AFK Journey - Game Review & Gacha Rates

Our adventure in AFK Journey begins with the protagonist, Merlin, awakening in his abode. The protagonist has lost all memory and no longer knows who his friends are or where he is. His assistant, Dolly, wakes him from his rest to alert him that something is happening outside his home, probably an attack from enemies, and warns him that Chippy has already gone to check. After choosing a new appearance to avoid being recognized as the strongest wizard in the kingdom, Merlin immediately heads out to investigate. Here he meets Hogan, his old friend of whom he unfortunately has no memory, the Leader of the Heroic Order of the Lightbearer Empire. Even though he doesn't remember him, Hogan doesn't mind and says he's ready to help and assist us until we regain our memory. Thus begins Merlin's adventure to recover his memory, meet all his old friends with numerous battles, new friends, and enemies to defeat!

What is AFK Journey?

AFK Journey is a new strategic gacha game from the creator of "AFK Arena". The first major difference in this title from the classic one is a vast open world; in fact, right from the start, we notice a large explorable map containing a multitude of enemies, treasures, NPCs, and much more. AFK Journey is a strategic combat title that allows us to deploy up to 5 characters simultaneously. Each character belongs to a faction (Lightbearer, Mauler, Wilder, Graveborn, Celestials, and Hypogeans) and a class (Tank, Warrior, Marksman, Mage, Rogue, & Support). By forming a team composed of elements from the same faction, you gain a bonus (except for Celestials & Hypogeans, which can be considered as any faction). Furthermore, a good mix of classes is the key to winning battles, and ideally, also fielding a strong faction against the one you're fighting. The game offers a wide variety of content, both PvE and PvP. For PvE content, there's the Main Story, which offers rewards of all kinds, the Dream Realm, a daily boss to defeat for valuable rewards, the Honor Duel, a rogue-like combat system where we choose from a mix of characters and power-ups as we progress through battles and much more. As for PvP, there's an Arena system to battle against other players and earn rewards based on the rank achieved! If you enjoy collecting characters, exploring and completing missions, and battling monsters and players, AFK Journey is the game for you.

Game Content

Main Story

The "Main Story" of AFK Journey will allow us to discover what happened to Merlin and why he lost his memory. During the Main Story, we can explore the vast Open World that the game offers. We will be able to collect treasures scattered throughout the map, battle against various enemies, obtain new characters, face mini-games, multiplayer challenges, bosses, and much more.

AFK Progress

The “AFK Progress” is as crucial a part of the game as the Main Story. By completing the battles we'll face in this game mode, not only will we unlock all other game modes such as the Dream Realm, Honor Duel, Arena, Battle Drills, etc., but we'll also increase the "AFK" rewards that we can claim once enough time has passed. Furthermore, completing these battles will grant us significant rewards, such as Gems, Equipment, Banner Tickets, and much more!

Dream Realm

The “Dream Realm” game content lets you fight a boss daily to obtain great rewards. The Boss in Dream Realm changes every day. Each monster has multiple difficulty levels and becomes stronger as the difficulty increases. The difficulty of a boss will not reset after a session ends. You can collect various stage rewards for each monster at different difficulties by dealing the required amount of damage.

Honor Duel

The “Honor Duel” is a Fair Play mode where you can choose an initial formation (Artifact and Heroes) to embark on a series of challenges. You can purchase heroes and Equipment at the Duel Store to strengthen your formation during a challenge round. The Challenge ends after achieving 9 wins or experiencing 3 losses.

Duel Store

• You can use Honor Badges to purchase heroes, equipment and other items in the Duel Store. You can acquire Badges through battles.

Hero Ascension

• You can ascend a hero to Legendary/Mythic after obtaining 2/4 duplicates.

Hero Equipment

• You can purchase Equipment in the Duel Store and equip it on any hero. Each hero can equip one piece.

Arena

In the “Arena” you can spend daily tickets to challenge other players on the same server. Defeat other players to gain Arena Points and increase your tier. You can get tier rewards the first time you reach a new tier. To participate in the arena, you also have to set up a “Defensive Team Comp” that people will challenge. Rewards are calculated and sent out every Monday. The higher your tier, the greater the rewards!

Resonating Hall

Characters

The “Characters” in AFK Journey are numerous, with a wide variety of classes, factions, and skills among them. However, unlike many other games, in AFK Journey, we only need to focus on 5 characters, or rather, on 5 character slots. In fact, we will be able to level up these 5 slots and assign 5 characters to serve as our main team. All other characters we acquire during the game will automatically be leveled up to the same level as these main characters. The only difference will be in their ascension, which will be individual for each character. Now, let's see how to make all our characters stronger to use them effectively in battle:

Faction Bonus

• When there are 3 / 3+2 / 4 / 5 heroes from the same faction in your team, the ATK and HP of all deployed heroes increase by 10%/14%/18%/22%.

• Increase/Decrease damage by 15% when the target is strong/weak against your faction.

