The Chinese free-to-play game is one of the most popular action-RPG games in recent times. Its micro-transaction mechanics may be pushing you out, though, so there’s no better time for the taskmiHoyo’s title debuted in 2020 and quickly gathered over a million players. Many, like us, found plenty of reasons to keep playing the gacha game.The alternatives we’re sharing do not need to be free, as Genshin Impact has some freemium elements. However, the out list is under the idea that you became a fan of the game or a fan of the genre.
Selecting Games Like Genshin Impact
Selecting games like Genshin Impact means understanding the elements of the Asian game. Therefore, we believe the games you would like feature a mix of the following elements:
Genre: Genshin Impact is a single-player open-world action-RPG “gacha” game. It’s also a free-to-play title. Co-op: 4 friends can play together on any area of the medieval fantasy map, such as Domains. Gacha: Players use an interchangeable party of characters. They can unlock new heroes with in-game currency and rewards. Combat: The combat has action-RPG mechanics with the trick that each character has different elemental skills and attacks.Combos: Players can combine elements, magic, and attacks from different characters to create combos. Open-world: The map design encourages exploration by hiding secrets, treasures, gorgeous sights, and puzzles all around.Exploration: The characters can run, climb, swim, and glide to explore everywhere. The limit, though, is the stamina bar. Gathering: Players can also hunt or gather fruits and vegetables to cook meals. Meals are temporary boosts, as well as healing items.Style: The game has an anime style, plus cell-shaded graphics. It lowers the graphic requirements and makes the title look familiar.Exploration: Exploring the maps is key to finding the game’s various resources. Resources are behind puzzles, chests, mobs, boss fights, dungeons, and similar.Resources: The multiple resources work to improve different aspects of the character. However, they are also an excuse to push forward micro-transaction offers.Resin: Doing certain activities or picking certain resources requires and spends Resin. We could make do without this system, though. Quests: There’s a main quest with the game’s overall plot. There are also side quests, daily activities, challenges, and more. Adventure Rank: The rank determines which quests you can take. Players can gain Adventure EXP with exploration-related activities and completing quests.Leveling Up: There’s also a common leveling up system that unlocks talents and better stats.
Overall, Genshin Impact is an anime-looking action-RPG single-player title. And even though it has some micro-transaction mechanics. The title won’t hold your progress too much or too often.Games like Genshin Impact should feature similarly evolving and addictive combat. The “gacha” genre is part of the formula, but we can also do it with exploration-based action-adventure titles.Lastly, games like Pokemon are also gacha games, but they feature greatly different mechanics. So, mostly did not include monster-catching titles here.
Games Like Genshin Impact
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genshin Impact borrows heavily from Nintendo’s smash hit. The checkbox includes stamina bar, free-roam exploration, elemental attacks, hunting and gathering for meals, and a-RPG combat.Also, Breath of the Wild looks gorgeous with a similar use of cell-shaded graphics. Therefore, the world encourages exploration and rewards players with gear, items, and resources.Across Hyrule, and like Teyvat, you would find puzzles, secrets, boss fights, treasures, and plenty of mobs. As you’d expect, though, stamina is the limitation of how far you can climb, jump, glide, swim, and fight.BotW is not a gacha game, though. Instead, it’s an action-adventure title where you worry about a single hero, Link. He doesn’t level up typically, but he can find items to enhance stamina and HP, unlock combat skills, and find better gear.Lastly, the open-world design is unique. The game starts with a single main quest, and there’re no markers. Much like Genshin Impact, there’s a sense of immense freedom and beauty.
Immortals Fenyx Rising
Immortals Fenyx Rising also takes inspiration from Breath of the Wild. The similarities are obvious, and so Genshin Impact fans may enjoy Ubisoft’s title as well.You play as Fenyx, a mortal man in Olympus, the God’s realm in Greek mythology. The map is wide and has various areas, and you need to complete the main quest on each location to complete the story.You can do it at your own pace and will, though. Along the way, you’ll find resources to “buy” more HP, stamina, Godly skills, combat skills, and passive stats.Because of the number of resources available in the game, you’ll need to explore. The map hides puzzles, treasures, boss fights, mobs, dungeons, and similar.There’s only one hero, though, and there’re no elemental skills. Instead, it has a combat system akin to Souls-like games, albeit faster and more “Godly.” Moreover, the enemy AI is tough, and your foes become increasingly powerful in each area.
