seems very complicated but once you play it for a little bit you'll realize that is very complicated

🎯 Rating: 8/10

📜 Overview
Mahjong Soul is a free-to-play online multiplayer Mahjong game developed by Cat Food Studio and released in 2020. It features a modern take on the classic Chinese Mahjong game, with beautiful anime-inspired visuals and a user-friendly interface. Mahjong Soul stands out by offering a social and interactive experience, where players can engage in real-time multiplayer matches, compete in ranked games, and collect cute anime-style characters as avatars. The game also offers a tutorial for newcomers to the Mahjong rules, making it accessible to both beginners and seasoned players.

🌟 Pros
✅ Anime-Style Art: The game has an appealing, anime-inspired art style with colorful characters and smooth animations, which makes it visually attractive.
✅ Accessible to Newcomers: Mahjong Soul provides tutorials and easy-to-understand guides to help new players learn the intricacies of Mahjong, which can be difficult for beginners.
✅ Multiplayer Experience: Offers an engaging online experience, where players can challenge each other in real-time multiplayer matches, enhancing the competitive aspect of the game.
✅ Ranked Mode and Events: The game features a ranked mode to test your skills against other players and various in-game events that provide additional rewards and gameplay variety.
✅ Character Customization: Players can collect different characters and customize them, offering a fun incentive to progress.

⚠️ ♥♥♥♥
❌ Pacing Issues: While Mahjong Soul is designed for short matches, some players feel that games can sometimes feel slow, especially for beginners or in lower-level matches.
❌ Gacha System: The game features a gacha system for obtaining characters and cosmetic items, which may feel like a pay-to-win mechanic for some players, as certain items are locked behind random draws.
❌ Learning Curve: Despite the tutorials, Mahjong is still a complex game to master, and players may find the learning curve steep, especially when it comes to strategies and advanced rules.
❌ Microtransactions: Some players feel that while the game is free-to-play, the microtransactions (for cosmetics and characters) are too prevalent, and spending money might be encouraged to get ahead faster.
❌ Limited Content: Although the game has events and updates, the content might feel repetitive over time, with the core mechanics focused heavily on Mahjong itself.

💬 Player Sentiment
Positive Reviews: Players appreciate the game’s anime-style visuals, accessibility for newcomers, and the ability to engage in real-time multiplayer matches. Many also enjoy the ranked system and the occasional special events that add excitement to the gameplay.

Negative Reviews: Complaints usually center around the gacha system and the steep learning curve. Some also express frustration with the pacing of the game and how microtransactions are incorporated into the experience.

🎯 Target Audience
🔹 Fans of Mahjong or those looking to learn the game in a more approachable, fun format.
🔹 Players who enjoy online multiplayer experiences with anime-inspired visuals and character customization.
🔹 Casual gamers who want a mix of strategy, competition, and social interaction.
🔹 People looking for a free-to-play game with a strong community element and regular updates.

🏆 Rating Breakdown
🎮 Gameplay: 8/10
🎨 Visuals: 8.5/10
⚖️ Balance: 7.5/10
🔄 Replayability: 7.5/10
👥 Community: 8/10
⭐ Overall Experience: 8/10

🎨 Visual Summary
🎮 Gameplay: A mix of traditional Mahjong gameplay with modern, social features, including multiplayer and ranked modes.
🎨 Visuals: Bright, anime-inspired visuals with charming characters, creating an inviting aesthetic.
⚖️ Balance: The complexity of Mahjong offers deep strategy, but the steep learning curve and gacha mechanics may turn off some players.
🔄 Replayability: Strong replay value for Mahjong fans, but limited content might lead to repetition.
👥 Community: A dedicated and friendly player base, with social features and competitive matchmaking.

🎯 Final Verdict
Mahjong Soul offers an accessible yet deep Mahjong experience, enhanced by anime-inspired visuals, real-time multiplayer gameplay, and various customization options. While the game caters well to newcomers with its tutorials and guides, it also provides enough challenge for experienced players looking for competitive matches. However, the game's reliance on microtransactions and the gacha system may be a turn-off for some, especially those who prefer a more straightforward approach. If you're a fan of Mahjong or anime-themed games and enjoy multiplayer competition, Mahjong Soul is an enjoyable choice.

I will begin by saying this game is amazing. The game-play is pretty solid, the graphics of the game are good, and the illustrations are majestic. Outside of the game-play, it does hold a few difficulties, which I will list below.

Disclaimer: If you look into my reviews, I've almost never written long serious reviews in-depth (Mainly because I'm blind and English isn't my first language), and I wanted to state that before jumping in.

Positive aspects:
- It's free!
For a game with these kinds of illustrations and graphics, and especially for it being free it is definetly worth a download.
- Cool characters
- Literally just Riichi Mahjong

Negative aspects:
- Confusing tutorial
Personally I hadn't played Riichi Mahjong either ever or a long time ago, I don't recall. However, this game (positively) contains a tutorial that is full of terms only someone who already knows all the basics and terms of Mahjong would understand. Luckily, after some digging through YouTube I found a really good actually English speaking provided tutorial by the YouTuber yu_song (very underrated, if you're having trouble with all the complicated rules do check them out). There's also an option to see all winning hands on the home screen which is a big plus. does it make sense? No. Is it good that it's there? Definetly.

- Deleted my account
It wont let me log into any accounts anymore, saying Error 101. It says this on all my devices that have this game installed. I don't suggest going p2w for character banners or anything because of this and the lack of security in this game, although ultimately that's up to you. (P.S. if you want something other than the 2 basic starter characters you pretty much have to pay).

Thats all I have to say for now, I hope you find this helpful!