I love making comparisons. Especially if we're talking games which have taken heavy inspiration from something else. It's important to see how a game holds up in comparison to something you could be playing instead. In the case of Tower of Fantasy, it's often called a Genshin clone, and I can definitely see where the comparison is coming from. That said, there are still significant differences in the two, and not just in terms of quality or thematic.
Most importantly, Tower of Fantasy is advertised as an MMO. It's of course one of those "modern MMOs", where the world is shared, but not cooperative nor competitive. "Raid" and "Dungeon" equivalents are instanced content, accessible via a random matchmaking system (because the party finder is full of people who will not let you in because all parties are public by default, including those who've gone AFK or whatever), and there are world bosses, but you won't join them by stumbling upon a fight while running around. No, you will very delibarately join them by observing the spam in global chat, and then teleporting to a party leader. It's not technically instanced content, but it might as well be.
So, if you're looking for an MMO, you won't find it here, although if you just want cooperative (or, heavens forbid, competitive) gameplay, then Tower of Fantasy does basically require you to interact with other players.
I'll just briefly mention, that yes, PvP exists, and there are leaderboards for PvE content, and yes, this part of the game is pay-to-win. The rewards aren't massive, and this content isn't necessary, but if you're competitive, and hate losing to someone just because they paid money, this might be a big red flag for you.
The combat is similarly action-based. Your "party" consists of three weapons, not characters, each having a different attack pattern, skill, and a discharge ability, which triggers if your energy is full and you switch to that weapon. The similarities to Genshin's combat are definitely noticeable, but Tower of Fantasy puts more emphasis on regular attacks, with almost every character (weapon) having a different move set, as well as the existance of aerial attacks, dodge attacks, and some more.
The combat is just as fluid, and might even look flashier than Genshin's, but it's missing the important detail of elemental reactions. There are also very few opportunities for buffing yourself with one weapon, then switching to another. This severely limits your desire to switch between weapons, or make optimal combinations of them, rather than just picking the 3 best ones, and maybe even having one as a stat stick you don't use. As combat is a central part of these games, I think this makes it all a lot more boring.
Genshin's artifact system is split into two systems here. There are matrices which equip to weapons in groups of 4 and have 2, 3, and 4-piece set effects. These have fixed stats, so two of the same matrix are identical. And then there is equipment, which only has rarity and a random combination of stats, so once you get an optimal SSR equipment, you're set.
You also have relics, which are kind of like reusable items that can deal damage or apply some CC or stuff like that. I found that system clumsy and forgot to use it in combat, though it does also have things like a hoverboard and a jetpack / glider, because of course we need the same climbing and gliding mechanics.
Note how I said your party consists of 3 weapons, not characters. The game definitely advertises its anime girls to you, but you really only get their weapon, as well as their skin you can put on. So if you were hoping to switch between multiple lovely characters, then that visual pleasure is deprived from you. You can, however, create your own perfect girl (or boy), and play as them, so maybe it's not all bad.
Oh, and on the topic of visual pleasure, I find the graphics and animations a significant step down from Genshin's level of quality.
And finally, what about the gacha / progression mechanics? Well, it's still story + exploration + dailies + weeklies, but Tower of Fantasy is a bit more generous with how much it gives you. They have deliberately tweaked their numbers to appear as if everything is just a little more cost-efficient than in Genshin. A pull is 150, not 160. A subscription gives you 100 a day, not 90. Pity is 80, not 90, and base probability is 0.75%, not 0.6%. (Although there is no soft pity, so the reality isn't as nice as they make it seem.) Etc... Sadly, there is not a 1-to-1 correlation between ToF's SSRs, and Genshin's 5*s. Each extra SSR duplicate you get gives you a massive boost, and it feels much more necessary to max out your SSRs, in comparison to Genshin, where's the benefits of duplicates are lesser.
I also found it a lot more annoying to do all your daily stuff. ToF wants more of your attention for a relatively lesser payoff. It also keeps pestering you to buy their battle pass, buy your limited first-time-buy packs, and even event gacha systems where you only get a taste of it, and then have to either spend premium currency or just not participate. It just leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
It's been a long post, but then again, it's a large game, and I put over 50 hours into it already. I went to play it due to a momentary content dip in Genshin (which I'm sure they planned their release around), but from the combat, to the story, to the visuals... It just feels too much like Genshin, while clearly being inferior. As of the time of writing, Sumeru just came out in Genshin, so I didn't have anything left keeping me playing Tower of Fantasy. If you're reading this further in the future, I'm rather certain there is even less of a reason to play it over Genshin. It took a week for Genshin's popularity to peak, and it stabilized at 1/3 of the peak after a month. (This is an insanely high number to go stable at, to clarify.) Meanwhile, Tower of Fantasy has been dropping in popularity since launch, losing half in the first week, and another half in the second. Who knows where it will end up, but I don't see it having much longevity. My prediction is that it will be effectively dead in a matter of months. Regardless, I wouldn't recommend it.
