Genshin Impact Developer Wants You to Know That It’s Not The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

When Genshin Impact was shown during ChinaJoy 2019, some players were not happy. To be more specific, Nintendo fans were not happy about the resemblance to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This sparked a range of social media images that depicted the fans flipping off the game and even caused one fan to break their console in front of the display.

Throughout its development, the game has been compared to Nintendo’s launch title adventure, but it has shaped into its own experience along the way.

We had the chance to ask miHoYo about the inspiration Breath of the Wild played in the development of the game, they replied, “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is one of the most popular and respected titles in the industry, and one which our staff holds in high regard. In a post that our team circulated to players last year, we mentioned that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was one of our inspirations for creating Genshin Impact as an open-world action RPG.”

This post that team is referring to was what caused the protests during their reveal event:

Seems he wasn’t the only one protesting.

lul pic.twitter.com/tyofudXNsD

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) August 4, 2019

However, the developer seems to want to distance themselves from the stigma that it’s a Breath of the Wild clone, by adding, “That said, it is important to note that once you actually pick up the game, you will find the experience of Genshin Impact to be very different from that of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.”

They continue, “Genshin Impact features a fully original story and characters, and the core gameplay revolves around assembling a party of multiple characters and engaging in a combat system based on interactions between different elements. In the first few closed betas, we invited select players to experience the game and provide us with feedback. With the game launching on September 28, we are hoping that players can experience the uniqueness of the game first-hand, and of course that they will enjoy the experience.”

It’s true that getting your hands on the game makes it easier to separate the two, but it’s those hardcore Breath of the Wild fans that I wonder will even give it a chance. Let me know.

We’ll release the full interview with the developers soon.

In case you missed it, check out our preview of the game’s final closed beta, where we play more of the game on PS4. You can also check out the Switch trailer for the game, along with new details about the game’s world.