Gacha games have changed. It's no longer about slow-paced mobile games with a random chance of unlocking 2D images of waifus. It's an endless series of full-realized 3D waifu adventure and exploration with real-time combat on PC and moder consoles. To that end, Genshin Impact is the gold standard for big-budget gacha games, with titles like Zenless Zone Zero and Wuthering Waves and Palworld entering the fray recently. Now another has thrown its free-to-play hat in the ring, and they already know a thing or 2 about monetizing waifus.

Manjuu, the Shanghai-based studio behind super popular mobile gacha Azur Lane have announced their new title: Azur Promilia. Despite sharing some of its name with their previous game, it swaps the mild sci-fi ship waifus and bullet hell combat for a cute fantasy vibe with much more ambitious gameplay. Note only is there an open world, there's live combat, multiplayer, loot farming, animal companions you can ride around on, and of course a variety of waifus. Here's our first look at gameplay:

Manjuu haven't announced a release date for it yet, but if you're interested you can pre-register over on the game's official website, which also offers a more in-depth look at the game's areas and is thankfully in English. People are already calling it "Genshin Impact combined with Pokémon" - do you think that's a fair assessment? What do you think of the gameplay? Do you think Azur Promilia can finally dethrone Genshin Impact? Let us know below!