Thanks to intense marketing, more and more people are becoming familiar with the term “gacha game.” You will hear multiple games being called for having gacha mechanics. But is Honkai Impact one of them? Is Honkai Impact a gatcha game?
Honkai Impact 3rd is a free-to-play, 3D ARPG that implements gacha mechanics. Players can use the gacha system to obtain various items such as weapons, stigmata, equipment, etc. Players need to spend crystals for a gacha pull, which they can obtain in-game or by spending real currency.
In this article, we are going to discuss what makes a game a gacha game and how Honkai Impact qualifies as one. Additionally, we will go over the gacha mechanics of Honkai Impact.
What Makes a Gacha Game?
A gacha game is any video game that implements the “gacha” or “gashapon” mechanics. Gashapons are vending machines that dispense capsules with a toy inside. You put currency in the machine and a capsule will be selected randomly. This style of vending machine originated in Japan. And Japan was also the first to use it in video games.
A gacha game also has this lottery system. You can use in-game currency to roll a wheel or dice, and then you wait to see your prize. The prize usually involves playable or collectible characters and items.
Now, you can also purchase in-game currency with actual money. And this is where gacha games make most of their profit. Because of the lottery nature of the prizes, players are enticed to try their chances again and again. And since the in-game currency takes time to refill, players then choose to purchase it with their real money.
This is similar to the loot box mechanism in many Western games. You do not know what prize you will get until you open the box. This is a bit different from the typical microtransactions you will find in many games. Here, you are not purchasing the item you desire directly. Rather you are spending money for the chance to pull that item in a lottery.
Popular examples of games that utilize the gacha system are:
- Genshin Impact
- Fire Emblem Heroes
- Raid: Shadow Legends
- Bleach Brave Souls
- Another Eden
- Tales of Crestoria
- Pokemon Masters
- AFK Arena
So, basically, if a game allows you to participate in a lottery to win random items by spending in-game currency, it can be considered a gacha game.
Does Honkai Impact Have a Gacha System?
Now that you have a basic understanding of what a gacha game is, let’s explore the gacha system present in Honkai Impact.
Honkai Impact is a free-to-play (F2P), 3D, Action role-playing game (ARPG), with elements of gacha. The game was initially mobile exclusive. But it has now been ported to Microsoft Windows.
The Gacha system is not the entire gameplay of Honkai Impact. Rather it is a part of the whole experience. In the game, you can acquire various “supplies” through this system.
The in-game currency in Honkai Impact is called “crystals.” [1] You can obtain these crystals by playing the actual game and accomplishing various tasks. Or you can get some by purchasing through microtransactions. For example, you can buy 65 crystals for $0.99 or buy 3860 crystals for $49.99.
You then use these crystals to pull prizes. You can opt for a single pull, which will fetch you a single reward. Or, you can pay 10x that amount to pull 10 prizes at once. There is also a pity system, which guarantees that you will get at least one decent or good prize after a certain number of pulls.
This last system is to prevent players from getting too upset if they repeatedly fail to get a good item from the pull. Thus, the simple act of pulling, again and again, can be rewarding, even when you do not win anything from them. This is a key mechanism that gacha games employ to entice players.
The prizes you can win from this system are diverse. There are special characters, warriors, character supplies, dorm supplies, weapons, expansion supplies, etc. Each of these supplies is divided into separate categories. So, you do have the option to choose which type of supply you can pull. But there is no guarantee which exact item you will receive.
After pulling a prize, you can use the item to expand your gaming achievement. For example, by pulling stronger and better expansions or upgrades, you can make your warriors and weapons much stronger.
Conclusion
So, Honkai Impact is another gacha game that has gained a substantial following. While the gacha system is not the entire point of the gameplay, it is still a significant part that you cannot avoid.
