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AFK Journey is a wonderful example, that books shouldnt be judged by their cover.
I wasnt really interested in the release, as i supposed, that the game would be just another Idle, a genre that doesnt interest me at all.
When i saw screenshots on tap-tap, i was surprised how detailed and colorful the world looked, and decided to give it a try- just to deinstall it immediately, after completing the first automatic battle, and imagining this was just another Autobattler, another very uninteresting genre for me...
In the meantime, i stumbled upon several articles and reviews, that praised the game, and decided to give AFK journey a final, serious try - and ended up playing the whole day.
AFK Journey is much more than i ever imagined. It is neither an Idle game, nor an autobattler. You dont just watch your troops earn ressources for you, and you dont jump from mission to mission, until your energy is depleted.
In fact, this is a full-fledged rpg, with a huge world to explore, completely voiced dialogues and a deep storyline. And, a lot of love obviously flew inside the developement. It is a title, that doesnt need to hide behind any AAA title.
At least, thats what i thought for the first 20 hours of the game...
But, im jumping ahead...
Lets begin with the presentation: Its amazing!
The world is so full of details and colors, that its a pure joy to look at.
Unlike most mobile games, the theme is neither childish, nor anime: its neutrally warm and beautiful, and feels like an interactive fairy-tale. I often enough start the game with the intention to collect some rewards, and find myself getting lost in the beautiful world, and calming down in the breath-taking environment.
I cant imagine that anybody could not fall in love with it.
The same can be said about the music:
Calm, relaxing sounds underline the atmosphere perfectly, and add to the beautiful and relaxing atmosphere.
Although there are options to quick-travel, i always walk, as i enjoy the world and the atmosphere so much.
Controls are simple and intuitive: you move your character with a floating joypad, and another button appears, when there is an opportunity to interact with the environment.
Other than that, there are surprisingly few buttons for all other aspects of the game, and there are no disturbing ads, which is very unusual for a mobile game, and leads to a very clean and pleasant interface.
At the same time, though, the game is extremely informative and comfortable, and i never felt lost or missed any information that was important to me. Absolutely amazing!
The story is really interesting, and takes itself very serious, without silly or ridiculous content, and the whole tone in AFK Journey is wonderfully mature and polite. Im as impressed, as i am greatful for that, and spending time in this world has an incredibly relaxing effect on me, without ever being boring...
I also love how the world grows to me, the more time i spend in it. There are stones, where players can leave messages for everybody, and its extremely charming, to return to former areas, and revive the memory of the moment of your post.
Free discovery is also encouraged: the world is full of secrets and treasures, and when a district is completely discovered, you get a reward.
As you progress in the story, additional modes are unlocked, including bosses and PvP, and thats another area where the game shines: Playing against other players revealed an impressive amount of depth, and positioning and team-ups are very important. In fact, live-matches remind me of auto-battlers: Short and compact, but deep and intense.
The game starts extremely generous, as your teams does permanently farm in the background, and even when you are afk. There are still pay2win elements, including two monthly subscriptions and a battle-pass, but it really isnt nearly as bad as in many other titles, and i dont think that buying yourself into a strong position is anywhere as rewarding, as actually earning your progress through thought and activity.
As you progress, requirements raise pretty fast though, and afk-rewards become less and less meaningful, so i do not recommend the game to f2p players, that are expecting more than an idle-experience.
Which brings me to the negatives.
At this point, after 90 hours into the game, it is obvious, that the "game" aspects are far behind the atmosphere and the presentation.
Most obviously, progress slows down, the further you get, and at some point, nothing new unlocks anymore. From there, surprisingly little opportunities to progress remain, and sessions begin to repeat themselves, as there is very little meat aside from the story, and story progress is locked behind requirements, that usually force you to go afk for a long time, or, obviously, spend money.
At the moment, i have reached a point in the game, where no missions or beatable opponents remain, and where i cannot do anything else, than doing the few daily activities, and just wait, until i have farmed enough AFK-ressources. Then, i will progress a little further, and be forced to go idle again...
I have purchased both subscriptions, the premium-pass and the progress-pass to speed up the progress, but remain stuck. Which feels really bad, and i enjoy my time with AFK Journey less and less.
Should the next big patch dont open up exciting new ways to speed up progress or spend time, i will quit...
Another weak point are the battle themselves, that play out automatically, and mostly rely on hero rarities and equipment. There are some tactical elements, like a rock-paper-scissors system or race-bonuses, but they are not deep enough, to make battles interesting or choices really meaningful, so you usually just end up doing nothing, until your party is strong enough to proceed.
In this sense, i wholeheartedly hope, that deeper discovering, more PvP and coop, and more tactical depth will be added in the future!
Concluding, AFK Journey is a gem in the rough.
One the one hand, it is a piece of art, that is uncomparably charming and enchanting, and that everybody should try,
and i cant stress enough, what a surprisingly deep relaxing effect the game has on me, and how rewarding my journeys through the fairy-tale-world feel.
At the same time, though, it feels surprisingly barebones:
After a strong and exciting beginning, there is very little to do, and story-progress becomes locked behind regular paywalls and/or huge wait-times, which hurts the overall experience a lot!
⭐️⭐️⭐️
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