Genshin Impact has been one of the best and biggest surprises of 2020. It's an exceptional free-to-play gacha game that walks and talks like a big-budget JRPG, but it still has some frustrations. Chief among them, for many players, is the Resin system, which effectively gates how often players can get rewards from certain activities like killing special bosses or completing dungeons. Each time you beat one of these fights, you have to spend some Resin to actually access the loot, and it regenerates painfully slowly. But, speaking during an interview with PC Gamer, Genshin Impact developer MiHoYo says more changes are coming.
"We are aware of the player feedback regarding the Resin system and the team is already working on some solutions," a spokesperson for MiHoYo told me via email. "We will share more information with the community as it becomes available."
When pressed for more details, MiHoYo wouldn't elaborate on what its plans were, or when they might be implemented. But it's good to know further adjustments are being made.
More recently, MiHoYo announced that the 1.1 update coming on November 11 would increase the total amount of Resin players could store at one time and lower the required amount you have to spend each week in order to complete one of the weekly quests. But that change doesn't really address the core issue that Resin regenerates too slowly and is spent too quickly, and because Genshin Impact is still so new, there aren't enough activities to do at the endgame that don't require Resin. It all feels a little too limiting.
Co-Op will continue to play a crucial role in Genshin Impact's future updates.
MiHoYo
MiHoYo said that, so far, the feedback has been "largely in line" with what it was expecting prior to the full release. "We invested a lot of time and detailed preparation into Genshin Impact from its early stages to ensure a solid reception of the game by more players," MiHoYo told me. "We conducted a total of three closed beta phases prior to the official launch to collect feedback from players on various platforms, and our team continuously refined and polished the game based on the feedback that we received."
In terms of specific feedback beyond Resin, MiHoYo says it's looking to further improve co-op, which is heavily restricted currently. It's easy to jump into a game with other players, but there's a long list of things co-op guests cannot do when visiting another world beyond Resin-related activities. It feels like a missed opportunity.
I asked MiHoYo why the system was implemented this way and it said it was to "maintain the integrity of the immersive single-player experience"—or, more specifically, to stop someone from coming into your game and taking all your precious loot. It makes sense, but I'd still like to see some of those limitations opened up.
The good news is that MiHoYo is looking to add more co-op stuff. Recently an in-game event required players to work as a team in order to take on a special timed challenge, for example. "Co-op will continue to play a crucial role in Genshin Impact's future updates, and players can look forward to more new content as updates are released, starting with the Unreconciled Stars event planned for [update 1.1]," MiHoYo added.
One final subject I brought up with MiHoYo was the issue of microtransactions. As I've written before, Genshin Impact's mobile gacha origins don't really distract from what is a stellar game, but it's also frustrating that there are few ways to spend money in the game outside of gambling on its lootboxes with ludicrous drop rates.
"We do not currently have plans to implement other forms of microtransactions," MiHoYo said. "In addition to obtaining characters and weapons via the Wish system, players may also obtain certain characters and weapons for free by completing in-game challenges. Xiangling, for example, can currently be obtained by completing the corresponding floor in the Spiral Abyss. In Version 1.1, another character, Fischl, will be obtainable by completing the necessary challenges in the new Unreconciled Stars event."
So, no change there. Still, it's exciting that Genshin Impact is already getting a big update so soon. Update 1.1 will launch on November 11 and includes four new characters, a conclusion to the first story chapter, and a reputation system with unique rewards. Five weeks after that, update 1.2 will launch and open up an entirely new region to explore called the Dragonspine Mountains, with a third major update coming in February.
For more on Genshin Impact, check out our comprehensive Genshin Impact characters tier list, or our tips for both beginner and veteran players.
