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Genshin Impact is a free-to-play, open-world action RPG developed by HoYoverse. Initially released on the 28th September 2020, it combines exploration, real-time elemental combat, character collection and a story set in the fantasy world of Teyvat. The game is available on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and mobile devices, and continues to receive new characters, quests, regions and events.
Whether you have seen a few clips of its anime-inspired art style, heard friends or streamers talking about their favourite characters or want to know if your gaming PC can run it, there is plenty to discover, from its story and gameplay to its system requirements and latest updates.
What Is Genshin Impact?
Genshin Impact is a large open-world action RPG where you explore a fantasy world, fight enemies using elemental abilities, complete quests and build a team of playable characters. The game was developed and published by HoYoverse, free to download, with optional in-game purchases for characters, weapons and other in-game items.
The game takes place in the world of Teyvat, which has been divided into nations associated with different elements and ruled by powerful gods known as Archons. Each region has its own landscapes, culture, characters, enemies and storytelling, giving its players plenty of reasons to keep exploring.
Unlike common RPGs that have one fixed character build, Genshin Impact lets you assemble a party of four characters and switch between them during combat. Each character uses one of seven elements: Pyro, Hydro, Anemo, Electro, Dendro, Cryo or Geo. Combining these elements creates intensely powerful reactions, making team builds a very important part of the game.
Genshin Impact shares several gameplay ideas with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, especially its open-world exploration, climbing, gliding, environmental puzzles and colourful fantasy setting. While both of these games encourage you to wander away from the main quest, investigate landmarks and discover rewards tucked away across the map. However, Genshin Impact places a larger emphasis on party-based combat, elemental reactions, character progression and collecting new playable characters.
What Are the Genshin Impact PC System Requirements?
Genshin Impact is one of the lesser demanding PC games currently available, but the growing world and regular updates does mean that storage space and suitable hardware are important.
HoYoverse’s published PC requirements list 8GB of RAM and a GTX 1050 or equivalent as the bare minimum specification to run the game. The recommended specification to run the game without issues is increasing this to 16GB of RAM and a GTX 1060 6GB or better.
Here are the current published requirements:
| Component | Minimum requirements | Recommended requirements |
| Operating system | Windows 10 64-bit | Windows 10 64-bit or Windows 11 64-bit |
| Processor | 6th-generation Intel Core i5, AMD Ryzen or equivalent | 7th-generation Intel Core i7, AMD Ryzen 5000 series or better |
| Memory | 8GB RAM | 16GB RAM |
| Graphics card | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 or equivalent | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB or better |
| DirectX | Version 11 | Version 11 |
| Storage | 110GB available space | 110GB available space |
| Storage type | SSD recommended | SSD recommended |
Can a low-end PC run Genshin Impact?
Yes, given that the PC meets at least the minimum requirements. You don’t necessarily need to have a high-end gaming PC to begin exploring Teyvat. However, meeting the minimum specification doesn’t guarantee the same experience as playing on a more powerful system. The performance of Genshin impact will completely depend on the hardware, resolution, graphics settings and what else is running on your PC.
If your system is struggling to run the game, try lowering the graphics settings and closing any unnecessary background applications. Installing the game on an SSD is also highly recommended by HoYoverse.
What PC specs are best for Genshin Impact?
If you are buying a custom or prebuilt gaming PC and want more room to grow or play modern AAA games alongside Genshin Impact, or create content through video editing or 3D rendering, it makes a lot of sense to start looking beyond the minimum requirements. A modern CPU, 16GB or more of RAM, a capable graphics card and an SSD give a practical starting point for a gaming PC that can handle Genshin Impact smoothly on high graphics, alongside other modern titles.
At CyberPowerPC UK, our wide range of gaming PCs includes systems with different performance levels, allowing you to choose a PC in your budget that suits your setup rather than paying for power you might not even need.
What Is Genshin Impact About?
The story begins with two travelling twins, Aether and Lumine, who come across a mysterious god while travelling between worlds. This encounter leads to the twins being separated, leaving it up to you to choose which twin to control.
After awakening in Teyvat, the character that you choose meets Paimon, a small companion who helps to guide you on your journey. Together, you begin looking for your missing twin while uncovering the secrets of the Teyvat and the dark forces shaping its future. The main campaign takes you through Teyvat’s different nations, introducing new characters, political conflicts, ancient mysteries and the important influence of the Archons. What begins as a search for a lost sibling gradually turns into a much bigger adventure.
There is a lot to do outside the main quest, too. You can complete character stories, tackle dungeons known as Domains, solve environmental puzzles, collect resources, fight bosses and sometimes take part in limited-time events. One of the biggest strengths of playing Genshin Impact is the huge amount of optional game content available. You can either continue following the central storyline when you want to progress, or spend an evening exploring the map and gathering materials instead.
How Does Genshin Impact Gameplay Work?
Genshin Impact combines exploration, intense action combat and RPG progression. Mostly, you’ll spend your time travelling through the world, completing quests, fighting enemies and improving your team.
