Let's start with the conclusion: right now, the mobile game market is full of reskinned gacha garbage, and I usually can't even be bothered to look at it. Ten pulls at the start, daily check-ins, guild wars, endless red dots, if you don't spend money you get screwed, it's really disgusting. 😤
But I actually got into 'Soul Knight Prequel.' At first, I was biased, after all, 'Soul Knight' is a roguelike, and this prequel was changed to a Diablo-like game with multiplayer, my first reaction was that it was just another cash grab. But after playing it, it felt right.
It is a pixel-style action RPG, with the core gameplay being fighting monsters, leveling up, farming equipment, opening treasure chests, and matching skills and gear. The story takes place before 'Soul Knight,' in the age of swords and magic, where a young knight forms a knight order to save the world. The plot is not complex, but the grind is addictive. That moment when equipment drops and pixel light beams shoot up, veteran ARPG players know exactly what that means. 😎
What makes me most comfortable is that there are no gacha draws, no forcing you to do a ten-pull, and no disgusting designs where you can't progress without paying. The payment model is marked as 0, at least for now they don't treat players like ATMs. If you want to play solo, you can play solo; multiplayer is optional, not the kind of mandatory social interaction where you can't progress without teaming up. For someone like me, a socially anxious solo player, this is very important. 👍
To mention the downside, it is not a AAA game.