Zelda-inspired Genshin Impact’s beta gameplay shows a lovely open world anime RPG

Genshin Impact's first closed beta on PC and iOS is now live and the lucky few that managed to get a key are starting to share their first impressions. Luckily, the game seems to fulfill on the expectations, with a lovely colorful world that is a treat to explore.

There are eight characters to choose from, five girls and three boys, with several swords (spin-to-win seems to be a thing), bows and a halberd being some of the weapons of choice, mostly with magic being involved. There is also a cute fire-spewing panda for some reason – I just love the nifty touch of the grass becoming scorched.

Needless to say, it's incredibly beautiful and the comparisons with Breath of the Wild aren't out of place. I would like to throw Peria Chronicles in there as well, but for combat I like how it seems to feel a lot like KurtzPel – it's action-based and apparently smooth as butter, something that was expected from the creators of Honkai Impact 3rd.

If you had any doubts about the potential of Genshin Impact, hopefully the gameplay videos below will dispel them. This is shaping up to be one of the coolest open world anime RPGs of recent years.