Open-world exploration
Teyvat is made to reward curiosity. You are able to climb mountains, glide between cliffs, swim across rivers and investigate abandoned ruins, villages and hidden areas.
Exploration can also help you to develop your unlocked characters, as chests contain rewards, puzzles unlock additional treasures, and gathering materials gives you the resources you require to ascend the characters and upgrade their weapons.
As you progress more through the main story, more areas become accessible. Each region gives you new environments, local mechanics and challenges, helping the world feel constantly unique and interesting rather than simply larger.
Elemental combat and team building
The combat of Genshin Impact is built around switching between four characters and combining each of their abilities. Every character has a Normal Attack, an Elemental Skill and an Elemental Burst, though the exact mechanics do differ between characters. Elemental reactions are especially important, for example, combining Pyro and Hydro can trigger Vaporize, while Electro and Dendro can create Quicken and related reactions.
Building the best Genshin team means thinking about more than individual damage. You need to think about elemental application, energy generation, healing, defensive support and how well each character’s abilities work together. A well-built team can make harder fights considerably easier, even without having every available character.
Character progression
Characters in Genshin Impact become stronger through levelling, ascension, weapons, Talents and Artifacts. Each system contributes to their performance, so simply having a powerful character is only the start. Artifacts are equipment pieces that give a character extra stats and set bonuses. Choosing the best Artifacts and upgrading the right stats can make a huge difference to a character’s damage or support abilities. The Adventure Rank system also decides whether or not you can access certain quests, features and activities. As you gain Adventure EXP, you unlock even more of the game’s progression systems and challenges.
How Many Characters Are in Genshin Impact?
Genshin Impact has a considerably large and continually growing roster of playable characters. New additions arrive through updates, while returning characters can appear on limited-time event banners.
Characters vary in their elemental abilities, weapons, combat roles and stories. Some are made to deal the majority of the team’s damage, while others can heal, shield attacks, give buffs or elemental support.
Here are five well-known characters worth learning about if you are just starting your adventure:
1. Raiden Shogun
Element: Electro | Weapon: Polearm
Raiden Shogun is a highly powerful Electro character associated with Inazuma, a nation shaped by the pursuit of eternity. Her story explores the consequences of trying to preserve an ideal while the world continues to change around her.
In combat, she is especially helpful for teams that rely on Elemental Bursts. Her abilities can support allies’ energy needs, while her own Elemental Burst allows her to deal substantial damage to enemies. She is a great example of how Genshin Impact combines character lore with mechanics that affect team building.
2. Zhongli
Element: Geo | Weapon: Polearm
Zhongli is a central character in Liyue’s Archon storyline, where his identity and connection to the nation’s history play an important role. His defensive abilities are his main selling point. Zhongli can create a large, powerful shield that helps to protect the active character from incoming damage, making difficult encounters more manageable.
For players who prefer a safer approach to combat, he demonstrates the value of defensive support alongside damage-focused characters.
3. Nahida
Element: Dendro | Weapon: Catalyst
Nahida is associated with Sumeru and serves as the region’s Dendro Archon. Her storyline dives into knowledge, memory and the responsibilities that come with leadership.
Nahida has the valuable ability to apply Dendro to enemies and help her team to take advantage of reactions like Bloom, Hyperbloom or Quicken.
Nahida is particularly interesting for players who enjoy building teams around elemental combinations rather than relying entirely on direct damage.
4. Furina
Element: Hydro | Weapon: Sword
Furina plays a large role in Fontaine’s story, where appearances, performance and the truth behind a public persona are recurring themes.
Her combat kit offers a mixture of off-field damage and team support. Furina can contribute Hydro application while helping certain teams to increase their damage potential, however, her mechanics also make managing the team’s health crucial.
5. Neuvillette
Element: Hydro | Weapon: Catalyst
Neuvillette is an important figure in Fontaine’s legal system and one of the region’s most significant characters. His background connects closely to the game’s wider mythology.
In combat, Neuvillette is known for his charged attack, which releases a strong beam of Hydro damage. His straightforward damage pattern makes him appealing to players who want a character capable of handling large amounts of damage without the need for constant switching.
These five characters are examples rather than a definitive ranking. The best character for your account depends on your existing roster, equipment available to you, preferred playstyle and the teams that you actually want to build.
Is Genshin Impact Multiplayer? Does It Have Crossplay?
Yes. Genshin Impact supports cooperative multiplayer, crossplay and cross-save across supported platforms, though each feature works slightly differently.
How does Genshin Impact multiplayer work?
Genshin Impact is mostly a single-player adventure, however you can invite other players into your world for cooperative play. Co-op is made to be available at Adventure Rank 16. Once Co-op is unlocked, you are able to team up with your friends to explore, fight eligible bosses, collect resources and complete certain Domains.
There are some limitations to multiplayer, however. Story quests and other activities can restrict co-op, and not every part of the game can be completed together. Your world and character progression also stay tied to your own account only. Genshin Impact multiplayer is more of a way to share parts of the adventure, rather than a fully shared campaign.
