Genshin Impact Genre: Action RPG Meets Gacha

The Genshin Impact genre most commonly cited is open-world action role-playing game, and every part of that label is doing real work.

Open-world

Teyvat is explored freely rather than through level select — you climb, glide and swim across it, and the map has grown with every nation released since launch.

Action RPG

Combat is real-time, not turn-based. You control one character at a time from a party of four, switching between them mid-fight, with each character's elemental Skill and Burst forming the core of the combat system.

The part that is easy to miss

It is also, functionally, a gacha game. New characters and their signature weapons are obtained mainly through a randomised wish system, funded by a free-to-play model with optional purchases. This side of the game was significant enough that HoYoverse was fined by the FTC over how gacha odds were disclosed to younger players.

Why the combination matters

None of these labels alone covers it. Genshin plays like an action RPG on the ground and runs like a live-service gacha game underneath — understanding both halves explains most of what is unusual about how it is built and updated.