Punishing Gray Raven is a game for IOS and Android that came out in July 16th 2021 globally and was seen as a competitor to Genshin Impact at the time. The game features high-speed combat and beautifully designed characters which are actually more similar to Hoyoverse’s other fan favourite, Honkai Impact 3rd.
Punishing Gray Raven is focused on high speed combat with various different elemental abilities. Characters in the game can be made stronger with memories inside the game and it is possible for F2P players to progress relatively easily.
Unlike Genshin Impact, Punishing Gray Raven is not an open-world game, the game’s battles are all within instanced dungeons that players can enter and traverse through. This might be an issue for some players who were expecting a similar experience however it is still an enjoyable game. There are also boss fights in this game for end-game players to enjoy and a lot of decent end-game content and challenges.
Is Punishing Gray Raven F2P friendly?
Punishing Gray Raven is indeed a F2P friendly game, there are strong reviews from many players old and new that compare the generosity in PGR to Azur Lane. The game provides players with a lot of free rolls and S-Rank characters or constructs as they are called are easily obtainable through playing the game as well as strong weapons to match. Punishing Gray Raven also features a pity system in the game which is very helpful for F2P and low spending players. The pity system works as follows:
- B-Rank Constructs are given automatically via story progression.
- A-Rank Constructs are guaranteed every 10 pulls.
- S-Rank Constructs are guaranteed at a minimum of 60 pulls.
As this is a team based game, players will want to pull several S-Rank Constructs and this is made possible through the pity system.
What roles do characters have in Punishing Gray Raven?
PGR has roles split into 4 main archetypes, Attacker, Tank, Support and Amplifier. There are different characters unique in each role that can excel in them and help the team in various ways. Punishing Gray Raven allows players to swap in and out of these characters while in combat allowing for strong and powerful combos similar to in Genshin Impact with the reaction system.
How do I make my character stronger in Punishing Gray Raven?
Punishing Gray Raven characters can be made stronger in 3 different ways.
Promotion
Every five levels, characters can be promoted by spending Cogs, greatly improving overall stats. The total cost of fully promoting a character is 542,500 Cogs. These promotion ranks are named: Private, Sergeant, Elite, Task Force, Ace, and Hero.
Duplicates
When you pull a duplicate of a character you already own, the duplicate will be converted into Inver-Shards. The amount of Shards you obtain depends on the base rarity of the character you pulled, regardless of how much you have increased their rank previously.
- B-Rank Construct duplicates give 6 Inver-Shards
- A-Rank Construct duplicates gives 18 Inver-Shards
- S-Rank Construct duplicates give 30 Inver-Shards
Inver-Shards are used to rank up your characters (eg. B-Rank > A-Rank > S-Rank).
Weapons
Weapons as in any gacha game or game in general are always one of the core methods of getting stronger characters. Punishing Gray Raven does have a weapon system and weapons also have rarities. The weapon pities for the game are quite generous however and the rates are shown below.
- 5★ weapon pity at 10 pulls.
- The 6★ weapon pity at 30 pulls.
Does Punishing Gray Raven have a good plot and story?
Punishing Gray Raven has a storyline and plot in the game, in fact storyline progression is necessary to have any progression in the game as a lot of content is tied behind various level and progression locks. One of the best recommendations for new players is to get into the game and just start playing the story mode, upgrading equipment and characters as needed but not over-investing into any single character early on as the investment does get quite expensive towards the higher-end.
What can new players get in Punishing Gray Raven?
Aside from standard gacha freebies such as beginner goodies, resources and rolls, the main thing every new player gets is an S-Rank Construct Selector. These selectors are common in gacha games and this one is no different. It features 5 S-Rank Characters for players to choose from to start the game and will allow the player to get a bit of a start within the game. These characters are not the strongest and are outclassed later on but are fantastic for new players. The characters all have different playstyles and as they are outclassed, there is no pressure to go for the meta characters.
Is it worth picking up and playing Punishing Gray Raven in 2022?
With so many new Gacha Games coming out in 2022 and beyond, it might almost seem as though Punishing Gray Raven is an old game by comparison. This is however not the case as the game is still quite popular and has a decent-sized player base, the F2P and low spending player-friendly environment is definitely one of the perks of the game and a strong point given how other games like Ni No Kuni are only seeking to make money from players. We recommend playing Punishing Gray Raven if you are a fan of fast-paced action like Honkai Impact 3rd and want a different experience from other side-scrolling auto-battle gacha games like Arknights or Azur Lane.