BEFORE THE REVIEW: Please note this IS NOT truly Free to play. The BASE version of the game is free, which is the Core 2012 package us GW2 veterans have been playing back in the days (10 years ago).
If you absolutely want the best experience ever, not only in the MMO scenario but in the online gaming, you should consider buying the full packages (all Expansion packs and Living World episodes).
The game itself is FREE FROM ANY MONTHLY FEE, but it has to be said that playing the f2p version will gut you out from tons of content and functions.

THAT BEING SAID:

I have over 8000 hours of playtime on the Arenanet game version betwen more than 10 fully optimized characters and i've been on and off between years since 2012 and have been playing since the very first day.
Let me tell you, this is something UNIQUE.

A true gem like Guild Wars 2 is rarely found, especially in the MMO genre, as it caters to both casual players and to hardcore ones and i truly mean it.

You could focus on the long term goals between each and every game mode and decide your very own pace. Do you wish to grind the game nonstop to reach your goal? Why not! Go ahead!
On the opposite, do you find frustrating to grind and want to savour what the game offers when you want it, how you want it? Please do!

You could "freeze" (MMO term which means taking a break from a game) for months, even years, and your account still remains relevant with the newest content released.

Yes, the endgame content is horizontally shaped which means as soon as you've hit level 80 and are geared with the right equip for the job, you're good to go; and there is no amount of time that will invalidate that.

There are several type of content to be done, an ocean of experiences to have and a plethora of side activities that will get you hooked in no time:

- You can play it mostly solo, as some kind of online role playing game, while leaving the most demanding content for organized play;
- Content is shared and doesn't require groups for the most part except for high end instanced content. You can gather from the same resource node and get kill participation on the same mob that somebody else is fighting!
- No traditional quests, instead there's dynamic events which shapes the life of the world;
- Instanced story missions with iconic characters and cool plots that will overarch in intense dramas and twists;
- Thousands of skins to choose from for your equipment which you can also dye a huge spectrum of unlockable colors;
- Everything gives you experience points so you can choose your preferred way of reaching the endgame: traditional world exploring, story missions, crafting, pvp or by other means;
- Traditional dungeons, Fractals of the Mists (scaling infinite dungeons), Raids, Strikes (shortened, easier raids), Structured Arena PvP and a dedicated Pvp war zone with 3 servers fighting each other called "World vs World vs World";
- Legendary quests to obtain legendary gear, crafting skills, collections, jumping puzzles, Guild missions, Achievements, side activities such as minigames, mount races, fishing and exploring secret zones;
- Gorgeous open world pve maps with huge epic bosses, lenghty meta-events with hundreds of players that must collaborate to clear;
- The item shop provides with loads of quality of life items and skins which can both be bought with real money and with earned ingame cash that can be converted.

There is so much to do in this game that i'm sure i'm forgetting something.
The thing that hooks me up and motivates me to play is that no matter how long i take a pause from it, i just come back whenever i choose so and i can jump back from where i've left it, with no power creep mechanics outplaying
me or forcing me to catch up. I can be as performing for a raid group as i was if i'd take a 1 year break, no sweat and no tiers of gear to recuperate between me and my friends!

All of the classes, called "professions", are fun to play and have their own unique flavor and class theme. There are many subclasses, or "Elite specializations" for each single profession which focus on different playstyles
and are favoured through specific game modes. For example, a Warrior could specialize in the Berserker Elite spec to deal loads of damage in PVE or could pick the Spellbreaker Elite spec to bring utility and boons in the pvp battlefield.

Fights are intense, action packed, full of reaction mechanics and encourages you to dodge and move around a lot to survive. Bosses all have their own mechanics to be beaten and the more progress you do in the game, the more unforgiving they are,
culminating in the Raid scenario where organized of highly skilled players have to diligently follow mechanics and role, or perish. However, also WvWvW bosses are hard to deal with and they won't nudge if a powerful army of pvp players
won't engage them.

After you're done with high intensity activities for the day or you just want to take some relax time, i advise you go around the beautiful world of Tyria, uncover its misteries and unlockable secret achievements and collections. There are literally hundreds
of tiny little secrets and collectibles for each and every zone in the game, being from the Core 2012 experience to the latest high end expansion zone. No region feels dead as many players are always looking for scaled, down levelled content in those regions as they still remain valid and provide a challenge.

Or maybe you're a bit bored out of the look of your character and want to search for another style of your gear; i'm sure you will find plenty, even overwhelming choices for your look. And if you're bored of your character...why not try to level up and play another one?
The game doesn't punish you for starting over again and have multiple toons to have fun with. It's absolutely not mandatory but it can be rewarding, such as having more crafting disciplines available, more characters for different game content and so on.

Some times during the year there's timed events that bring all players together such as Dragonbash (the celebration of the death of the first Elder Dragon) or the Festival of the Four Winds, and each has their own achievements and meta rewards. They cycle all year long so no worries if you've missed some, they will always come back.

The trading post and the open world are both shared features on all servers, so don't stress too much about which server to pick when creating your first characters. However, the only exception would be for the WvWvW PVP: if you want to conquer castles and fight with your friends you must create a character within the same realm.
All the rest of the content of the game is shared between each and every player.

As a last tip i'd suggest you a couple websites that will help you grasp and master this exceptional game: GW2wiki, Snowcrows, Lucky Noobs, GW2 Skills, GW2Spidy, Gw2 Efficency, Metabattle (they are all websites that provide help for building your characters and manage your resources in the game)

Last but not least, i hope you will enjoy the wholesome community of this game, which always encourages and welcomes new players as the game itself doesn't care for how long you have played: it treates everyone on the same page!

Guild Wars 2 shaped the modern way we play MMOs and it's still not popular enough for what i think it provided to the genre.

Play it and have fun! :)

Thank you for reading,
Heretiko