| Arknights | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | Pre-Register & Pre-Order | Review |
| Release Date | |
|---|---|
| January 16, 2020 (Mobile) More Details |
|
| Genre | |
| Tower Defense, RPG | |
| Platforms | Price (MSRP) |
  |
Free |
| Developer | Publisher |
| Hypergryph, Studio Montagne | Yostar |
| Number of Players | Age Rating |
| 1 | T |
| Time to Finish | Cross Platform Play |
| 1h (Dailies) | No |
| Official Website | Official Website for Arknights |
Arknights Overview
Arknights is a tower defense game developed by Hypergryph that blends strategic gameplay with a lore-rich narrative. It is set in a dystopian and post-apocalyptic world plagued by the mysterious disease Oripathy caused by excessive exposure to the highly-prized mineral Originium.
The game follows the operations of Rhodes Island, a pharmaceutical and paramilitary organization. There, players assume the role of the Doctor, the organization's trump card with peerless commanding ability and a breadth of knowledge in all subject matters. He works closely with Amiya, Rhodes Island’s young leader, who admires him to the point where she is willing to sacrifice herself when he's in danger. Yet despite the Doctor’s critical role in combat strategy, Amiya holds a higher position within the organization, and their dynamic forms one of the emotional core of the game's main story.
Arknights' gameplay involves deploying a roster of Operators, each with unique skills and roles, to defend against waves of enemies trying to make their way to specific points on the map. Success depends on careful resource management, understanding enemy patterns, and synergizing Operators' abilities. The game's difficulty scales with challenges and demand creative problem-solving, rewarding players who experiment with different team compositions and tactics. Arknights also stands out for its detailed world-building, featuring a wide array of characters with compelling backstories and a narrative that intertwines personal struggles with the larger conflict of survival and hope. Regular updates introduce new Operators, events, and game modes.
Hypergryph is also expanding the Arknights franchise with Arknights: Endfield, a real-time action RPG spin-off that explores a new gameplay style and an entirely different planet. Arknights: Endfield also features operators from their tower defense predecessor, such as Angelina from Rhodes Island.
Arknights Gameplay
Arknights is a tower defense game that emphasizes strategic planning and resource management. Players deploy a team of Operators, each with unique abilities and roles, to defend against waves of enemies on diverse, grid-based maps. Success requires careful planning, placement, and timing, as well as adapting to each mission's unique challenges.
Operators are divided into classes such as Defenders, Snipers, and Medics, each fulfilling specific combat roles. Players can enhance and promote Operators to unlock new abilities and increase their effectiveness in battle. These operators also possess active skills which must be triggered by the player manually. This forces players to experiment with team compositions to overcome increasingly difficult stages.
A gacha system is used to recruit Operators of various rarities, with higher-rarity characters offering more specialized skills and higher stats. Resources collected through gameplay and in-game purchases allow players to upgrade and customize their Operators for optimal performance.
Arknights Reviews
One of the Greatest Gacha Games Ever Made
GameGrin rated Arknights a 9/10, praising its high-quality presentation, engaging gameplay, and unique blend of tower defense and gacha mechanics. They highlighted the game's forgiving nature for free-to-play players, noting that even high-end content like Contingency Contract is accessible with strategy and lower-rarity units. They also commended its fair monetization and captivating world-building, making it one of the most outstanding gacha games on the market.
Meanwhile, Hardcore Droid emphasized the strategic depth and rewarding progression of Arknights, with a focus on how well its tower defense mechanics are combined with RPG elements. While noting its stamina system limiting players to keep playing the game, they appreciated its challenging content and the variety it offers to both casual and dedicated players. At the end of their review, they gave Arknights an outstanding score of 4.5/5.0.
Lastly, Blue Moon Game gave Arknights a glowing review and a score of 4 stars out of 5 for its innovative approach to the tower defense genre, blending sci-fi themes and intricate mechanics. They acknowledged the criticisms about Arknights’ stamina system, potentially leading to a soft paywall for players, but maintained that its engaging story, varied gameplay, and strategic depth outweigh these drawbacks by a mile.
Arknights Announcement Trailer
Arknights Concept Trailer
Arknights Trivia
⚫︎ Arknights and its spin-off, Arknights: Endfield, both feature a similar dynamic between their protagonists and their partners, where the former holds significant influence despite the latter's higher official rank.
⚫︎ Arknights' developer Hypergryph is often described as a music studio pretending to be a game developer due to Arknights' amazing tracks.
⚫︎ The game's title is a combination of Ark,
which is what the landship Rhodes Island is as it cuts through the wastelands of Terra, and Knights,
referring to their role as protectors.
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