The 1.1 Update for Genshin Impact, titled “A New Star Approaches”, was a big one. It added new systems, new mechanics, new characters, and a ton of fixes that players had been asking for.
Now, most of the stuff introduced in this huge update was well worth the wait, stuff like finally being able to customize our controls or giving everyone access to Venti’s Windburst skill in the form of a Gadget. But, there was an easy-to-follow trend where a lot of these fixes still weren’t quite enough for the problem that it tried to address. So it only seems apt to go over them before 1.2 comes out and (hopefully) fixes them completely. Otherwise, players might fall off, though if they do, there’s plenty of other fish in the sea.
10 Fixed: Customizable Controls
First up is the Customizable Controls option. Yes, players can now (finally) change their keybinding for almost every single action in the game. It’s something that should be in every game on release, and it was sort of laughable that Genshin Impact launched without this option. Honestly, most gamers, no matter if they’re casual or dedicated, agree that there’s no harm in including as many interchangeable options as possible. So, when Mihoyo didn’t even include one of the most standard options, players knew this was going to be an uphill climb to real accessibility.
9 Not Enough: Not Customizable Enough
Now, the keyword from the initial description above is that players could now change their keybindings for “almost” everything. This is because there are still a few keybinds that can’t be edited. For example, players can’t change the button for Charge Attacks, players have to hold the attack button for these to come out, no matter what. Normally, this would be fine, honestly, it even makes sense not to have it editable. But, when there are characters like Klee, who reach their peak damage by mixing Charge Attacks into their Normal Attack string, consistently getting these Charge Attacks to come out is important. And that’s just one of the un-changeable bindings, though to be fair, there are only a couple of them.
8 Fixed: Resin System
Genshin Impact’s first expansive update added two major changes to the Resin System. These changes were a long time coming since the fanbase wasn’t even remotely quiet about their feelings on the Resin system. So, how did they go about addressing the complaints? One, with the inclusion of Condensed Resin. Players could now take 40 Original Resin and “condense” it into an item that has no expiration date and can be used on Domains and Ley Lines in order to redeem their rewards twice at once. Second, they upped the daily amount of Resin that players could hold from 120 to 160, making room for exactly one more Boss Encounter than was previously possible.
7 Not Enough: The Grind Is Still Just As Bad
But, did these two changes fix the Resin system like fans hoped they would? Not at all! And why is that? Well, simply put, it’s because they were baby steps to fix a problem that needed a couple of long strides. Nevermind all the inherent issues with a Resin system, the fact of the matter is, players can only hold three Condensed Resin at once! So, those who want to take a break from Genshin can really only take breaks without “wasting” potential Resin a day at a time.
Plus, upping the cap from 120 to 160 but not reducing the cost for anything else in the game is such a minor move. Players were complaining about how little playtime 120 Resin gave them in a day, and Mihoyo threw 40 more Resin their way and said “Oh, here’s 5-minutes more content for you guys, problem solved”. It got so bad, fans even created their own mini-game while waiting for Resin to refill.
6 Fixed: Map Exploration
In the first few weeks of Genshin Impact, players really tore the map apart. They found the hidden island off the coast of Mondstadt, they solved all the co-op puzzles, and even found that God of Salt barrier that only Zhongli could dispel in a recently released story quest. But, other than nearby chests or Oculi, there weren’t any real rewards for finding these locations that felt “unique”. Players couldn’t keep track of how much they’d explored, and it didn’t feel rewarding to explore anyway. Well, with 1.1, Mihoyo added in this new “Exploration System” that lets players know exactly how much of each region they’ve seen. It was a pretty neat way to let players track their progress, and it integrated nicely with the new Reputation system as well.
5 Not Enough: The Implementation Of It
The problem with this new system, however, came with the way it was implemented. Primarily, the problem was with the percentages they used. Frankly, it would’ve made much more sense to use the classic fog-of-war system. Because of this, players could see that they’ve explored 95% of a region, but they’ve had no idea what small area in that region they hadn’t explored yet. This led to players backtracking a ton and possibly even looking up a guide to save time, which takes the fun out of exploration altogether.
4 Fixed: More To Do With The City Reputation System
Before the 1.1 Update, players would log on, do their Daily Commissions, redeem and restart their expeditions, run some Domains/Ley Lines/Boss encounters, farm some basic mobs, and then they’d be out of Resin. Maybe, after all that was done, they’d attempt to go lower in the Spiral Abyss. But, usually, this all took maybe an hour. Mihoyo took note of this and decided to add the City Reputation system, which is a system many MMORPG players are likely familiar with. Essentially, it involves performing some tasks for the town (either Mondstadt or Liyue Harbor), and in exchange, players get new recipes, new gadgets, and even new Wings at max rank. And, for a brand new system, it worked really smoothly right away.
3 Not Enough: Still Once A Week And Capped At 3
But the problem with the City Reputation system is that they decided to cap it out in a way similar to the Trounce Domain encounters (Stormterror, Tartaglia, Wolf of the North) rather than the Daily Commissions. If the Bounties gave half the amount of Reputation, but players were able to do 1-2 of them a day, it would’ve gone over way better. Yet, the fanbase is stuck doing three of them max, per week.
And, after release, it basically just meant that players would have an extra half hour’s worth of content to do on Mondays, and then the same old amount of content for the rest of the week.
2 Fixed: New Gadgets That Help Speed-Of-Use
One of the biggest changes in Genshin Impact was the introduction of all these Gadgets. Stuff like the Geo/Anemo Resonance Stones, the Portable Stoves, the Wind Catcher bottle, the NRE bag, or the Treasure Compasses. All of these helped fix major problems players used to have with the game. Things like finding the last couple Oculi they needed, not being able to climb high towers easily just because they didn’t roll Venti, or not being able to last in a tough boss fight because they didn’t build their Barbara well enough. It was a huge help and players really rushed to earn the Reputation in each City in order to unlock their recipes.
1 Not Enough: They’re Severely Limited And Still None For Party Setup
Still, even with how much these new Gadgets helped, every single one had some issues that sort of soiled how convenient they should’ve been. The Resonance Stones have to be crafted every single time and mark a gigantic “area” to find the Oculi in, there are portable stoves but not portable crafting benches, the Wind Bottle has an absurdly long cooldown, the NRE bag can only be stuffed with either healing or resurrection meals, and the Treasure Compasses aren’t quite helpful enough. All of these new Gadgets seemed like they would be A+ problem solvers, but once players actually started to build and use them, it was clear that they were actually C to B- at best.
NEXT: Genshin Impact: The 10 Most Overrated (& Underrated) Characters
