So, for about the past month or two I’ve picked up a newer gacha… 

Girls’ Frontline 2, perhaps more commonly known as waifu XCOM, is a sequel to Girls’ Frontline, but that game isn’t required to understand this one, despite being heavily related. We’ll get to that, I promise. At core, GFL2 is a narrative-heavy gacha with its actual gameplay borrowing strongly from RTS games, closest being XCOM, but without the bullshit hit percentages. It is unfortunately a gacha, borrowing a banner and pull system almost identical to that of Genshin or other Hoyo games – but the odds are somewhat better, soft pity kicks in earlier, and the game throws significantly more Collapse Pieces – this game’s gems – at you, to the point where a free-to-play player can get every unit on limited banners if you play often. 

In my opinion, GFL2’s biggest strength is that it appeals to both casuals who just want to see cute gun girls in 3D, lore enjoyers who want to enjoy the story – which is looking to become just as dark as the first game – and competitive players who want to maximize numbers on their units and learn the combat mechanics. I personally come into this having played some of GFL1 and no experience in RTS games, but I found it quite easy to get used to the mechanics and simping over fictional dolls. 

Most of the dolls are returning from GFL1 with new designs and names, with some dolls new to GFL2 entirely. That said, you’ll still recognize the returning characters – Makiatto is clearly WA2000, Centaureissi is clearly G36, and they’re still the same dolls from the first time around. So far they’ve given some less important dolls from GFL1 a lot of time, which is nice to see, and makes GFL1 not-as-required reading. It’s still the same universe, and having knowledge of GFL1 will help you understand what’s going on, but it’s not absolutely required, which is a blessing to those of us that aren’t too invested in the depths of the lore. 

Combat plays like XCOM – here’s your units, here’s your enemies, turn-based combat, the like. If you’re into these kinds of games, great! GFL2 gives you enough mechanics and dolls to figure out builds and setups, as well as a clan ranking mode if you like to test your skill and really maximize out your dolls. If you’re not into RTS games, there’s an auto-battle you can use on every stage, which is competent enough to clear 80% of stages for you, provided your dolls are up to par. This is also hugely convenient for clearing lower-level content or just zoning out to do dailies, which makes the game hugely casual friendly. Even with bad menu management, you can complete your dailies in sub 90 seconds, which is much appreciated coming from other gachas (or just other modern games in general). 

In terms of waifu gameplay, there’s a dormitory, which is simple but does give you full camera control if you really want to stare at the robot feet, and you can even set it as your main menu screen, if you’d like! In general, both the dolls and weapons are modeled well and have good artistic style, so weapon nerds will enjoy the attachment system and models, too. Marrying – or Covenanting, as it’s called here – is present, too, so those coming from other gachas will feel reasonably at home. Skins are on the expensive side, but gacha games already are hard on the wallet, so that’s up to you if you want them or not. 

Events are a mixed bag. It can be hard to tell what info is story-relevant and what’s fluff, and we still haven’t had any events added to the permanent list on the Global server, so for now, if you miss something, you’re out of luck. That said, all actual story content in events is low-level, around Commander 20 or so, so you don’t have to worry about not having good enough dolls to experience the story. Main campaign story does scale over time, but as of this review, it’s not too bad. 

Other little things – soundtrack is great, as typical for Vanguard Sound and GFL in general. Specifically, Reconnection and One Hit Kill are standouts, being Klukai and Makiatto’s themes, respectively. There’s plenty of great fan artists on Twitter/Pixiv if you’re REALLY into the dolls. In general, the community is pretty good, a little deranged, but good.  

It’s fun, overall. Coming from other gachas, having quick dailies is a huge quality of life improvement, and you don’t need to spend at all, even if you want to get every unit, which is hugely appreciated. Biggest issue is understanding how the menus and mechanics work if you want to learn the combat, and several fan-favourites from GFL1 aren’t here (yet), but on the whole, I think it’s one of the best gachas out there currently. Plus, being on PC and mobile with cross-sync is great, and it even works well on Steam Deck! 

In short, it’s casual friendly, with pretty anime robots and guns, and has a deep story and solid combat. Plus, it has the best pantyhose/stocking rendering in all of gaming!