Honkai Impact 3rd
miHoYo’s game before Genshin Impact is Honkai Impact 3rd. It’s a similar game, but with a futuristic sci-fi setting rather than medieval fantasy.You play with a party of three characters known as “Valkyries.” At any time, you can swap between the warriors to defeat the robots and monsters with powerful elemental combos.As a gacha game, you need to explore the open world for resources and then spend these resources to unlock new characters. Otherwise, your hard-earned cash can turn into a gamble, and the gamble is a chance to unlock characters and equipment.It’s still “free,” though, if you understand what “free” means in the genre. Still, nothing will halt your progress on Honkai 3rd. You can enjoy hours of content without spending anything if you don’t want to.Lastly, the game features anime action and graphics, plus a cel-shaded style. That said, the story follows a war between humanity and “Herrschers,” humanoid monsters trying to halt the progress of civilization.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Three Houses is the latest game in the Fire Emblem series. This is one of Nintendo’s oldest franchises, featuring classic turn-based RPG systems.Players accumulate a party of warriors in a friendly gacha game. Then, you mix and match your characters to create a proper party and go towards grid-based and turn-based combat.Your heroes come in classes. There’re warriors, cavalry, archers, mages, and many others. You can lead them across a continental clash for the future of the Fodlan kingdom.As a new addition to the series, there’re branching paths in the game. You can make choices that alter the storyline and lead to various endings at various parts.Overall, Three Houses is a mechanically-rich turn-based gacha RPG game. Its style should be right up there for both JRPG fans and Genshin Impact players.
Final Fantasy XIV Online
Final Fantasy 14 is an MMORPG with deep lore, rich skill trees, and fully customizable characters. It’s also a massive title with millions of players online, regular updates, and a huge following.It’s not a free title, though, and it’s far from it. You’d have to buy the starter edition, a further DLC pack, and also pay a subscription to enter its servers.The adventure is epic, evolving, and gorgeous. You create a character by choosing one of the many races and classes and enter a nearly free-roam adventure on a rich open-world.Then, the gameplay happens in a persistent world where many players can interact with mobs, NPCs, and the environment. Moreover, each new update extends the world with new areas, enemies, quests, and lore.Lastly, the storytelling, art, and action are anime as a Final Fantasy game. The plot is thrilling as well, focusing on the fictional world of Hydaelyn and seven-story arcs about the fate of your character’s country.
Tales of Arise
The Tales franchise started in the 90s. Bandai Namco’s series consistently delivers very good JRPS. Now, Tales of Arise is not a gacha game either. Instead, it’s a story-driven action-Japanese RPG with addictive, explosive, and colorful combat.You play with a party of characters, which you unlock naturally during the campaign. Each team member features different skills, elemental attacks, buss, and similar.The story is gripping and serious. You will determine the fate of the world in a coming-of-age story. In essence, the plot revolves around two realms in conflict, Renan, and Dahnan, with you in the middle of their agendas.Another similarity is the style. Tales of Arise is definitely an anime game. It uses a top-tier “Atmospheric Shader” system to simulate watercolor painting and lighting. Moreover, character designs are attractive and often eccentric or delicate.Lastly, the combat revolves around chaining combos with your party members. It’s real-time action-RPG combat that mixes various abilities to take down foes. You control the protagonist while your AI team attacks you. Also, you can order commands for powerful combinations.
Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age Definitive Edition
Dragon Quest is a legendary JRPG series, and so including its latest release was only natural. The IP is not as popular in the west as other Japanese series like Monster Hunter, but DQ11 has achieved mainstream success.Echoes of an Elusive Age features Akira Toriyama’s character designs and music from anime composer Koichi Sugiyama. The style Genshin Impact fans are looking for is on point.The gameplay features a party of characters on a turn-based combat system. There’re various complex mechanics, various party members to unlock, and plenty of gear to find.Then, the story is rich and immersive. You play as a young man at a coming of age ceremony. He travels through a series of unforeseen events and learns he’s the reincarnation of a hero. Upon learning the truth, the hero becomes the enemy of the King and the hope against a new threat threatening the world.Lastly, the Definitive Edition includes worthwhile quality bonuses. That is full Japanese voice-acting, orchestral OST, and a 2D graphics choice.
