give those angry fans the ultimate slap in the face and release it on Switch to directly compete with the game it thinks it cloned? Yes.
Although Genshin Impact's exact release date for the Nintendo Switch is still unknown, miHoYo notes that it will be coming to the platform at a later date. Since the game is free, there's really no reason why players shouldn't try it out. If you've played hundreds or thousands of hours of Breath of the Wild, including the DLC, and still can't get enough, Genshin Impact might be able to scratch that itch. The art style and gameplay are clearly heavily influenced, but when you're talking about a game that opened up new mechanics, new ideas, and more for open-world games and Zelda, that still sits at a score of 97 Metacritic, why wouldn't another studio copy this game? They've clearly done something right, and while we don't know how good Genshin Impact is until it releases on the 28th, the free games that pique your curiosity are still worth trying. Not to dismiss this game as just a clone though, the game is known for having “elemental interaction-based strategic combat” which, according to the new trailer, looks interesting and could be a lot of fun. There's a lot that will remind you of Breath of the Wild, but Genshin Impact seems to stand on its own with some unique features compared to its massively successful counterpart. miHoYo probably knew gamers would see trailers for this game and wouldn't give it a chance, so releasing it for free gives them a chance to get gamers hooked without assuming it's "just another clone". Look for Genshin Impact on PlayStation 4, PC, and iOS on September 28, as well as Nintendo Switch at a later date.
