In news that didn’t surprise me at all, Genshin Impact has taken out the best game of 2020 for both Apple iPhone and Google Play platforms.
Genshin Impact is an open world gacha game RPG which takes a lot of its DNA from Breath of the Wild. If you need to know more, it’s surprisingly good, so much so that a routine game dropper like myself is still playing it.
Of course, it has issues. Being a gacha game means there are gambling drops you can pay for which is a huge ethical issue. However, if you’re lucky enough to not be predisposed to have this effect you unfairly, you can get tonnes of enjoyment out of the game without spending any money.
Recently, Genshin Impact even had one of it’s first real events which helped breathe new life into the game. In its current form, it feels like it got legs for a long time to come.
This is why I’m not surprised at all to see it take out the big win from Apple and Google. A game this good which can be played for free is pretty insane on any platform, but how well it runs on mobile is pretty impressive.
Genshin looks beautiful on mobile devices. It has really well thought out touch screen controls and some things are actually easier to do on mobile devices than a PC or PS4.
I can’t say I love things like combat with these controls, but they’re far easier to use than many other touch screen game I’ve tried. I can’t wait for controller support, but I can pick up and do simple things on mobile no problem, which I can’t in many other games.
In fact, having in-game transactions and controller support is exactly what separates this from an Apple Arcade title. The excellent Sneaky Sasquatch won the award for best game on that platform while Legends of Runeterra was awarded iPad GOTY - which makes sense because until controller support comes in, Genshin is very awkward on a larger screen.
Really Genshin Impact is quite a triumph on mobile, so taking out the awards is well deserved. I’m looking forward to what the game will have to offer in 2021.
