I didn't even know this was free, so when I did, I downloaded it immediately.
Still very early in, I've spent most of my time just wandering around, but wow this is incredibly well made. When the developers said that they took inspiration from Breath of The Wild, that's abundantly clear from the art style and the world design, but it doesn't feel ripped off either -- it feels like its own completely different creation. Different, but familiar at the same time.
With how detailed and well made this game is, it's understandable that there's a gatcha aspect to it. If it's free, they've gotta recoup all that money somehow, and they WILL get that money back. I personally don't buy anything in-game with real world money in any game, but I can see where some people might do so. If it's the fast-track to get super strong, people will buy, but that's the case with many F2P games. Most people usually play the free route, I would think.
As long as the game doesn't turn into "buy this or you're screwed", I wouldn't worry too much. Some gatcha games are big offenders of this and that's why player numbers drop over time, but I'm hoping this won't be one of those situations. The game may not have received a lot of hype when it was first unveiled, but now that it's actually out, I've been seeing a lot of people playing it. That's why I think in time, it'll be one of the more popular games streamers might play. I don't think there's been an anime-styled gatcha game for consoles that have ever received this much attention, and the fact that it's not some cheap and lazy product... This could be a hit if enough influencers and streamers take note of it. You never know.
People love Among Us because of it being a multiplayer experience, and it pretty much reminds me of a game you'd play on JackBox -- back when house get-togethers were still safe and frequent. Genshin Impact is in a different lane, but the fact that it's free AND it can be played on PC and phones as well? Anybody can join in, provided they own a phone or PC that isn't a complete potato or a PS4 (or a Switch, where it'll eventually get released on). Idunno, I'm liking this already and I hope there's great things to come on the horizon.