The progenitor of moe gacha warfare (as well as Shimada Humikane), but that doesn't mean it's the holy grail.

The artwork and personality of the girls are very reflective of the historic ships; the "gameplay" is painfully dull, though. Also, doesn't help that Tanaka and company still choose to keep the game exclusive to Japan. If only KanColle Arcade was the actual game, it would at least be more graphically palatable. TL;DR: enjoy the fanart, not the game.

Overall: 4.5/10 (5)

Gameplay: 3/10
Story/Narrative: 4/10
Graphics/Visuals: 6/10
Audio/Soundtrack: 5/10

The girls are not very representative of the actual historic ships in their personalities, looks, and riggings, unlike KanColle - more waifubait, less sticking to history. But, at least it has actually decent gameplay (even if I don't care for bullethell), a dorm system, and gacha pulls (not just drops). It was also extremely generous with the 5 star drops last I played, which is nice. It being released for an international audience (unlike KanColle) is also a huge plus.

Overall: 5/10

Gameplay: 5/10
Story/Narrative: 3/10
Graphics/Visuals: 7/10
Audio/Soundtrack: 5/10

A gacha game I surprisingly adore. Great strategic gameplay. A compelling sci-fi story. An adorable dorm system. Superb artwork and animation. Real clever and cheeky expedition systems. Seemingly endless challenges and secondary tasks for you to do. You can also get by without paying for premium currency, if you get clever with where you invest your T-doll upgrades. There's also an awesome level of replay-ability from chapter to chapter - I rarely felt like I had to mindlessly grind the same level. Win-win-win-win for me.

If you want a turn-based strategy RPG (heavy on the strategy), this is the one. If you want something else, play Azur Lane (bullethell), Blue Archive (tactical RPG), Arknights (tower defense), Genshin (open world, hack/slash), Honkai (turn-based RPG), or FGO (turn-based RPG).

Overall: 7.3/10 (7)

Gameplay: 7/10
Story/Narrative: 8/10
Graphics/Visuals: 7/10
Audio/Soundtrack: 7/10

I didn't find the gameplay to be all that fun. The animation quality (shooting, reloading, idle) is about its only redeeming and differentiating feature. It's like Azur Lane, but without all the items that make it a more enjoyable game to play.

As if any of that matters, because it's all about the jiggle physics and hyper-sexualization, anyhow. Whatever gets people to open their wallets. 🤷

Overall: 5.8/10 (6)

Gameplay: 6/10
Story/Narrative: 5/10
Graphics/Visuals: 7/10
Audio/Soundtrack: 5/10

I'm apparently in the minority with my rating here based on the recent reviews, but as someone who has seldom liked fast-paced arena/survival shooters like CS, Apex, Fortnite, Tarkov I've absolutely fallen in love with this game from its very first trailer. The Closed and Open Betas have only strengthened my love for it.

My most loved set of shooters has been the Battlefield franchise, and the level of destruction in the first trailer (and actually playing the game now) confirms the excellently crafted destruction physics. And, the destruction is something that even the naysayers can agree with being impressive. No surprises, some of the developer team are previously from DICE.

Agreeably the gameplay isn't terribly groundbreaking. The need for tactics to approach objectives reminds me of Seige. The verticality reminds me of Apex. And, the pacing reminds me of any other arena shooter.

But, man, the hype the game can dish out just doesn't compare, in my eyes. And, that is a huge part of why I keep coming back. It doesn't really do anything all that different, but it's just the feeling the game gives off. That doesn't necessarily equate to a good game, but I've had nothing but fun while playing.

The game is also surprisingly demanding, given the simpler assets and mostly open space. Performance can get pretty abysmal for anyone not running the latest, higher end hardware. Would be nice if this wasn't the case, but luckily the performance issues are not a problem for me.

And, the drama brought up a few weeks ago about the game using AI generated voices is really a non-issue, in my eyes. It's not illegal to do this and the developers are free to do so, whether it's to save development costs or try to achieve something more novel. Ultimately, I don't really care. Obviously, a shame for voice actors who could have been paid to offer their voices to the game, but if the world really detests this behavior, it will stifle it or welcome it and things will take their course. Regardless, the voices are well done, and add to the experience all the same.

Fairly similar to GFL, but if it was all 3D isometric. Great animations, superb OST and PVs. My largest painpoint with it is that its outfits/alt skins are individual characters w/ individual levels (like Princess Connect) - i.e. Shiroko, Shiroko (Cycling), Shiroko (Swimming). You having to individually level them up. I dislike that way of getting skins. I far prefer having a single character you can swap outfits on, like in GFL and Genshin.

Obviously, there is more to a game than just its outfit system, but this is particularly important for me.

Overall: 7/10

Gameplay: 6/10
Story/Narrative: 6/10
Graphics/Visuals: 7/10
Audio/Soundtrack: 9/10

As someone starting with OW2, I think it's a good game, and I've had more fun with it than not.

I think all the heroes have awesome characterization, animations, backstory, and more. Gameplay is fluid and punchy with a good Rock-Paper-Scissors set up to the character dynamic.

I've seen most of the complaints be about the monetization, and yeh the cost of a Legendary skin, for example, is on the higher end at ~$16, but it's not unprecedented versus other FTP games.

The graphics and audio are superb. The actual gameplay is made fairly thrilling, which is commendable, given the slow nature of naval combat (relative to ground and air). After having played 2709 battles, I enjoy my time more just admiring the ships in port versus actually battling. The fun kinda tapers off from tier 7 onward. I feel tier 6 is the sweet spot for casual fun. Tier 8 is an absolute uptiering joke of pain, and tier 10 is really just fun for the sake of deleting tier 8s. I'd say play to tier 8 on one ship line, try a tier 8 match, then promptly realize your mistake, and go back to tier 6.

Overall: 7.7/10 (8)

Gameplay: 6/10
Story/Narrative: NA/10
Graphics/Visuals: 9/10
Audio/Soundtrack: 8/10

Superb world building, gameplay mechanics, and production value. However, I find the story is uninteresting and gameplay bland. It's a pretty usual revenge, outlaw, love narrative with a combination of riding horses/carriages for hours, then shooting some enemies. I can see the appeal, but it's not for me. I'm not much a fan of wild/old west period-piece games, but I figured I'd give this a shot, given it's currently the 7th all-time best-selling game.

But, again, the world building and set-piece design are about as good as they come. I also thought the illustration of the "taming of the west" was well done - showing the spread of factories and industrialization, the contrast of the barren west to budding industry.

Overall: 7.5/10 (8)

Gameplay: 7/10
Story/Narrative: 6/10
Graphics/Visuals: 10/10
Audio/Soundtrack: 7/10