i will say it might not be terrible for NEW players since your world level is low and you can get through any content that is avaliable, but it is really bad for RETURNING players. i jumped back in when Firefly came out after not playing for 6 months because i loved Sam's design. i have max world level, but cant get all of my Firefly's traces due to materials being locked behind the story. It makes her basically useless in the content im trying to play through, so i can't use the character that i started playing again for.

there are a few issues with hsr that are just bad overall, such as leveling/trace mats being locked behind story content and relics being a massive knowledge check. Other than that, most of the other issues are either preference based or just a general issue with not knowing how to build characters, teams, or not getting the needed relics. building break acheron with ruan mei, tingyun and lynx would be like making a strength build in elden ring and then complaining that magic damage sucks. On the other hand, boothill/ruan mei/xueyi/sustain can do reasonable well if you know how to use the team. Turn based: preference. there are quite a few people who actually play hsr specifically for it being turn based and don't play wuwa or genshin because either they are bad at action games or they don't have the time for all of the exploration or grinding that's needed to progress in those games. Meta focus: even in bad moc's, you can use disadvantaged characters as long as you plan well and have the right relics. conversely, a bad firefly team is still not going to clear moc 12. there is a measure of expression in team building where people find unique ways to build teams, but it is true that bad characters or team building will only result in misery. I know a few people who just play the story and other casual modes while ignoring moc and pf because they just can't be bothered. I think it's easy to be so focused on what some people will dislike about a game while ignoring what people really love about a game. Critique is fine, but sometimes one person's bad game is another's favorite. I'm optimistic about star rail because the devs work on improving the game over time. My primary concern for the game atm is how hard it is to get mats if you aren't staying current in the story