Genshin Impact is a very modern take on the action RPG genre, drawing as much inspiration from open-world adventure games as it does from JRPGs past. This title is well known for its colorful anime-style character designs, complex equipment customization options, and a sprawling world to explore. However, one Genshin Impact player has decided to strip the game down to its essentials by reimagining it as a PS1-era RPG.
Many fans have envisioned modern games as retro titles over the years, making these video game demakes a fairly popular way to celebrate a beloved game. Redditor ekasetyanugraha’s work may stand out from the crowd for the simple reason that much of the faux-screenshot they created appears to have been hand-sprited.
Ekasetyanugraha’s creation takes the form of a fake character screen starring Albedo, one of Genshin Impact‘s playable Geo users. A small Albedo sprite is shown standing with one arm raised in a pose reminiscent of a Pokemon trainer, his coat flapping in an unseen breeze. Albedo’s name, health, and stats are displayed in the right corner of the screen, while his current weapon and build take up most of the menu space. He has five of six small stars lit up and his level is maxed out at 80.
The art style of this piece of fan art draws heavily on both Genshin Impact‘s existing anime-inspired art and the anime-inspired art of classic RPGs like Breath of Fire, Legend of Mana, and Chrono Trigger. As most of the art style changes over the years have been subtle and pixel art isn’t known for displaying subtlety, the result is a screenshot that feels at once old and new. A number of the artifacts this retro Albedo is shown with are under-leveled or even completely unleveled. According to ekasetyanugraha, the screenshot depicts their actual Albedo build, which led some other users to congratulate them on their flat HP stats–and others to criticize their artifact collection.
As of writing, it appears that other fans are enthusiastic about this take on Genshin Impact as a PS1 game. However, a number of replies were also made to the post specifically to critique ekasetyanugraha’s Albedo build and give them tips on how to improve it. Several users congratulated them on their work, with some drawing attention to the lovingly-rendered pixel art Albedo. One user complained that they would never be able to play the PS1 version of Genshin Impact as an actual game.
Genshin Impact is now available on Mobile, PC, PS4, and PS5. A Switch version is in development.
