Arknights: Endfield Review [First Impressions] | Looking Quite Good

updated_at: November 29, 2024 04:59

published_at: October 26, 2023 05:15

Arknights: Endfield
Release Date	Gameplay & Story	Pre-Register & Pre-Order	Review

Everything We Know About Arknights: Endfield

Arknights: Endfield Plot

Arknights takes place on the hostile planet of Talos-II. As the Endministrator, a mysterious figure with significant authority over Endfield Industries, you are tasked with leading their efforts to explore the planet, fight against hostile endemic monsters and rival organizations, and establish outposts to expand operational territories.

Monsters known as the Aggeloi roam the lands and lurk in the shadows while a corruption called the Blight spreads across the land. Its narrative focuses on themes of survival, exploration, and mystery in the perilous planet of Talos-II.

Arknights: Endfield Gameplay

Arknights: Endfield is a real-time action RPG experience with base-building and resource management elements. Set on Talos-II, players navigate a semi-open world filled with aggressive monsters and hostile factions. Its combat uses real-time tactical mechanics such as precision skill aiming, with teams of up to four characters being able to fight simultaneously.

A major highlight of the game and serves as its unique selling point is the base-building system, which is seamlessly tied to its exploration and resource-farming systems. Players can construct facilities like relay towers and refineries to expand operations and automate tasks. The system also utilizes tech trees, allowing players to unlock advanced upgrades and enable efficient layouts.

Arknights: Endfield Release Date

Arknights: Endfield has not announced a release date yet. However, it was one of the games approved by China’s NPPA in August 2024. This approval gives the game twelve months to release from that date, setting the latest possible release date in August or September 2025.

Arknights: Endfield Review [First Impressions]

Looking Quite Good

Before we start, I’d like to mention that this is a first impressions article based on the available trailers and gameplay videos. That said—

I’ve been a massive fan of Arknights lore for quite some time. Hypergryph has crafted a fully functioning, breathing world on Terra where politics, economy, culture, and race intertwine with impressive complexity. Their storytelling, delivered in a poetic—if occasionally overly verbose—style (trust me, it gets really bad sometimes), always manages to stir the heart of an amateur author like me. It’s amazing how such an intricately built world exists in what some might call as "just" a mobile game.

The original Arknights didn’t just excel in its story, either. It had fantastic tower defense gameplay, too. And with the genre shift to action RPG for the spin-off, the gameplay still looks to have retained much of its strategic depth (even if it's also becoming less strategic and more tactical).

With my deep appreciation for the original Arknights lore and gameplay, I naturally had high expectations when the next title was announced over a year ago, even though it was just going to be a spin-off. Thankfully, those expectations seem like they’ll be met. The teaser trailer and all of their following promotional videos looked breathtaking, showing off the lore with an engaging narrative and some intriguing scenes that left me eager for more.

But, regrettably, while the gameplay trailer’s overall aesthetic is absolutely stunning, especially the character menus and those custom animations for submenu sections, the combat itself doesn’t look all that exciting. At least, not visually.

Here’s hoping they stick to their disclaimer that the trailer doesn’t reflect the final product and work to make the combat as visually engaging as the rest of the game.