FARLIGHT Games’s newest RPG, AFK Journey, has been taking over my feed for a while. I’ve seen it everywhere on social media and online gaming boards lately, so I finally decided to pick it up earlier this month.
I feel confident in saying it may be among the best RPGs I’ve played this year. Let’s talk about why.
The Story
Without getting too deep into it, the narrative is more of a slow burn. While the main conflict initially revolves around fighting the Faceless, it gradually builds up as you explore more of Esperia. You encounter gods and build an understanding of the world’s people and the conflicts between them. You can even engage in hidden side quests to expand on the lore and provide a discovery.
Story is a big part of the RPG experience for me, and I was delighted that AFK Journey offered a rich, complex world to explore while presenting a lovable cast of heroes at the same time.
This was only further enhanced by the gameplay and how it plays into the world itself.
The Gameplay
AFK Journey’s primary gameplay revolves around strategic battles in an open-world setting. Each hero possesses unique abilities and strengths, the usual affair though it’s great that the game doesn’t punish you for experimenting. You can easily upgrade your heroes and try out new abilities as you progress. This enhances the overall feeling that there is no one way to approach combat.
The game utilizes what could be considered a “hex-based” battle system. Here, the positioning of your character is the most important factor. If you are not in the right palace and at the right time, that can make the difference between victory and defeat.
The controls are also very user-friendly. Mobile touch controls are super responsive, making it easy to interact with the game’s various elements. I dabbled only briefly in the PC controls and found them to be equally smooth despite the different UI. It was fairly easy to access information with the straightforward menus and icons guiding me to each feature, so that was nice.
The game also has a variety of modes. Everything from arena battles to PvP is here, although some of them are a bit unbalanced if you simply don’t have the right characters.
The Biggest Problem
Speaking of characters, one thing that was a letdown was the gacha mechanics. Yep, this game has that, unfortunately, and it is used mainly for hero acquisition. The randomness of each pull can make finding the hero you want or need a more tedious process than it’s worth sometimes. I had to spend almost an hour just trying to find the one I was interested in.
Another minor letdown was the exploration. While there are plenty of hidden secrets to find and an endless list of side quests to complete, it’s a bit misleading, as you can’t get into certain areas at all. Sounds counterintuitive for an “open-world” game and it honestly is. Venturing off put me against some kind of obstacle or an invisible barrier Literally couldn’t pass. This would be a minor problem if these were exclusive to the very outer reaches of the world, but they often are not.
These problems don’t ruin the gameplay experience, but they are drawbacks that are worth mentioning.
The Visuals and Music
Despite my gripes with the gameplay, the graphics and sound design more than made up for it in my book. truly a sight to behold.
The colors and overall look of the world are vibrant, soft, and even relaxing at times. The character models look fantastic for a mobile game, and the landscapes are breathtaking to look at.
I mentioned before that the character designs are a big part of the story appeal, and that’s true with pretty much every hero. The smooth animations, detailed outfits, and high-end voice acting all bring each character to life.
The soundtrack only enhances the game’s visual style perfectly matching the vibe of each landscape, whether it’s relaxing, dangerous, or casual. However, sometimes the sounds of combat can be a bit much when characters are engaged in battle.
In-App Purchases
While the gacha elements were mentioned as a setback earlier, overall, it is possible to progress through the AFK Journey without spending money.
The auto-battle features make resource-gathering much less hassle, even when offline, which is very convenient.
Each hero is also easy to customize and offers a variety of options to experiment with, even if players who don’t want to spend money will have to work harder to acquire top-tier heroes.
Final Verdict
Despite its flaws, AFK Journey is a captivating and engrossing experience for RPG enjoyers of all kinds. Its beautifully rendered and complex world, engaging storyline and likable cast, well-polished gameplay, and immersive sound design all make the overall experience worthwhile despite the things that bog it down.
