13 best games like Genshin Impact in 2023: Zelda, Honkai & more
Below, we've compiled a list of the best games like Genshin Impact to play in 2023. If you're a Genshin Impact fan but want to play something similar yet different, we have you covered.
Included are other RPGs, open-world games, free-to-play titles, gacha games with strong hero rosters and franchises that fulfil similar story themes to Genshin Impact.
The game is known for its open-world traversal, whimsical storylines and iconic characters. Keep reading and secure your next gaming obsession.
- For Genshin Impact tips and tricks, check out our list of Shrine of Depths locations in Genshin Impact, including all locations across major regions like Sumeru, Liyue, Mondstadt and more.
Games Like Genshin Impact
13- Honkai: Star Rail
Click to enlargePlatforms: PC, PS4, PS5, iOS, Android
Honkai: Star Rail is the latest title developed by Genshin Impact's creators, miHoYo. A sequel to Honkai Impact 3rd, Honkai: Star Rail continues in the same vein with gacha-style elements but with a turn-based combat system more akin to traditional JRPGs. It is currently available on iOS, Android and for download on PC.
Taking on a more futuristic approach than Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail sees the player character embarking on an inter-planetary adventure aboard the Astral Express. But despite this stark change in setting, the anime-style visuals and epic quests ensure don't feel a world away from what they've learned from Genshin Impact.
- Wondering where to start with Honkai: Star Rail? Take a look at our guide on where to find Yujin, who is an NPC that will give you quests, including the Navigation Compass mission.
12 -Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch
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Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC, PS3, PS4
Ni No Kuni is a highly successful RPG from Bandai Namco, instantly recognisable for its artwork, heavily inspired by Studio Ghibli. This colourful world includes the standard fantasy tropes of a lone boy, charged with a destiny of defeating a great evil. It also tackles the sensitive issues around love and loss, with the main character Oliver being tasked with saving his mother over the course of the game.
If these high stakes don’t grip you, the lovable characters with distinct personalities and accents will. As with other games like Genshin Impact, it is firmly rooted in RPG elements, with an emphasis on the characters you meet along the way being of great importance.
Drippy is a lovable sidekick character that operates the same way as Paimon at the beginning of Genshin Impact. Being, to introduce the character to the world they have found themselves in, and act as a wise-cracking guide.
11 - Honkai Impact 3rd
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Platforms: PC, iOS, Android
Created by the same studio as Genshin Impact, miHoYo, Honkai Impact 3rd can reliably be described as a futuristic fantasy version of Genshin Impact. Operating with the same gacha-style character system, it is also a free-to-play mobile game, available on iOS, Android and for download on PC.
The story pits you against a great enemy, Honkai while you play as the captain of the ‘Valkyries’, girls born with the ability to harness the great power ‘chaos’. There are 14 Valkyries to collect overall, and 47 Battlesuits (skins that aren’t just used for customisation, but also allow different gameplay abilities) meaning your favourite character’s playstyle can be adjusted if you wish. If you fall in love with Honkai Impact 3rd they also have an array of manga comics available online.
- For details on Genshin Impact, check out our guide on how much storage Genshin Impact takes up and see if you have the space to play it on a PC.
10 - The Legend Of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
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Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Wii U
As the winner of the 2017 Game of the Year Award, this instalment of the Zelda franchise hardly needs an introduction. Highly acclaimed and recommended by fans, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild combines a soft Ghibli art style with inventive shrine puzzles and quirky characters.
As with other games like Genshin Impact, this Zelda title is a fully-fledged RPG that begins with the age-old trope of a hero awakening from a long slumber, not knowing where they are but tasked with saving a world in peril. The combat has a similar feel to it to Genshin Impact, with small groups of enemies usually cropping up in the wild, swarming your character but waiting for their turn to be hit, like the combat style popularised by Batman Arkham Knight.
- If you’ve always wanted to play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but haven’t because single players aren’t your thing, there’s good news. Read our article on the recent announcement of a Breath of the Wild multiplayer.
9 - Fire Emblem Heroes
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Platforms: Android, iOS
Like Genshin Impact, this game was initially produced for mobiles as a free-to-play game with gacha-style monetisation of characters. It was, in fact, Nintendo’s first attempt at a mobile release of an RPG. Story-wise, it follows themes similar to Genshin Impact and starts the game with two siblings joined against a corrupt empire.
With both PvE and PvP combat, each character is levelled up in a party system and each has unique abilities. The similarities to Genshin Impact don’t end there, characters are rated on a star meter and parties operate with four members at a time with featured tasks and daily challenge modes (named Daily Hero Battles). These daily battles provide players with the opportunity to face off against a team, with the chance to recruit their lead to their own team.
8 - The Alchemist Code
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Platforms: Android, iOS
This is another turn-based RPG made for mobile as a free-to-play game with a monetised gacha system. As with other games like Genshin Impact, The Alchemist Code is supported with routine updates and limited-time events to keep fans engaged within the wider community. During events, the player is typically tasked with defeating raid bosses to win rewards.
The plot behind this entry features similar sibling relationship themes with the two titular siblings being the founders of alchemy in this world, which angered the gods and caused a split, separating the world of mortals from the gods.
7 - Another Eden: The Cat Beyond Time And Space
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Platforms: PC, Android, iOS (Nintendo Switch Release TBA)
This is a free-to-play game with in-app purchases, originally released for mobile. The game is now available on Steam, and is intended for a Switch release, with the date as of yet unconfirmed. The game has a mixture of 2D side-scrolling and 3D gameplay, with a central focus on its turn-based combat system.
