👍 Pros: Character Design, Gameplay, Music, Gacha Pity (no 50/50)
👎 Cons: UI, New Player Experience x3, Powercreep, No Voiced Dialogue
Overall, a great game. You can tell relatively quickly that Kuro Games had quality in mind, however it still has a few issues that need to be addressed. The most painful of them all is the new player experience. It's an experience only a masochist could love. In fact, the cons for the game I've listed directly feed into the bad early experience. Here are the issues in more detail:
- Gacha Currency Stinginess
As a F2P player you'll feel like an orphan begging for bread crumbs. I see many people online say this game is "generous", but let me clear that misconception up. The truth is that the pity system is generous, not the entire game. Getting enough tickets in a reasonable time frame to take advantage of the pity system is the problem. At 2500 tickets per 10 pull, the game drip feeds you tickets. "It's not a race, it's a marathon" has never been more true here. Now imagine trying to run that marathon with broken legs.
- UI
This part is simple. There are just many buttons that take you to many different menus. It can be overwhelming as a newer player when just starting out.
- Powercreep
I don't believe this is inherently a bad thing because it shows progress of ideas and creativity on the creation of characters. Naturally, people would also want these characters to be strong. However, this sucks for new players by default. Problem is that you start out with relatively older characters which can't hold a candle to newer units. The amount of depth, flashy moves, and damage newer units offer is astounding. This forces a F2P player to rely on beginner banner pity luck to pull one. The older characters can still get the job done, but they're nowhere near as fun (in my opinion). I was lucky enough to pull Liv: Empyrea and she alone has kept me playing.
Like I said though, this game is great. I'm aware this review could sound pretty negative, but the game does have a lot going for it. Regardless of the early game, you'll get to the point where you find yourself having a lot of fun if you roll with the punches!