Three and a half years after Nintendo's "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild," open-world games with the same freedom of movement are starting to appear, although Ubisoft's "Immortals Fenyx Rising" is very Zelda-like with a light sprinkling of RPG mechanics, Genshin Impact, released today by Chinese developer Mihoyo, is different. It's a much larger and more ambitious fusion of Zelda's open world, an action-packed JRPG, and a mobile "gotcha" game, with co-op on top of that. And it's free for basic play.

"Genshin Impact" could be the biggest gacha game ever. The gacha RPG that gained popularity on mobile is built around a random lottery, where players spend currency to purchase characters and their equipment, always in pursuit of the high point of getting an "S-tier" drop.

"Genkai Ibunroku" has its core mechanics, but they are hardly distinguishable from many other gadgets that have turn-based battles or auto-battles where you just throw your character in. This is a fully 3D, open-world RPG with fast-paced action RPG combat. At first glance, it looks a lot like a JRPG like Tales of Zestiria. However, the party members you meet along the way are not the typical half-dozen, but more here. Some characters join through the main storyline, but you can also expand your party from characters unlocked through the gacha system, and you can swap the characters you control during battles.

And then there is the influence of Breath of the Wild. Phantom Impact has a strong aesthetic resemblance and allows the player to climb and slide around the world. It is much more open than a typical JRPG, but will not play like Zelda. It takes a bit of Breath of the Wild's emergent gameplay and uses an elemental combo system where you and your party members' spells and attacks combine to create new effects.

While playing "Phantom of the Wild," you will feel like you are playing an MMORPG. The game is full of side activities that are typical of MMOs, such as cooking, item hunting, world puzzles, daily challenges, and leveling up ranks other than character level. It's also full of systems designed to make you spend money and play longer; imagine a combination of an MMO and a mobile gacha game, and you won't be surprised by the sheer number of currencies, materials, and items to unlock and upgrade your character. It is truly a "gacha player's dream". While multiplayer is not available, once you reach a certain level, you can invite a friend to join you and start a four-player co-op game.

After a lengthy beta test, "Genshin Impact" officially launched Monday with full voice translation in English, Japanese, and Korean; the PC version is free and has its own launcher (if the download is noticeably slow, there may be a fix). Genshin Impact is also available on PS4, iOS, and Android, and is cross-playable. As long as you have an internet connection, you can engage in heated battles at any time.