AFK Journey Review

AFK Journey is a highly anticipated sequel to AFK Arena. It shares a lot of similarities, but it is a completely different game. In AFK Journey, you still have to log in daily to receive rewards and do daily tasks. But there is an open world. In an open world, you can freely move, collect chests, do quests, and see other players. AFK Journey is designed to be supported on both PCs and mobile devices.

In this review, I will cover basic stuff because it is impossible to cover all aspects of the game in one post. I will not give ratings. AFK Journey is free to play, so I recommend that you download it to test it yourself. If you do not want to read our review, then you can just look at the pros and cons below. 

AFK Journey Pros and Cons

Pros

• The art style is unique, charming, and visually appealing.
• Animations, sound effects, UI transitions, and open worlds are highly polished.
• No unnecessary loading screen when you fast-travel, do quests, or loot. 
• The map is full of NPCs, different biomes, and mini-games. 
• Great story full of voice acting and cutscenes.
• A lot of rewards for exploring maps via chests, obstacles, and puzzles. 
• Day/Night Cycle and Environmental Details
• The game is PC-friendly with WD movement controls and full-screen mode.
• There are a lot of social systems, like guilds, world bosses, and events. 
• The game gives great rewards for completing game modes, events, and quests. 
• Character customization is where you can customize your characters and equip them with different gear. 
• Great AFK system where you accumulate a lot of resources without playing. 
• You can get a lot of different heroes that are well-designed.
• There is no need to spend money inside the game shop.
• The majority of content can be done by free-to-play players.

Cons 

• The game relies heavily on Gacha mechanics, which some players do not like. 
• The game is complex, so players who are new to this type of game will have a hard time.
• It requires a lot of tests and learning.
• Pay-to-win system that allows players to have all their heroes max out
• The game is addicting. 

Gameplay

The gameplay is well optimized, and it is extremely smooth. The first thing that you will notice is that you can freely move through the map. On the map, you will find different chests, items, and enemies that you can fight. Quests are extremely good. They have a good story behind them. The overall exploration part is well-designed. I had a lot of fun doing it, so you will also have. Do not rush it; simply enjoy it. 

Heroes

There are a lot of heroes that you can obtain and upgrade. Some heroes are stronger, while others are extremely bad, but that is normal for every game. Each hero can be ascended. To ascend, you will need a hero copy. This is the part that is pay-to-win, so a lot of players do not like it. As a free-to-play player, you will be able to reach the highest level, but it will take you a long time, while the pay-to-win can get it fast. That does not mean that you will not enjoy the game.

Combat

Combat is the same as in the AFK arena and most Gacha games. You have to create a team of five heroes in order to fight enemies. How strong your team that you have created will depend on a lot of different factors, like your resonating hall, equipment, artifacts, hero synergy, hero ascend, against whom you are fighting, etc. That is what makes the game fun and makes players think about their team before fighting.

If you are a new player, you do not have to worry about all these things. The game is extremely well-optimized. You will be able to clear a lot of content. When you reach the end game, things will be harder, and you have to think about everything. There are a lot of guides, especially on YouTube, that you can watch that will help you drastically. 

Game Modes

There are a lot of modes in which you can participate. You will always have something to do and complete. Currently, there are arena, dream realm, honor duel, arcane labyrinth, battle drills, legend trail, world bosses, and events. All of this is extremely well-designed and rewarding. You will have so much fun doing it. Some of these game modes are competitive, so if you are planning to start playing AFK Journey, I recommend that you start on a new server so you are against new players. 

Social Interaction

Social interaction is also well-designed. In AFK, you have a guild where you will work with other players to defeat battle drills. Based on your contribution to the guild, you will get rewards and points that you can spend in the shop. So Lilith games are pushing social interaction more, which is a great thing. In my opinion, what makes social interaction better is that you can see other players on the map. The game does not feel like a single-player game. Also, there are open-world bosses where the whole server works together to take them down. 

Sound and Graphics

Graphics

Graphics is a charming, vibrant art style that is top-tier. Everything is so well designed that it is hard to believe that it is a mobile game. Everything is smooth and runs extremely well. If you really want to enjoy the game design and open world, I strongly recommend that you download AFK Journey on PC. It will provide you with a much better experience. On a PC, you can move using the keyboard.

The only thing that I noticed is that when you play a game on a PC, it can be heavy on your graphics and processor. So if you have problems running it on a PC, I recommend that you limit FPS and lower graphics inside settings. Hopefully, they will fix it. 

Sound and voice acting

Sounds are created perfectly for the game art style and the world in which you are playing. Combat sound can sometimes be too much because each hero has a sound for abilities and attacks. You can disable this or lower it down inside game settings. Each hero has a unique voice actor, which is rare in mobile games. When you go to the character profile inside the game, you have a list of all the voice lines for battle. 

Updates

I started playing AFK Journey in early Alpha, and I can tell you that it has improved drastically. Developers are always working on new heroes, events, and pushing content so players do not get bored. If you have a problem with the game, you can contact in-game customer support or visit the Discord community, which is extremely friendly. If you have something that you do not like or want to get implemented, you can suggest it on the Discord server. Other players can vote on your suggestion. If it gets enough upvotes, it will be sent directly to developers. 

Pay-to-Win side of the AFK Journey

A lot of players are wondering if AFK Journey is paid to win the game. The simple answer is yes, but that does not mean that you will not enjoy the game. Every mobile game that I have played is pay-to-win. There is nothing that you can do about that. AFK Journey is not a competitive game; it is a collection game where you do content and collect heroes, levels, etc. There are game modes that give rewards based on ranking.

The majority of them will be dominated by pay-to-win players. That does not mean that you will not have a lot of fun playing it. The game also gives a lot of rewards for doing events and game modes, so eventually, you will be able to get some strong heroes. Give it a try; at least complete the storyline. 

One problem that I have that can happen to you is that you can become addicted. When you are addicted to games, you tend to spend money, which is not good. So before you spend money, think about how long you will be playing the game. If you are planning to play for one or more years, then you can spend a few dollars to get something that will boost your progression and support developers. At the end of the day, the game is free to play. 

The only thing that I hate is that some cool skins for heroes are locked behind a paywall. It would be much better if they put skins as rewards for some battle modes and events so players have to work for them instead of spending money.

If you played AFK, feel free to share your experience in the comments and rate it.