King’s Raid
King’s Raid is a typical gacha game. You have to buy a character with in-game currency, but getting heroes for your party is easy enough. The tough part is understanding how to set up a functional party.The South Korean indie game is an “SRPG” entry, and the “S” stands for Strategy. You side scroll through different environments and face real-time combat. Your 4-character party will auto-attack during combat, but you can also click their abilities. The abilities have a cooldown timer, though.There’re multiple “heroes” players can acquire or buy with cash. Heroes come in seven classes and have 2 types of attacks (magical and physical). As you use them, you can level up the characters.Also, as a classic gacha game, King’s Raid is an anime-looking title, and it’s also free to play for Android and iOS devices.Lastly, the story happens on the medieval fantasy continent of Orbis. The plot follows seasonal updates, though, and each season has various chapters. Currently, it’s on season 2 after the first season’s 10 chapters.
Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris
miHoyo’s president Cai Hoyou has said the company intends to turn Genshin Impact into a full-on franchise akin to Sword Art Online. So, it’s only natural for us to find the most similar entry in the SAO JRPG game series.We choose Alicization Lycoris, the only open-world game for consoles in the saga. Other titles are more akin to hack & slash and dungeon crawlers. The latest entry, as before, nails the spectacular action of the anime series as well.The events adapt the anime’s Alicization Arc. Kirito is the protagonist, and he awakens in an unfamiliar virtual world (The Underworld), where he must find the way out. After about 10 hours, the story branches off to an original plot.Here, you play an anime-looking, action-RPG game with real-time combat that looks, feels, and behaves much like Genshin Impact. Likewise, the game has a gacha system, as you can make any NPC part of your party of characters.Lastly, though, the story can drag the gameplay down. There’re too many still cinematics, dialogue charts, and exposition segments to keep you avoid from the good stuff, the combat.
Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom
Ni No Kuni 2 is a cute JRPG adventure. It looks like a Studio Ghibli movie because the legendary Japanese studio collaborated to create the first game in the series.The adventure often crosses the line between feature film and video games. The quality is quite high, and the soundtrack comes from world-famous composer Joe Hisaishi (Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away).Aside from JRPG quests and combat, there’s also a Pokemon-style system, gacha mechanics even. You collect “Higgledies,” little creatures you collect to help you in battle.Another feature is managing your kingdom. It lets you upgrade buildings and staffing structures with NPCs you meet in the world. It’s necessary to rebuild the world, but it’s also mostly a side activity to earn rewards.Lastly, the game features a chibi style and a chibi battle system. It’s overall a cute-looking game with surprisingly emotional moments.
Dragalia Lost
Dragalia Lost is another high-quality game by Nintendo studios. It features a fantastic plot, and it’s also a free-to-play title with easy-to-learn a-RPG mechanics.Moreover, the game features regular crossovers with other series. These include Fire Emblem, Mega Man, Persona, Monster Hunter, and Princess Connect.The story happens in Alberta, a fictional kingdom where dragons live. You play as Euden, the Seventh Prince, on a quest to protect the capital and bring back its ancient magical artifacts.The action gameplay uses simple magic attacks, elemental powers, and special attacks. Characters can also become a dragon temporarily to perform more powerful abilities.Lastly, Dragalia Lost is a single-player experience supporting a 4-player co-op. You can play the entire campaign alongside your friends.
Persona 5 Royal
Persona 5 is a Shin Megami Tensei spin-off, and it’s also a title made for a wider audience. Thus, newcomers to any of these series can play it and follow its story without a Wiki on the side.Personal 5 Royal is the enhanced edition of the 2017 title. It’s a refined and highly-polished JRPG. Its mechanics, stories, setting, and combat are a blast from beginning to end.You play as a high-school student in Tokyo. During the day (social sim), you mostly interact with other players, go to school, assist in social events, go to your job, and similar. At night (combat), you explore dungeons for turn-based colorful combat in another world.Lastly, the story is about the protagonist trying to prove himself innocent. He’s falsely accused of assault, and he must discover the true culprit on a series of quests and trials.Overall, Persona 5 is not very similar to Genshin Impact. Still, we choose it as one of the best story-driven Asian action-RPG titles. Sadly, it’s only available for PS4 and PS5.
Marvel Strike Force
Marvel’s Strike Force is another mobile-only gacha game. And although it’s a great title for superhero fans, its monetization tactics are underwhelming.First, though, we should say the game includes every Marvel character you can imagine. Everything is there, from Star-Lord to Morbius, Doctor Voodoo, and Magneto. Each hero levels up and unlocks talents, powers, perks, and buffs. Mixing and matching characters’ advantages and disadvantages is key to playing the game.Combat comes as turn-based battles, where you control your 4-hero character party on each turn. You play through a series of battles, either on the campaign or custom scenarios.Marvel’s Strike Force is not open-world, though. However, a newer mobile Marvel game, Future Revolution, is a semi-open action-RPG game with light gacha mechanics.
