Gacha games carved out their corner of the industry years ago and have only grown in popularity. Among them, Arknights stood out thanks to its easy-to-pick-up nature and engaging narrative, gathering the backing of countless fans.
Thanks to those fans’ support and Arknights success, a full-fledged spinoff has released: Arknights Endfield. Endfield’s scope is massively expanded, with a full world to freely explore and plenty of spins to the standard Gacha formula.
How does Arknights Endfield stand on its own? Is it the Gacha for you? Let’s take our first steps onto Talos-II and find out.
Grand Scale and Detailed Focus
Right from the start, Endfield showcases its grandiose scale. The first moments of gameplay are spent following the spectral image of a woman as memories of your past life come flooding back. You hear about the lives you’ve saved, the change you sparked, as massive cannons appear from nothing to smite your foes.
Moments later, a strange girl summons a towering, headless figure ran through by a dozen swords. It’s a hell of a tutorial, and a great taste of just how big all of Arknights Endfield wants to be.
The larger-than-life presentation doesn’t stop the game from adding detail to the everyday world. Towns and settlements are chock full of characters, unique sights to see, and little reasons to come back.
Right from the start, Endfield showcases its grandiose scale.
The game itself is beautiful, a massive step up from the original Arknight’s presentation, which was charming but undeniably simple. Characters maintain a charming anime style while harboring remarkable detail, and the world of Talos-II is downright incredible to take in.
Factories and Fisticuffs
Endfield’s selling point, aside from being a follow-up to Arknights, is its intriguing facility management system. A large chunk of Endfield’s focus is on the industrialization of a hostile world, and the ability to hot swap between combat and construction makes you look at every area twice.
Players can unlock and construct a wide range of facilities while progressing through the game, with unlocks barred behind exploration. Facilities are split into multiple trees, though most focus on the acquisition and refining of resources used for other systems.
This is where Endfield really tries to make its own mark by forcing players to put plenty of effort into the workflow of their bases. Luckily, the game provides mountains of optional tutorials to ease the shift into industry.
Ironically, the depth of the industry systems makes the familiar combat feel like a bit of a palate cleanser. Fights play out similarly to other action RPG Gacha, shuffling between a team of units to fulfill different conditions for massive damage.
What is unique is Endfield’s focus on debuffs. Not only is damage split between a multitude of different elements, but each element, even physical damage, boasts multiple potential debuffs. Characters play off these debuffs well, getting extra attacks, all different kinds of payoff.
Ironically, the depth of the industry systems makes the familiar combat feel like a bit of a palate cleanser.
Some of the most fun the game offers is in team-building. Uniquely, the entire team takes part in combat at all times, with swapping simply switching the unit under player control. Every unit has an active skill, a ‘Combo Skill’ and an Ultimate.
Combo Skills activate under different conditions specific to each character. Some are as easy as completing a basic combo, while others require plenty of setup for a much higher reward. It’s a fun system to base teams around, and it keeps the combat rewarding while grinding.
Honing in on Character
Arknights Endfield’s is very character-focused, and the stories so far really rely on your own attachment to the cast. The Endministrator, the game’s MC, is constantly reminded of their oh-so noble, mysterious past in a way that never really hits.
Alternatively, most of the cast is fun to be around, and the wide range of personalities and backgrounds keeps them interesting. A few even have full-on narrative quests, an exciting prospect that gives a serious focus to their struggles and motivations.
The designs stick to Arknight’s special blend of street-wear and sci-fi, a fun departure from the fantasy focus of most Gacha. The overall narrative doesn’t do anything wild, but Arknights fans are sure to appreciate the callbacks and through-lines to the original. The characters will make or break your investment in the narrative, even if just to see your favorites around a bit longer.
Typical Gacha Trappings
The weakest parts of Endfield are, ironically, the systems that define it the most. Despite all the beautiful world design, fun characters, and interesting factory management, every part of the game wraps back around to pulling, grinding, and amassing currency.
At every turn, you’re reminded why you’re actually here, pounded by quest rewards and event popups and endless notifications. It’s a mark every Gacha carries, and Endfield doesn’t even try to work around it.
Truly getting a character fully kitted is a maddening process of grinding resources, pulling the right weapon for the character, tiering up their skills, and, worst of all, needing 6 copies of a character to max them out. It can become all too easy to crumble to the temptation to drop money.
It’s undeniable that making progress in maxing out a character can be satisfying, but needing to do so for every single one, a minimum of four for a full team, drains patience like nothing else. It’s aggravating because Endfield, as a game, is a great showcase of what Gacha can be when they have a budget and mountains of passion.
Despite all the beautiful world design, fun characters, and interesting factory management, every part of the game wraps back around to pulling, grinding, and amassing currency.
That’s where I stand with Arknights Endfield, genuinely enjoying most of my time with it, but dreading what keeping up with the game’s pinnacle content is going to ask of me. I’m very excited to keep up with Endfield, if only to see what else will threaten the colonists of Talos-II.
Arknights Endfield is a genuinely exciting showing from Hypergryph, building off of their original hit with a massively widened scope. Engaging combat, beautiful locales, and the satisfaction of building a working facility clash with the same sins every Gacha has to commit to keep themselves profitable. If you can appreciate the gradual satisfaction of grinding or watching a factory work, Endfield might just be your newest obsession.
The Good
- Stellar world design
- Engaging, satisfying combat loop
- Interesting focus on industry and base building
- Fun characters, both in design and personality
The Bad
- The infamous Gacha grind
- The main narrative doesn't have a super strong hook