• Lightbearer = Strong against Mauler, Weak against Graveborn

• Mauler = Strong against Wilder, Weak against Lightbearer

• Wilder = Strong against Graveborn, Weak against Mauler

• Graveborn = Strong against Lightbearer, Weak against Wilder

• Celestials / Hypogeans = Neutral. Count as any other faction for bonuses. 

Class

• Tank = Frontline character that can resist damage and has great HP and defensive stats.

• Warrior = Character that can provide both damage and sustain damage.

• Marksman = Long-range damage dealer.

• Mage = Magical damage dealer that can deal AoE damage.

• Rogue = Assassin who can deal swift attacks and move around the battle.

• Support = Characters that can restore HP, provide buffs, or debuffs.

Level Up

• Using Gold, Training Manuals, and Hero Essence, we can increase the level of our characters. By leveling up, they will acquire new skills that can then be further enhanced. Just leveling up 5 characters will bring all others to the same level.

Ascend

• Unlike leveling up, ascension is tied to each character individually. To ascend a character, we will need Soul Sigils (obtainable by pulling the same character from banners or rewards). Increasing the grade of characters will also grant them new, increasingly powerful skills.

Artifacts

The “Artifacts” are very powerful tools capable of turning the tide of a battle. They are the protagonist Merlin's only weapon during battles. Since the protagonist cannot actively participate in the fights, they can assist the characters with artifacts.

Artifacts

• Awakening Spell = Restores HP to allies.

• Ironwall Spell = Increases Defense and grants a Shield.

• Confining Spell = Deals damage to enemies and roots them.

• Blazing Spell = Shoots a fireball at enemies, damaging them.

• Enlightening Spell = Increases the Attack Speed of the rearmost ally.

• Starshard Spell = Unleashes true damage to enemies with ultimate casting and reduces Attack Speed.

All artifacts can be leveled up and enhanced to increase their effectiveness.

Equipment

During our adventure, we will receive various types of “Equipment”. However, unlike many games, here we won't have to equip each individual character but rather the category. In fact, all characters of the same class will be able to benefit from the same equipment, making it easier to find stronger gear.

Gacha Rates

All-Hero Recruitment

The “All-Hero Recruitment” is the first banner and the “normal” banner you will unlock in the game. In this banner you can summon with both “Invite Letter” or Diamonds (300 Diamonds or 1 Letter for 1 Single Pull or 2700 Diamonds or 10 Letters for x10 Pull). You can also choose your favorite Characters with the “Wish List”, increasing the chance to get them. Here’s the rates:
Characters

• S-Level Hero = 2.05% (Wish List)

• A-Level Hero = 22.5% (Wish List)

Faction Acorn

• x30 Faction Acorn = 0.5%

• x4 Faction Acorn = 15%

• x1 Faction Acorn = 59.95%

Pity

• You are Guaranteed to obtain 1 S-Level Hero in 60 Recruits. 

• You are Guaranteed to obtain 1 A-Level Hero in 10 Recruits.

Dolly Tickets

• Every time you pull in this banner, you will receive 5 Dolly Tickets. You can Exchange Dolly Ticket in the Emporium for various rewards.

Rate Up Recruitment

The “Rate-Up Recruitment” is the first “Rate Up” banner that lets you pull for new Characters added in the game. You will unlock this banner after you complete at least 30 Pull in the “All-Hero Recruitment” Banner. In this banner you can summon with both “Rate Up Invite Letter” or Diamonds (300 Diamonds or 1 Letter for 1 Single Pull or 3000 Diamonds or 10 Letters for x10 Pull). Here’s the rates:
Characters

• S-Level Rate Up Hero = 3%

• A-Level Hero = 10% (Wish List)

Faction Acorn

• x30 Faction Acorn = 1.5%

• x4 Faction Acorn = 15%

• x1 Faction Acorn = 70.5%

Pity

• You are Guaranteed to obtain the S-Level Rate Up Hero in 40 Recruits. 

Epic Recruitment

The “Epic Recruitment” is a Special banner. In this banner you can only summon with “Epic invite Letter” (1 Letter for 1 Single Pull or 10 Letters for x10 Pull). You can choose up to 5 favorite S-Level Hero Characters in this banner and increase the chance to get them. Here’s the rates:
Characters

• S-Level Hero = 5.22% (Wish List)

• A-Level Hero = 18.75% (Wish List)

Faction Acorn

• x30 Faction Acorn = 1%

• x4 Faction Acorn = 25%

• x1 Faction Acorn = 50.03%

Pity

• You are Guaranteed to obtain 1 S-Level Hero in 30 Recruits. 

• You are Guaranteed to obtain 1 A-Level Hero in 10 Recruits.

Dolly Tickets

• Every time you pull in this banner, you will receive 10 Dolly Tickets. You can Exchange Dolly Ticket in the Emporium for various rewards.

Should I Play It? Pro & Cons

Pro

• The Graphics & Animations are very good!

• Fully voiced Characters

• Gameplay is a bit strategic for an AFK title

• A map fully explorable

• A lot of free pulls at start and gems

• A lot of different game content to play

Cons

• Characters require a lot of dupes to maximize power

• Some skills are locked behind dupes

• Combat is pretty much all autos