Accessibility review: Genshin Impact (PC)

The new hot game on the market is Genshin Impact. It’s free, it’s open world and it’s available on all platforms. It’s so freely accessible to the masses, but is it disability accessible? Short Answer: no.

There are absolutely no accessibility options in game. You can’t make the UI bigger for the visually impaired. You can’t change keybinds for the one-handed PC gamers like myself. The only way I can play the game is with my adaptive gaming mouse. and even that is frustrating sometimes because the game requires you to use both mouse and keyboard, and since I can’t change the keybinds, I can’t remap some of the keyboard controls onto the extra buttons on my mouse.

Most instances where I have to switch between the mouse and the keyboard, I don’t have to rush, like collecting things, opening a chest, or talking to people, all of which are bound to F. However, while in combat, if I want to use my elemental magic, I have to quickly press E or Q, since the basic attack is LMB and dodging is RMB. My DPS is pretty low because of this.

If the developers add accessibility options into the game settings, then Genshin Impact would be a near perfect game, in my opinion.

At the very least, they should add the ability to change keybinds. This is a basic accessibility option that should be available in all PC games. It is a standard option in PC gaming, so there’s no reason why it should be left out.

On the plus side, all of the main story is voice acted, which is a plus for the visually/reading impaired. Also, there are subtitles, which is a plus for the hearing impaired

I’m going to download it on the Nintendo Switch, as well, to see if the console’s ability to remap controls will work. You’ll be hearing from me if it doesn’t.

Genshin Impact is accessible to the masses, but it’s so restrictive. I hope miHoYo releases patches to fix these accessibility issues. I, a disabled gamer, would really appreciate it.