Finding this game for the first time back in 2015 when I first decided to follow one of the many advertisements at the time for the game, as well as peer-pressure from a friend to install it, I didn’t really understand what I was getting into at the time. Since I was just a kid at the time, I didn’t really grasp on to the story and content the game was trying to give me, only hitting Mastery Rank 4 or so and then dropping it all together. Off and on with big updates I’d pop on for a bit, farm for a frame I wanted, and then I’d let it go until I saw intrigue to do something for a couple weeks again in the game.

In 2021, I decided to put some more time and effort into it, to play with some new friends and really get myself into the story since I had played very little of the actual story missions and more just leapt into farming missions my friends had gone on. But, actually sitting down and giving this game the time of day? Well, that created, honestly, my favorite game I’ve ever played. The story, the world design, the characters from all over the galaxy the developers have given us is impressive, and on top of that, it’s content all being free, well, it's unlike anything else I’ve ever played in that sense. Sure, I’ve played third-person shooters, but this one just feels so different, from the weapons, the moveset, the unique abilities. You name it, this game hands-down is my favorite.

As an achievement hunter, I’ve had loads of fun hunting down the over one-hundred achievements there are to get in the game, and seeing that progression is extremely satisfying, despite the occasional bug I’ve had on Steam with it not giving the achievement there to me. I’ve enjoyed decorating and customizing, and doing every bit of mission/event/starchart/open world they’ve given us, even though in most cases, I’ve yet to complete any of them since there is just so much to do. I’m never bored playing it, and yet the common criticism of it being ‘too-grind-heavy’ just isn’t the case in my eyes. When trying to enthuse others into playing, the first thing I say to all of them is “the game is only as fun as you make it out to be”. In the end, as the player, if you want to spend all your time on the game grinding and struggling to get a super low-chance drop, that’s fine, but, it's not the game being boring, it's you. There’s just so many other things to do, that I believe I may never run out of them. I mean, I’m MR24 now, and I can guarantee there’s a world in there I’ve yet to even delve into, whether that’s working on Ducat farming so I can get prime-mods, or running trades to try and complete old sets of prime-items that have been vaulted, I always have a hundred things to do every time I get on.

Rarely have I seen scammers or toxic people playing the game, unlike many other free-to-play games I have had issues with, so that has been a giant relief on the game. It also isn’t pay to win, which is another critique I saw. All the releases are *free* to the community, the updates with new content and mechanics that is. And since I love the game so much, I don’t mind spending some extra money to buy DLC for cosmetics and other in-game benefits every now and again.

In closure, Warframe has been ultimately one of, if not my very favorite game to be released. It's shaped the last couple years of my life, and I couldn't be more grateful for it just existing.