short version:

+great graphics
+great story"telling"
+great gacha moderation (caters to both f2p and whales with different solutions)
+great character designs
+gear system is great

-inconsistent optimization
-story"writing" is meh, it's here and there

long version (beware: REALLY LONG IF YOU HATE YAPFEST)

i'm a hoyoshill since 2018 (started with hi3's peak rising time which was will of the herrscher and also played flyme2themoon) and also a gacha vet who played old titles like azur lane, girls frontline too so i can give a good insight on this game

first of all "gacha" is a monetization, just like subscription-based, free-to-play and licensed games, "but sir, wuwa is free to play!!" you'll say, and i'll say "yes, you can experience the story without paying a penny, story even gives you trial characters so you don't encounter any hiccups, but acquiring those cute anime girls? yeah you're either grinding the content, or cashing out that doctor/IT salary, and that's where "gacha" comes in, the "content" isn't freely accessible (unless you grind or pay), and the content are characters, you don't grind for the MAX gear or weapon by looting, and game doesn't take your money on anything else unless you want that sweet motorbike or Zani skin which is hot af, well atleast you don't pay 250$ on a recolored version of it like League of Legends :skull:

BUT! there is of course a but... gacha "games" are in itself are also cultures formed, because stories of co-op adventures, friends made along the way, people talking and sharing their experiences on game's story, waifu memes, meta people doing their excel sheets, pull flexes, that danjin main who cleared the hardest level blindfolded and undergeared, people playing these games are inevitably anime nerds and they form a "USUALLY WHOLESOME" (toxic community are vocal minority so ignore them bulldogs) community in it's own, so you won't be seeing that 17 year old "TTV" sweat kids whom just know to chat like a dog and flame you, unless you're in the wrong side of community and interact with weirdos (which every community has)

back to game: this is a gacha "ACTION RPG" game, see that? this is an action-rpg game which is where we'll focus, so don't come at me saying "BUT THIS IS A PREDATORY MOBILE GAME BRUHHH" because i also see your pathetic ahh grinding in that mythic+ dungeon in wow for %1 damage increase to flex on 3v3 arena (i myself grinded for tet gear in black desert in 2018 for entire summer so im also guilty of this matter) or playing valorant 12h a day for imaginary numbers so sybau, grind is in every live service game in big ol 2026 and you'll do it like good girl/boy or be a chad thunderrock and play those peak single player games like dark souls, baldur's gate, elden ring which i do both so that makes me the ultimate gamer and because of it you have to suck my

the game's combat? absolutely great, kuro games is a huge dmc fanboy and they aren't hiding it, they even collabed with dmc and put vergil in their game so yea, expect a great dopamine hitting combat system which you'll be addicted to it fast, bosses are also unique and sweat inducing at times (i hate fallacy with a passion)

the story? let me tell you this; honkai star rail's penacony arc to me is in top 100 game stories (and this comes from a person who played a LOT of games) it was THAT GOOD, and I think this game's story comes close to that list but one thing holding this game back is... well... it's a gacha game! hoyo broke free from this matter long ago and they're actually focused on worldbuilding more than waifu glazing, that's why story"writing" of hoyo can never be topped, they have too many inspirations to pull from and has very dedicated people working in it, kuro's stories are MOSTLY to glaze next character and forget it next version, while overall story is STILL a flaming cool skeleton horse, I still think it has far way to go to reach hoyo levels of storywriting (I AM COMPARING GACHA GAMES DON'T COMPARE WUWA STORY TO SPEC:OPS THE LINE OR IDK ELDEN RING LEVELS OF WRITING AND EMBARASS YOURSELF)

the graphics? absolutely stunning but POOR OPTIMIZATION, and I mean VERY POOR OPTIMIZATION, while they address to these problems with basically putting a band-aid and call it a day most of the time, this is the only major downside I have to tell and make people aware of it, your 2060 rtx will NEVER survive in newest regions and you'll watch a slideshow (though it depends i've seen people playing fine with mid-tier systems) but DLSS + framegen will be your biggest wheelchair in this game

the monetization? this company gives out more freebies than their competitors so if you don't wanna spend a dime, they got you covered, i've accumulated a total of 480+ pulls just by playing game and exploring maps so you'll DEFINITELY get multiple waifus (or a lion kid) if you play enough

gear system? tbh i LOVED the idea of basically being John Solo Leveling and summoning your gear to add an extra skill on your arsenal, and they're useful and contributing to your damage/rotation too! so i'll give it a bonus in this matter, i've seen people complaining about gear system but i'll say the opposite, they literally removed the energy dumping need to character gears (i remember spending 4500 RESINS FOR A MONTH TO GET ANY GOOD TARTAGLIA SETS ON DRAGONSPINE SO NO AMOUNT OF ARGUMENTS WILL MAKE ME THINK TRADITIONAL DOMAIN SYSTEM IS BETTER) might be luck or not but i managed to get good stats on my many characters by mindfully spending my resources and using premium stuff when it's needed, so I'll say it's a "mixed" point on gears and I'll see if I reach any brick walls on endgame about this matter

verdict:

if you wanna play a high octane great cinema story with good graphics waifu slot machine, this game's for you,

p.s: this review includes highly satire claims so if you get offended, either you know im right and pissed or a chill dude and laughed at it and scrolled down