The plot, like Genshin Impact, revolves around the struggles of a brother and sister, who are battling against a demon king, hell-bent on using sister Feinne’s powers to erase all humans. The game uses time travel as a plot device, with the brother, Aldo, being launched 800 years into the future whilst trying to save his sister. As such, different acts of the game take place in the past, present and future.
Since its launch, Another Eden has also hosted collaborations with other games, of note being the collaboration with Persona 5 where they included Persona 5 characters as playable.
6 - King’s Raid
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Platforms: Android, iOS, PC
This is another game like Genshin Impact in the sense that it is a gacha RPG that is free to play across mobile and PC platforms. It features more than 70 different heroes to recruit to your ‘hero index’. It hosts a party combat system with characters of varying combat styles and magical abilities.
The plot behind King’s Raid sets the scene with a figure named the Dark Lord Angmund, who is the leader of all demons that have spilt into the lands after a wizard broke the seal to the ‘Demon’s Gate’. Angmund was defeated on the field of battle within the lore of the story, however, the game takes place 100 years later, when stirrings of Angmund’s return to power have arisen. King’s Raid lends itself well to established fantasy elements with 20 distinct races, including elves and vampires, developed in an anime art style.
- If you really want to branch out for Genshin Impact, why not try a farming simulator with a similar, vibrant art style? Here’s our guide on the 10 best farming games.
5 - Immortals Fenyx Rising
Click to enlargePlatforms: Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox series S|X
Immortals Fenyx Rising sets up similar themes to Genshin Impact surrounding the inner struggles of deities and their effect on the lands. In the game you play as Fenyx, tasked with journeying to save the Greek Gods from a curse.
You'll fight some of the most iconic Titans and beasts of Greek myth and do so with magic and magically imbued weapons. Combat is melee in nature and the game also includes puzzles if you're up for a challenge.
If you enjoy RPGs with a healthy dose of mythology, Immortals Fenyx Rising is a great option to play.
4 - Tower of Fantasy
Click to enlargePlatforms: PC, iOS, Android, PS4, PS5
In many ways, Tower of Fantasy feels like a spiritual successor to Genshin Impact. The game is built in much the same way, with a roster of gacha characters you can collect to form a party, frequent updates, new character drops, events, maps and a stunning open world.
As a free-to-play RPG game like Genshin Impact, many fans flocked to Tower of Fantasy upon release due to its similarities. Where it slightly diverges is through its sci-fi inspirations. The game is a mix of fantasy meets sci-fi and is set in a futuristic world of droids and other quirky characters whose appearances you borrow through a training program called the Simulacra.
Much of the premise centres around the trials and tribulations of siblings, one of which is cursed with aberration, an affliction of overloading her processors. As you try to help the siblings you'll encounter more stories and NPCs that need your help.
- If Tower of Fantasy has piqued your interest, get started here with our guide on the Tower of Fantasy system requirements and see if you can download the game.
3 - Persona 5
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Platforms: PS3, PS4
Persona 5 embodies the mantra that characters are everything for an RPG. Without interesting characters with unique backstories and quests, an RPG can quickly fade into obscurity. That isn’t the case of Persona 5, which is highly rated amongst the JRPG community.
Like Genshin Impact, Persona 5 puts great emphasis on its character introductions, with over-the-top cinematics and character title cards. Although anime in art style, unlike Genshin Impact, Persona 5 is heavily stylised to look like a manga comic strip. This makes the game instantly recognisable amongst other JRPGs and complements the hack-and-slash elements of turn-based combat. Building character relationships is an important aspect of this game, reminiscent of the hangout quests in Genshin Impact.
2 - Epic Seven
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Platforms: Android, iOS
This is an anime-style RPG game like Genshin Impact that is free-to-play across mobile platforms and hosts a gacha type of monetisation with daily quests and limited-edition character banners. This adventure begins with a Goddess creating a world from the corpse of her fallen brother, disowning herself from the other Gods, the God IIyros takes issue with this and sends an Archdemon to destroy her creation and its inhabitants.
If this prologue doesn’t already grip you, the ensuing plot will as you play as a decedent of the Goddess, tasked with fighting the Archdemon. Every time her heirs fail, the Goddess Diche re-sets the world and wipes the memories of the ones left living. The main character Ras sets the scene of the game by waking from a twenty-year sleep, unaware of events in a classic RPG opening.
What is the best game to play like Genshin Impact?
1 - Pokemon Sword and Shield
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Platforms: Nintendo Switch
Pokemon Sword and Shield are one of the latest instalments of the Pokemon franchise. With RPG elements under the backdrop of a mysterious Chairman, who has a company that is working on harnessing the energy from Wishing Stars to help save the kingdom of Galar.
What makes Pokemon Sword and Shield a game like Genshin Impact is the elemental battle system. Both systems work in a similar way, with elements weak or strong to corresponding ones. For example, in Genshin Impact Pyro enemies are weak to Hydro and immune to Pyro damage, meaning if a skill is performed that includes Pyro, such as overload, the Pyro status effect will not take.
If you’re new to the Pokémon franchise, this is a great option for an entry game, and you’ll already be well-versed in how elements work as a combat mechanic.
- For a thorough explanation of the element system in Genshin Impact, read our Genshin Impact Elements guide, detailing status effects and how to combine them.