Okay.. I was never intending on making an OT for this, assuming one was already in existence well before launch.. but there isn't, so here goes!
Dragon Blaze just released a few days ago Globally on iOS and Android, and it's completely arrested all my free time and captivated me entirely.
This game is by far and away the most feature rich F2P mobile game I've experienced. It's got feature rich guilds, a comprehensive chat system, expansive social features, a 4 player co-op raid mode, an addictive and satisfying WoW-esque loot system, and the addictive gacha system that you either love to hate or hate to love.
FAQs:
What is It?
It's a new F2P game made by a developer called FLINT, published by GAMEVIL. It's a gacha style game, but unlike most gacha game, there is a main character chosen at the start of the game that the player will use 100% of the time, and is customizable with loot by a full range of gear slots, and is the only character a player will use when playing co-op online with friends. The gacha units are only used as AI allies that fight alongside the player in the story mode, PvP, and other such modes.
Uh-oh.. He Said F2P...
Sure, this game has a stamina system and an assortment of currency of the premium and standard types, but this game is especially generous compared to most games, giving out free stamina and premium currency like candy on a daily and weekly basis through log-in bonuses, very generous weekly event rewards, and for earning countless achievements.
How's It Play?
This game is largely an auto-battle game, only allowing the player to control their main character, with the option of choosing which of their three special moves they use and when, as well as giving their allies a target to focus on. This is the type of game in which you can play through entirely without ever taking off Auto mode, provided you're doing a good job (with good luck) in putting together a killer team.
How Do Teams Work?
Much like other gacha RPGs, your team is comprised of your main character and four AI allies, along with a friend's main character that you can summon once per battle for 60 seconds before they tag out, so use them wisely!
As far as unit rarity, there are C, B, A, S, SS, and SSS units. C and B units are very common, rather undesirable, and can be recruited in story mode and through friend summons. A and S units are the lowest ranked units obtainable through premium summons. They are good enough to scrape by with, but you're going to want SS and SSS units ASAP to replace them.
SS and SSS units have incredibly low rates to pull from premium summons, but don't despair, there is a combining system in this game, which allows you to combine two units of the same rank together to create a random unit from the next tier up at a cost to your in-game gold and your time. It's easy to combine B units to get an A, but when you're working on combining two S units to get a SS, it's going to take a lot of time and gold, but is so worth it in the end.
Is This Game Made by Vanillaware?
You've probably asked yourself this question upon looking at any screenshot. As much as this looks similar to many of Vanillaware's beautiful titles, they had nothing to do with the making of this game, short of the obvious inspiration their work had on this games publisher, FLINT. The visuals in this game are beautiful, and very well optimized to run well on just about any piece of semi-recent Android or iOS hardware from the last few years. The characters and environments are gorgeous to behold, and very well animated. This is a high quality game.
So, I Get to Choose a Character?
Yes! Much like an MMO, there are tanks, healers, mages, archers, and rogues, and they perform exactly how you'd expect them to. You are allowed to make 3 different character slots, and are able to spend premium currency to unlock 2 more so that you can have a slot for each class. When changing characters, you have access to all your allies shared between them. You also have a storage area to transfer loot between your characters.
What Is There to Do?
A lot. Beyond the story mode, there's a raid mode that lets you invite friends or matches you up with strangers if you don't have any friends to speak of. These are challenging boss fights that yield excellent gear to outfit your characters with.
There's also a PvP arena with in-depth leader boards. There are excellent rewards for placing in the top ten, top 1%, 5%, 10% and 20%, and as of now it's not hard to get into the top 5% with a decent team after a few days with minimal effort, and the rewards are fantastic. The boards wipe every Tuesday, making it very easy for players to obtain healthy amounts of free premium currency and gold on a weekly basis. There's also a survival-based Labyrinth mode that awards a healthy amount of premium currency on a weekly basis, as well.
This is definitely the most generous F2P games I've played; there are very little reasons to ever pay for anything if you've got even half-decent self-control and patience.
Did I Hear You Mention Guilds?
Yes! This game has multiple types of chat channels and social options, the most impressive one being the guild system. Guilds have experience bars that, when filled by earned experience by all the players aggregated, open up new features, buffs for all members, increased guild capacity, and even guild battles!
So, there it is! This game is by far and away the most expansive and impressive F2P gacha games I've ever played, and is tearing me away from my long-time addiction to Brave Frontier effortlessly.
Please feel free to post any further questions, and more importantly, enjoy!
