Main Story Changes
Girls’ Frontline 2 launched in China with mixed reactions about its story direction. The basic plot stayed the same - you play as the Commander working as a bounty hunter in 2074 Eastern Europe, using the Elmo mobile base after leaving Griffin & Kryuger. The main quest starts when you get hired to deliver a strange container with a girl inside, which leads to chases and mysteries about ancient relics.
But the Chinese version made the Commander feel less important compared to the first game. Instead of focusing on bonds between Commander and T-Dolls, the story made the Commander more like a quest giver who just handed out missions and watched things happen. Early story events highlighted individual doll backstories while the Commander stayed in the background.
Community Response
Chinese players complained that these early events felt too simple and didn’t match the serious military tone of the original game. One major controversy happened with an event featuring Daiyan - players got upset about what they saw as romantic interactions between T-Dolls and male NPCs. This clashed with fan expectations about Commander-T-Doll relationships. Review scores dropped to 5.4/10 on Bilibili by mid-2024.
The complaints came from dialogue and scenes where male NPCs seemed too friendly with T-Dolls, especially when paired with the Commander being sidelined in the story. While some criticism was exaggerated, many fans genuinely felt the Commander’s role and relationships were being ignored.
Storyline Revisions
MICA Team started rewriting content based on player feedback. By the global launch, several major changes were visible. The Daiyan event got completely reworked - instead of a standalone story, it now connects directly to the main plot with stronger Commander involvement. Similar changes happened to other character events, making them tie into the original Girls’ Frontline lore better.
The main campaign also got expanded explanations for why the Commander left G&K, connecting it to political changes after major events from the first game. New 3D cutscenes and animations were added to make story moments more impactful.
Covenant System Development
The Covenant system wasn’t in the original Chinese launch. It got added around July 2024, about seven months later. This system lets players build deeper relationships with T-Dolls through gifts and missions, ending with a special ceremony at max affinity.
The initial Chinese version of this system looked pretty harsh - T-Dolls suspended in scanning equipment with blank expressions while getting neural modifications. Players called it clinical and dystopian rather than romantic like the original game’s Oath system.
There were rumors that the global version softened these animations, but comparing videos shows the visuals stayed mostly the same. However, the dialogue got more romantic undertones - instead of technical language about “neural synchronization,” newer versions include lines like “This mark means I’m yours.”
Controversy Discussion
Some players labeled the Covenant system as “brainwashing” because of how the animations looked. The sci-fi presentation with lasers and neural modifications seemed unsettling compared to the wedding-style ceremony from Girls’ Frontline 1.
Whether this interpretation is accurate depends on perspective. T-Dolls are androids with programmable minds, so technical modifications fit the game’s lore. The original game also changed T-Doll behavior through various systems. But GFL2’s 3D presentation made the process look more invasive than before.
The game’s text doesn’t suggest coercion - dolls agree through affinity building and post-Covenant dialogue shows they made choices. But the visual presentation definitely created controversy among players who found it disturbing.
Current State
Global players get the revised version from launch, with improved story integration and clearer connections to the original game. Recent updates like Aphelion have been praised for returning to the darker, tactical style that made the first game popular.
The changes show how community feedback can influence game development, especially for story-focused games where player attachment to characters matters a lot.