How Genshin Impact copying BOTW is so shameless and impressive at the same time

[Kaivan]

Reveal thread:

https://www.resetera.com/threads/ge...mihoyo-the-developer-of-honkai-impact.121728/

So the closed beta just went live a few hours ago, and there are already quite a number of gameplay videos out there.




Let's start from the general art and presentation...

and how exploration mechanics work, as well as cooking and dungeon...

lastly, enemy designs and encounters.

Tbf, there are other aspects that are different from BOTW, such as the faster-paced and actual magic combat (as you might've expected from the devs), the multi-characters mechanic, and the more focus on quests, cutscenes & narratives. But overall, this is such a shameless copy of BOTW even at first glance. While shameless, they also executed everything pretty well.

 

[FiXalaS]

That UI

 

[Xenosaga]

shameless and impressive at the same time

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This sums it up perfectly for me. I do admire technical ability of Mihoyo, but they really are shameless when it comes to copying stuff.

 

[finalflame]

Anime of the wild

 

[Dr Pears]

They didn't copy it. They made it better by adding lolis.

 

[Procheno]

Let me guess, it's Chinese

 

[Kaivan]

That UI

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Yeah, I totally missed to mention the UI too lol.

 

[Jon Carter]

Wow, I just skimmed through the video and it gets insanely blatant.

 

[lvl 99 Pixel]

am I crazy for thinking the draw distance looks nicer in this one? particularly the vegetation. I guess that's a PC benefit.

 

[signal]

At least it has extremely unique, definitely not derivative looking characters.

 

[Deleted member 22405]

Stuff like this really makes me wonder how I am so bad at asset creation...

 

[EarthPainting]

You know what, yeah. Shameless and impressive is a good way to put it. Incredibly blatant.

 

[Deleted member 36578]

Lol! Never seen this before but it did not disappoint .

 

[Lotus]

Shameless yet impressive is extremely apt indeed...

 

[D.Lo]

Haha it's... I didn't expect it to look exactly the same. Like it looks like one of those mods.

 

[randompasserby]

As someone who doesn't own a switch (nor any other current gen console actually) ...
Yeah I want it.

 

[Deleted member 26156]

When looking at the first two pictures, I thought you were exaggerating...

But looking at it all, this is an aggressively shameless copycat.

 

[jediyoshi]

The more I scrolled, the more I was impressed

 

[Chivalry]

Wow, it looks exactly the same.

 

[Tagg]

Wouldn't surprise me if there were shrines as well...

 

[Ushojax]

If you're going to steal then you may as well steal from the best.

 

[Xlad]

that half bury log next to campfire holyshit

 

[Nanashrew]

Shameless and impressive is no exaggeration, wow lmao

 

[Sailent]

They didn't copy it. They made it better by adding lolis.

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Missed the /s back there.

 

[Nanashrew]

Even the SFX feels kinda like BOTW but also just enough to be just a bit different.

 

[lvl 99 Pixel]

Wow, it looks exactly the same.

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It looks derivative, but a whole lot jankier and more "anime"
so basically expected from an MMO

 

[Mory Dunz]

It is impressive and shameless ha

cause I'm surprised they seem to have the "climb almost everywhere" mechanic
even if you're copying another game, that's hard to implement without being a buggy mess.
which is why games don't.

no where near the polish of course lol

 

[Camisado]

I was fully ready to come down on the "BOTW didn't invent that art style though..." side. Then I got to that first UI screenshot and my thoughts changed to "Oh right, yeah ok."

 

[Kaivan]

Even the SFX feels kinda like BOTW but also just enough to be just a bit different.

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Yes, from sound effects to battle music are all almost identical.

 

[Eumi]

Wow that's shameless as hell.

But BotW is an exclusive so I'm totally fine with knockoffs for other platforms.

 

[Coricus]

I'm surprised, someone spent a lot more time making this waifu mod than I would have expected. New towns and mechanics!

 

[Reinhardt Schneider]

Maaaaaaan that's shameless.

Kudos to them if they managed to get the climbing right, though

 

[Pocer]

China? Not surprised.

 

[Fuchsia]

Wow, someone spent a lot more time making this waifu mod than I would have expected.

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Yup. BOTW with waifus it seems.

 

[Jobbs]

Gross. Wish they put all of this talent and effort to better use.

 

[Linde]

The trailer is the funniest thing about it. It's like they ripped the BotW switch trailer music and changed some notes phrase by phrase

 

[cowbanana]

Breath of the Waifus

 

[Deleted member 59]

I'll be honest, i wish BotW looked as crisp and vibrant as that!

 

[vestan]

game looks way better visually than botw tho, gotta give it that

like this screenshot here

i wish anything in botw looked as good as this

 

[Aztorian]

The Legend of China: Knockoffs in the Wild

 

[lvl 99 Pixel]

game looks way better visually than botw tho, gotta give it that

like this screenshot here

i wish anything in botw looked as good as this

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Thats what I thought til i saw it in motion. Everything looks kind of cheap and janky.

 

[Xlad]

game looks way better visually than botw tho, gotta give it that

like this screenshot here

i wish anything in botw looked as good as this

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I dont know.I like how cozy botw is

 

[Kaivan]

Thats what I thought til i saw it in motion. Everything looks kind of cheap and janky.

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I'm not sure why would you call these janky. It's faster but animation seems fine to me. They're simply aiming for anime audience with this kind of animation work.

Played for about 2 hours. Mixed impressions leaning towards positive though. I'll write up some stuff tomorrow. Here are some gifs though. Visuals and animations are pretty good though.

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[unicornKnight]

I never minded copying something even as blatantly as this, as long as it brings something to the table. If anything, BotW fans have one mire game to look forward to.

 

[Exede]

Mihoyo has an impressive mobile game gfx wise already with Honkai Impact 3rd. Its a wifu gatcha DMC light game. Seeing this makes me wonder why Nintendo isnt even trying to make a MMO in the FE/Zelda and god beware Pokemon franchises

 

[Unknownlight]

I was really amused to skim the video and immediately hear BotW's distinctive "tap a random piano key every few seconds" soundtrack.

 

[Dark_Castle]

Wow, they really gave zero fuck about copying. Even the caves and small towers are straight out of BoTW.

 

[lvl 99 Pixel]

I'm not sure why would you call these janky. It's faster but animation seems fine to me. They're simply aiming for anime audience with this kind of animation work.

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Nah, like the dragon segment looked like a cheap mobile game type gameplay and the grass looks really cheap in comparison. At one point the player gets stuck climbing a wall. The physics seem really munted also but it is Beta.

 

[Dark_Castle]

I dont know.I like how cozy botw is

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I much prefer how BoTW looks. It's way easier on the eyes.

 

[KamenRiderEra]

game looks way better visually than botw tho, gotta give it that

like this screenshot here

i wish anything in botw looked as good as this

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In CEMU BOTW is beautiful!