Update after playing NGS: some base/legacy PSO2 servers are pretty much empty, NGS has a new body type that isn't compatible with a lot of the PSO2 looks, and NGS lack some important social stuff from PSO2 like your room, alliance quarters... really feels like a subpar release up to today.

TL;DR: base game itself feels nice and looks nice to play, but poor management makes it boring, unrewarding, grindy and money-grabbing by adding congesting it with flashy, pointless content (and fasheon).
The first phrase of the description: Free to play.
F2P? Hahaha, not at all. Playing free is sub-standard playing quality by their own will, and that gets obvious quite fast. It won't get "solved", because that's what intended.

I've played this for a while and, despite that, I can't recommend the game at all.
->It's not new, but graphics aren't too dated so you can have good visuals without a beefy PC.
->Gameplay is nice and fluid, feels nice on controller.
->Soundtrack is really, really nice in some parts, but they didn't manage it well, so it gets repetitive and annoying. Also annoying NPC voices.
->Plot is... not quite the strong point here.

IF this was an offline game, I'd recommend it for sure.

However, the administration is abusing micro-transactions and they feel invasive and always-present, every mechanic and new aspect present or added feels just like an excuse to squish new ways to pressure your credit card. In addition, mistakes (meseta bots, personal shop issues and timed-shops offline for many days) made the playerbase dwindle and people didn't come back to playing it, servers began feeling even emptier.

However, there are flaws that make it even worse:

The objectives are pretty much mandated by the events and season content. You can do whatever you want? Suuure, just don't expect other people doing it as well, or any good rewards. If you want progression, you'll need to do a long and boring grind.

The economy was architected to be very biased towards paying members. Free players have little access to player shops (aka most feasible income), trade is exclusive between premiums (sorry, what?) and so on. Bluntly said: premiums are the standard players, and free players are treated as sub-standard regarding quality.
Once the meseta bots were mostly dealt with, for instance, prices skyrocketed in many categories, making them almost inaccessible for free players. If clandestine players were making the game more accessible most of the players (which should be the staff's duty), it makes you think if the whole thing is worth supporting and spending your time in.

Mid-game and end-game systems are very misleading and made difficult without need to, just to squeeze more of your time or you wallet. Affixing, crafting and so on.

Prices for extra characters (not character slots), character renaming, and alikes are absurd.

Update after playing NGS: some base/legacy PSO2 servers are pretty much empty, NGS has a new body type that isn't compatible with a lot of the PSO2 looks, and NGS lack some important social stuff from PSO2 like your room, alliance quarters... really feels like a subpar release up to today. TL;DR: base game itself feels nice and looks nice to play, but poor management makes it boring, unrewarding, grindy and money-grabbing by [strike] adding [/strike] congesting it with flashy, pointless content (and fasheon). The first phrase of the description: Free to play. F2P? Hahaha, not at all. Playing free is sub-standard playing quality by their own will, and that gets obvious quite fast. It won't get "solved", because that's what intended. I've played this for a while and, despite that, I can't recommend the game at all. ->It's not new, but graphics aren't too dated so you can have good visuals without a beefy PC. ->Gameplay is nice and fluid, feels nice on controller. ->Soundtrack is really, really nice in some parts, but they didn't manage it well, so it gets repetitive and annoying. Also annoying NPC voices. ->Plot is... not quite the strong point here. IF this was an offline game, I'd recommend it for sure. However, the administration is abusing micro-transactions and they feel invasive and always-present, every mechanic and new aspect present or added feels just like an excuse to squish new ways to pressure your credit card. In addition, mistakes (meseta bots, personal shop issues and timed-shops offline for many days) made the playerbase dwindle and people didn't come back to playing it, servers began feeling even emptier. However, there are flaws that make it even worse: The objectives are pretty much mandated by the events and season content. You can do whatever you want? Suuure, just don't expect other people doing it as well, or any good rewards. If you want progression, you'll need to do a long and boring grind. The economy was architected to be very biased towards paying members. Free players have little access to player shops (aka most feasible income), trade is exclusive between premiums (sorry, what?) and so on. Bluntly said: premiums are the standard players, and free players are treated as sub-standard regarding quality. Once the meseta bots were mostly dealt with, for instance, prices skyrocketed in many categories, making them almost inaccessible for free players. If clandestine players were making the game more accessible most of the players (which should be the staff's duty), it makes you think if the whole thing is worth supporting and spending your time in. Mid-game and end-game systems are very misleading and made difficult without need to, just to squeeze more of your time or you wallet. Affixing, crafting and so on. Prices for extra characters (not character slots), character renaming, and alikes are absurd.