Does Genshin Impact support crossplay?
Yes. PC, mobile, PlayStation and Xbox players are able to play together, subject to the game’s co-op requirements and server compatibility. You are also able to use your HoYoverse Account to access your current progress on supported devices.
Is Genshin Impact available on the Nintendo Switch?
No. While a Nintendo Switch version was announced previously, Genshin Impact is not currently available on Nintendo Switch or Nintendo Switch 2. HoYoverse hasn’t confirmed a release date for either console as of yet.
What Is the Latest Genshin Impact Update?
Genshin Impact still continues to get updates frequently, introducing new story content, characters, events, balance changes as well as additional features. As of October 2026, Version 7.1 launched on 23 September 2026, and HoYoverse also published a preview/test for Version 7.2 on 21 October 2026.
Updates can also introduce limited-time characters and events, so it is worth checking the official Genshin Impact website before deciding whether to spend your in-game resources or return for a specific character.
How Do I Progress Faster in Genshin Impact?
Genshin Impact has many progression systems, and it can be easy to get confused on where to spread your resources when starting off. A few simple habits can make the early game more manageable.
1. Prioritise the main story: Archon Quests introduce the world and give you access to additional areas and activities you didn’t have before. Progressing through the story is a helpful way to learn the game’s systems while earning rewards.
2. Build a balanced team: Focus on a small group of characters, rather than trying to level every individual character you have at once. A team with a damage dealer, useful elemental support and ideally some form of healing or defence will be a great assistance in battles.
3. Level your weapons and Talents: Character levels are very important, but weapons and Talents also have a large influence on your overall power. Improving these can be a more practical use of your resources than investing in every single character you own.
4. Collect resources while exploring: Always aim to pick up as many local specialities, enemy drops and other materials that you can as you travel. Many character ascensions and upgrades require resources that can take time to gather.
5. Spend your Resin thoughtfully: Original Resin is used to claim rewards from several activities, including Domains and bosses. You can use it on materials that support the characters you are actively developing rather than farming everything at once.
6. Check event rewards: Limited events can typically give useful materials as well as other rewards. Check the requirements before an event ends so you don’t miss any content you can comfortably complete.
7. Learn elemental reactions: Try experimenting with different combinations and pay close attention to how each of your characters apply their elements. A team that works well together can typically outperform a collection of individually strong characters that do not complement one another.
While these tips will help you to make faster progress through the game, take your time and enjoy the surroundings from time to time. Genshin Impact is built around long-term progression, so concentrating on a few useful upgrades is generally more productive than trying to complete every activity immediately.
Is Genshin Impact Worth Playing in 2026?
Genshin Impact is certainly worth playing if you like exploring a vast open world, discovering character-driven stories and fighting battles that reward experimentation. The large world of Teyvat, huge cast of characters and regular updates give you plenty of content to play through.
Genshin Impact is also a very easily accessible game. The game is free to download, and the minimum PC requirements are modest compared with many modern games. There are a few things to think about before playing Genshin Impact, however. Character and weapon collection uses a gacha system, which essentially means some rewards depend on chance and limited-time banners.
There is no real requirement to collect every character in Genshin Impact to enjoy the game. A fully optimised, focused team, as well as a good understanding of elemental reactions and steady progress through the game’s quests can take you a long way. PC players benefit from a system that can hold stable performance while exploring the world and fighting enemies. A suitable gaming PC gives you a lot more flexibility with the graphics settings of the game, as well as leaving room for other games as your library grows.
Frequently Asked Questions About Genshin Impact
Is Genshin Impact free to play?
Yes. Genshin Impact is a free-to-play game, which can be downloaded and played on supported platforms. The game additionally includes optional in-game purchases, such as a gacha system for obtaining characters and weapons.
When did Genshin Impact come out?
Genshin Impact was released on 28 September 2020 for the PC, PlayStation 4, iOS and Android. It has since expanded to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Can I download Genshin Impact on PC?
Yes. You can download the PC version through the official Genshin Impact website using the HoYoPlay launcher, or equally through the Epic Games Store. Genshin Impact isn’t available on Steam.
Is Genshin Impact coming to Nintendo Switch?
There is, as of October 2026, currently no confirmed release date for Genshin Impact on the Nintendo Switch or Nintendo Switch 2.
Is Genshin Impact demanding on PC?
Genshin Impact has considerably low minimum requirements to run the game, however, a more capable PC gives you greater flexibility with graphics settings and other applications. HoYoverse recommends 16GB RAM, a GTX 1060 6GB or better, as well as SSD storage for the recommended PC specification.
Is there a Genshin Impact anime?
An anime adaptation has been officially announced as a long-term project between HoYoverse and animation studio ufotable. The project was initially revealed in September 2022, accompanied by a concept trailer. Updates in 2026 confirmed that the project is still in development, but an official release date has not been announced yet.