AFK Journey Review

The Journey Begins

AFK Journey is one of the few idle games to remember that the second word in “idle game is “game.” Developed by Farlight Games and published by Lilith Games, Journey is an open-world-ish RPG set in the same universe as Lilith’s AFK Arena. However, Farlight’s game is worth a try whether you are familiar with the franchise or not.

AFK Journey begins with the player’s assistant waking them up. You soon learn you are the legendary wizard Merlin or at least the latest person to hold the title. Unfortunately, you also have a touch of magical dementia, having lost your powers and memories. However, there is no time to deal with that now as the nearby village is under attack.

Players soon meet their hamster familiars, Chippy and Hammy, and the swordsman Valen. Other characters will come and go from your party, but these three form the rest of the core cast. You’ll also meet the sultry fire mage Mirael, whom the villagers blame for the attack. She denies it, and the investigation takes up the rest of the game’s first act.

The story is decent, though a bit predictable at times. For example, the first act’s twist villain was so obvious I almost thought it was a red herring. Still, the story gripped me enough to see where it led, which I can’t say is the case with every game.

The characters lean too much on broad archetypes, which affects the main cast. They are fun and well-voice-acted, and some moments elevate them. Mirael, in particular, stands out, not just because of her slinky dress. She and Merlin have a history, and I found her story unexpectedly compelling. I just wish she had more screen time.

Heroes and Villains

AFK Journey’s exploration takes place on a semi-open world map. When you encounter an enemy, it switches to an instance 5v5 combat encounter. Each recruitable character comes from one of four factions: Lightbringer, Mauler, Wilder, and Graveborn, which counter each other in that order. Merlin doesn’t fight directly but will buff the team with the powers they regain by progressing the main story.

Most battles in AFK Journey are straightforward, with both sides deploying their squad on their side of the hex-based grid. However, not every battlefield is the same: Low walls block heroes but not projectiles, while high

 walls block both. Some arenas have explosive barrels or other traps you can activate. However, players must be careful not to damage their own heroes. Some areas also have Buff Tiles, which grant different effects to heroes deployed on that spot.

And that’s just standard battles, as some combat encounters have special gameplay modes. Sometimes, for example, you might have to choose one hero to stand against multiple waves of enemies. Then there are the Crystal Defense battles, where players need to defend a magical crystal from waves of enemies. The crystal buffs nearby allies but debuffs those outside its area of effect, adding another tactical consideration.

Mighty Champions

Granted, tactics only really matter for enemies of a similar level. Anything more than two or three levels below you is trivial. Meanwhile, higher-level enemies will wipe the floor with your heroes.

Fortunately, leveling in AFK Journey is quite forgiving, even for free players. As long as you’re about where the game expects you to be in clearing AFK stages, you should be able to handle most of what it throws at you.

Players also don’t have to worry too much about new heroes falling behind the main party. You can select five to act as Resonance Heroes and level up directly. Everyone else inherits the level of the lowest-level Resonance Hero. If you decide to make a different character a Resonance Hero, they take the level of the hero they replaced. Other games have similar mechanics. However, AFK Journey is the only one I’ve played with the option to trade levels like this. It’s a great addition and means you’ll never have to bench a hero because of their level.

Is AFK Journey above criticism? Not completely. I rolled my eyes a bit when I found the first act’s villain bribed people with bags of money that had his family crest on them. I also encountered bugs. Most notably, the interface disappears when switching back to the main game from the AFK Screen. However, I never caught myself not having fun with the game.

Lilith and Farlight are prominent in mobile gaming, so I think it’s fair to hold them to a higher standard. However, I also think it’s fair to say that AFK Journey meets it.