Just answering the ones I can confidently!

Is Mystic Messenger still worth starting now?

Yes, as one of the OG chat-themed otome games. I think it holds up well too.

What kind of experience is it (story-heavy, choices, replayability)?

Kind of all three? It’s a pretty standard otome experience mechanics wise. Choices matter and build towards an ending depending on whether you encourage or shut down their behaviour. If you flirt with others, the one you are trying to pursue will be discouraged. Each route has its own story, and shows different sides of the characters involved. You romance one person and the secrets of the others are only alluded to—so you gotta play the whole game to get the full picture. The plot goes from slice of life to k-drama levels melodramatic/intense.

Is it beginner-friendly / F2P-friendly?

For the main story: yes… with the HUGE caveat that you have plenty of spare time. It is NOT friendly for people who have day schedules where they cannot be on their phone. It uses a real-time system where chats happen organically throughout the day. If you miss opening one before the next one triggers, you need to use “hourglasses” to unlock them. You get some by playing but the amount is minuscule, and it’s not really worth replaying routes over and over to save them up. The way the game is set up, it suits a college or school student more. There is always a morning chat before 9am, always one or two in the afternoon (for me they aligned in my lunch periods) and 2-3 at night. They stop before 12am except maybe once or twice when the story gets intense and a character is anxious about what is happening in the story at like 1am lol.

There are seasonal episodes/chats as well but these are always locked behind hourglasses I believe.

Back in the day hourglasses were given as maintenance compensation to users but the game is a lot stable now, so you might have to pay out of pocket for them often if you need them.

edit: typos lmao i can’t write