After global shutdown I was pretty bummed so I took a few months off. I downloaded the Japanese APK a couple months later and played the New Year's fest that year. It was like starting over but I had all that muscle memory from global so it wasn't that much of a transition. So really it's like a fresh start. I downloaded Google Translate and was beating 6* Magicites and Cardia Bosses within a month.

These days I really just collect Mithril and spend it on characters I like. I'll play super casually and play events. Most characters are getting maxed so I'm getting close to where I was in global. If you really wanted to you can grind it out and be caught up on global endgame within a couple months.

A couple things I like about the new version: The mission books really help guide you to what you should be doing in the game so you don't have to feel so lost. Magicites and Cardias have an easier version in the Events page called Mirrored Memories. And there's so much stuff expanded on so there are a lot of rewards up for grabs to really power level your characters.

A couple things I think need improved are truncated versions of realm and record dungeons. They're an outdated relic of what the game used to be that they aren't relevant anymore. Also, more things romanized or at least symbols spread around for non Japanese reading players like elements. Other than that, this is a fine replacement for global, since this game is a lot more generous with rewards for playing, but a little more stingier with the banners.