What a beautiful game! So far I have reached Trailblazer level 63 (as a f2p) so I think it's fair to say I have quite a bit of experience. Here's a semi-detailed review of the game from my experiences.
Characters never disappoint, each new one being released is always refreshing. And this game isn't a money hog, it's quite easy to save up stellar jades.Not to mention the game constantly has events and gifts where they dish out the rewards. They've even dropped a free 5 star ⭐
It's to build your characters at the start however once you hit their level 60-80 it becomes a bit of a grind to get materials and build them further. It helps to just do a bit every day and slowly progress rather than burn yourself out trying to get a bunch of materials.
The graphics are really pretty, (I've attached several photos) There's a camera feature in-game so you can act like a tourist. Depending on your device,you can customise graphics so you don't lag. I can't find faults with any of the maps, each of them are unique and beautiful. And they never feel dead, because they are bustling with npcs, most of which you can interact with.
I was unsure about the turn based gameplay at first, but I've grown into it now. I quite like the idea of a chess like game. Some characters help you have goes before your enemies too. The combat mechanics are very easy to master in my opinion. Once you do,you can use them to your advantage. The load times don't take that long either, usually just a few seconds but this does depend on your device too.
It is quite easy to progress in this game if you spend some time (if you have the time to spare) I found that I reached higher if I played the game at least every 2 days to advance. You do reach some points in the game where it seems to be a dead end progression wise, however you just have to keep grinding or you can just leave it for a few days and come back later.
I see lots of people complaining about crashing and bugs, however I haven't encountered many technical issues. I have had some random freezing in battles which forced me to exit and restart the game but these aren't daily occurrences (at least for me) It makes me sad to see the game rating being dragged down because of just technical issues which in no way reflect the true aspects of the game.
The storyline is very fascinating, especially at the start. I heavily enjoyed the starting chapters as a new player because they really draw you in. Then, with your trailblazing crew, you go on to explore new planets (starting from Herta's space station) such as Jarilo-VI, The Xianzhou Luofu and so far Penacony. Each planet is distinct different and there's lots of places to explore and planet specific events to try out. Characters have their own little side stories that you can do, which adds to their lore and is a nice bonus if you want to know more about them.
As of now, in the 2.0 update,I am really enjoying the Penacony update. Tons of new characters have been released with more coming out. The map is beautiful and I love the dream world aspect. You can travel into the dream world where everything is 'happy' and 'fun' however I feel like the story might get psychologically weird soon. (Spoiler: there's a cinematic scene where one of the characters, Robin, is murdered - I didn't expect this and it was certainly unusual.. big plot twist.)
Controls on mobile are pretty easy to use and fluid, I don't have any complaints about that really. They are also quite easy to use on PC but there's some shortcuts that you have to learn to use.
Music in this game is a blessing- my ears are always blessed with whatever soundtracks they put in game. They always do a good job with that.
There isn't any multiplayer option like in Genshin Impact,however you can borrow friend's or strangers characters to help you in certain battles.
Over all experience: The game has surpassed my expectations in each department. I enjoy playing it nearly daily if I have time to kill. With some work you can get pretty far, even as a f2p. Sometimes it does get boring if you finish most of the content or have hit a dead wall but you just have to leave it for a bit and come back another time. I have enjoyed the story so far and I can't wait for 2.1 to drop in 9 days (as of writing this)
Thanks for reading ❤️