Genshin Impact is a popular gacha game that has been going on for more than 2 years now and plans to go on for another 8 years according to the Genshin roadmap. For it to remain amazing and consistent, one of the issues it has to inevitably deal with is power creep wherein the latest character releases dwarf those early game characters in terms of power, efficiency and viability.
What is Power Creep and How Genshin Impact is Dealing With It
Power creep is when newer content and characters in a game are vastly overpowered when compared to early game content and characters. It’s a flaw in game design and game balance that developers have to preferably avoid and deal with for consistent and enjoyable gameplay for both newer and older players.
Gacha games often even employ power creep as a marketing strategy to get players to spend more and get all the latest characters. These new characters are built to become the new “meta” and even occasionally break the game. With over two years of releases under its belt and a new character releasing almost every patch, this is something Genshin too was faced with.
Power creep however is a dirty strategy and one not looked upon positively by fans. Genshin Impact is more than just a gacha game which is why it’s so popular and loved all over the world. Just because the newer characters are favoured by the meta, Genshin has to make sure older characters don’t fall out of it.
While it’s acceptable some early game units were inherently flawed and needed a rework as more characters were released, they weren’t necessarily powercrept as much as their kit and combat designs were refined. That said, characters like Ganyu, Hu Tao, Ayaka and Xiao were the first hints of power creep in the game no matter how badly Genshin tried to avoid it by using hybrid scaling or alternate scaling on characters like Hu Tao.
The Release of Dendro
The release of Dendro was game-changing as it finally brought a breath of fresh air into Genshin’s elemental hierarchy and combat system. Electro was indirectly buffed by a mile, Hydro wasn’t just seen as support anymore and Pyro was taken down a notch in terms of how viable and powerful players expected it to be with Dendro.
With new Dendro characters, weaker units of the past were immensely buffed to the point they were even considered part of the meta- though not the best in class but still a part of it. With Dendro we’ve come so far as to build teams without the main DPS and with an all-support cast to perform as powerfully as meta teams with meta DPS characters.
Genshin Impact’s Recent Character Gameplay Designs
Genshin Impact’s recent string of sub-par to average 4-stars is also a sign of the developers encouraging players to go for a more niche playstyle with these niche characters. These 4-stars are meant to be niche and as more characters are released, perhaps like Kuki Shinobu, they too will redeem themselves. Candace and Dori come to mind as Genshin’s latest 4 stars and we wholeheartedly expect Candace to have a better standing in the meta by the end of Sumeru updates or the beginning of Fontaine.
One of the most important reasons for this article is in fact the latest 5-star character- Nilou who has an extremely limiting playstyle but within her own niche, she’s not only broken but also very F2P-friendly. Sure, players can only use Dendro and Hydro teammates with her but provided they even have the F2P cast properly built (Barbara, Dendro Traveler, Collei), even casual players can clear the difficult Abyss Floors with relative ease than before.
Going forward, Genshin players can expect more such characters with alternate scaling and with the ability to manipulate the reactions itself as Nilou does with her Bountiful Cores. While we don’t expect this strategy to last till the end, it’s still perhaps a step in the right direction in terms of game design and game balance.
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