Summary
- Fans are upset over limited character selections in Genshin Impact's 4.5 Wish Banners, particularly with an abundance of Geo characters.
- While Geo characters can work well together, their limited elemental reactions make them less desirable in the game's meta.
- The new Chronicle Wish Banner in 4.5 has also faced criticism for its similarities to existing banners and overlapping featured characters.
While new updates for Genshin Impact are normally something to get excited about, plenty of fans are quite upset about phase one of the recent 4.5 update. This is because Genshin Impact’s latest Wish Banners have turned out to be quite controversial.
Specifically, both the current Event Wish Banners and the new Chronicle Wish Banner have limited selections of featured characters that players can earn. For the Event Wishes, the majority of featured characters are Geo characters, which the community has been increasingly expressing disinterest in. And regarding the new Chronicle Wish Banner, it is too similar to other existing Banners for its own good.
Genshin Impact's Event Wish Banners for Phase 1 of 4.5 are Double-Edged Sword
Every Featured Character in Genshin Impact’s 4.5 Phase 1 Event Wish Banners
| Character: | Rarity: | Element: |
| Chiori | 5-Star | Geo |
| Itto | 5-Star | Geo |
| Dori | 4-Star | Electro |
| Gorou | 4-Star | Geo |
| Yun Jin | 4-Star | Geo |
The good news about the majority of characters in the current Event Wish Banners being Geo is that this Element is at its full potential when players can build a full-Geo team composition in Genshin Impact. This is because many Geo characters often have unique abilities and/or talents that synergize with other Geo characters. Also, equipping multiple characters of any matching Element will allow them to passively generate energy for each other's Elemental Skills as well. However, the current Event Wish Banners each featuring three Geo characters doesn’t excuse the fact that Geo is arguably the weakest of the seven Elements in Genshin Impact.
Geo characters aren’t inherently bad, because they can all generally be upgraded to the point of being relatively powerful (although, the same can arguably be said for any character). Instead, what makes Geo characters as a whole so lackluster is that Geo has very limited reactions with other Elements, whereas most characters rely on Elemental reactions in Genshin Impact to unleash their highest-damage attacks.
Genshin Impact's New Chronicle Wish Banner Is Off to a Troubling Start
In due time, Genshin Impact’ s new Chronicle Wish Banner could be a great accessibility feature for players to expand their arsenal with. However, the current similarities between the new Chronicle Wish Banner and the existing Banners begs the question of why a new Banner was needed in the first place. Genshin Impact’s 4.5 update could have been a great opportunity to expand and improve upon the Standard and Weapon Wish Banners instead of adding a new Banner, for example.
While the Chronicle Banner uses Event Wishes and the Standard Banner uses Standard Wishes, there’s currently a lot of overlap between the featured characters in both of these banners. Specifically, half of the 5-Star characters currently featured in the new Chronicle Wish Banner are characters that are already featured in the Standard Wish Banner. Unlike the Standard Banner, the featured rewards in the Chronicle Wish Banner are expected to rotate with every new phase and full update for Genshin Impact, but this doesn’t justify the initial overlap between the Chronicle and Standard Banner’s rewards.
Future Genshin Impact Updates Should Learn From the 4.5 Update’s Mistakes
Given the similar yet unrelated controversy surrounding the Event Wish Banners, phase one of the 4.5 Update has put players in a seriously awkward position. Currently, players’ only choice to get new characters in Genshin Impact is to get infamously underpowered Geo characters or to spend Event Wishes on characters that can already be obtained with Standard Wishes.
This whole ordeal has given a bad reputation to Genshin Impact’s newest update, which is unfortunate considering that this will potentially overshadow the unproblematic features that 4.5 will bring to the game. If there’s anything that these controversies can teach future updates and future Wish Banners, it’s that Genshin Impact’s Geo Element deserves a rework and that the separate Wish Banners need to offer more variety.
Genshin Impact
- Released
- September 28, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
Step into Teyvat, a vast world teeming with life and flowing with elemental energy.
You and your sibling arrived here from another world. Separated by an unknown god, stripped of your powers, and cast into a deep slumber, you now awake to a world very different from when you first arrived.
Thus begins your journey across Teyvat to seek answers from The Seven — the gods of each element. Along the way, prepare to explore every inch of this wondrous world, join forces with a diverse range of characters, and unravel the countless mysteries that Teyvat holds...
MASSIVE OPEN WORLD
Climb any mountain, swim across any river, and glide over the world below, taking in the jaw-dropping scenery each step of the way. And if you stop to investigate a wandering Seelie or strange mechanism, who knows what you might discover?
ELEMENTAL COMBAT SYSTEM
Harness the seven elements to unleash elemental reactions. Anemo, Electro, Hydro, Pyro, Cryo, Dendro, and Geo interact in all sorts of ways, and Vision wielders have the power to turn this to their advantage.
Will you vaporize Hydro with Pyro, electro-charge it with Electro, or freeze it with Cryo? Your mastery of the elements will give you the upper hand in battle and exploration.
BEAUTIFUL VISUALS
Feast your eyes on the world around you, with a stunning art style, real-time rendering, and finely tuned character animations delivering you a truly immersive visual experience. Lighting and weather all change naturally over time, bringing every detail of this world to life.
SOOTHING SOUNDTRACK
Let the beautiful sounds of Teyvat draw you in as you explore the expansive world around you. Performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the soundtrack changes seamlessly with the time and gameplay to match the mood.
BUILD YOUR DREAM TEAM
Team up with a diverse cast of characters in Teyvat, each with their own unique personalities, stories, and abilities. Discover your favorite party combinations and level up your characters to help you conquer even the most daunting of enemies and domains.
JOURNEY WITH FRIENDS
Team up with friends across various platforms to trigger more elemental action, tackle tricky boss fights, and conquer challenging domains together to reap rich rewards.
As you stand atop the peaks of Jueyun Karst and take in the rolling clouds and vast terrain stretching out before you, you may wish to stay in Teyvat a little longer... But until you are reunited with your lost sibling, how can you rest? Go forth, Traveler, and begin your adventure!
- ESRB
- Teen / Alcohol Reference, Fantasy Violence, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items), Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- HoYoverse (Formerly miHoYo)
- Publisher(s)
- HoYoverse (Formerly miHoYo)
- Engine
- Unity
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC, iOS, Android
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Action, Adventure, Gacha, Open-World
- Metascore
- 86
- Platforms That Support Crossplay
- Mobile, PC, PS4 & PS5
