I recommend this so much! If you're looking for a game that scratches the mmo itch, then this is your game!
The graphics are amazing ,and as far as game play goes, it does not fall short on making your character feel like a badass!

Gameplay is smooth, and does a good job of introducing players to mechanics both old and new! As I said right above you truly do feel like a badass even when faced with powerful foes and tough challenges. You are given a variety of classes and builds to truly customize to your play style.

To address the concerns yes it is f2p, but you dont have to feel like you need to drop $$$ to get progress in the game. I spent 60 out of 107 hours f2p without spending a dime and I had already progressed to Tier 1 almost Tier 2, and that was me just really sight seeing and doing majority of side quests per area.

The game is truly go at your own pace, if you want to sit back and watch all the cut scenes, then go for it! If you prefer to speedrun to get to guardian raids and chaos dungeons, then you absolutely can!

The only complaint from me is that 2 of the classes are a bit tedious to level up. Those classes are the gunlancer and bard, but that is only because they are more spec'd for support than dps. However there is a silver lining, both of those classes really shine in the mid to end game (past lvl 50) and Lost ark does give you power passes after reaching a certain point in the story. The powerpass can be used on another character (other than the character that is already at the point of the story) to immediately bring them up to lvl 50.

All in all, i give Lost Ark a solid 8.5/10