At first glance, Arknights: Endfield may look like just another gacha game. A team of anime-styled characters executes flashy moves in a semi-open world while you explore, level up, and manage your squad.
But that would be a reductive description of Gryphline’s new sci-fi modern fantasy endeavor, and after spending a few hours with Endfield, I was itching for the closed beta to fire up on November 28 so I could dig deeper into the game.
So what makes Endfield different? I’d wager the crisp presentation, unique characters and combat, and the factory system will be what pulls most players in. Presentation-wise, the game looks gorgeous, from the characters and cutscenes to the menus and spells. There’s a deliberate cinematic flair on display that easily arrests your attention.
As an example, after the tutorial, I was given my first mission on Talos-II, the moon where you’ll be spending your time. I don’t recall the last time I was so invested in a mission briefing. While the characters discussed the situation, the screen was filled with maps and graphs, beeps and boops, dynamic camera sweeps, and slick menus popping in and out. It was all classic sci-fi future-screen stuff – flashy, impressive, over the top, and immersive.
And that’s part of Endfield’s goal: a cinematic level of quality across the board to pull you in. This wasn’t the case with the original Arknights, Hypergryph’s tower defense game. Story elements were 2D and text-driven, whereas in Endfield, they’re fully 3D. The transition from 2D to 3D posed challenges, though, especially since Gryphline went back and reworked the story and cutscenes based on player feedback.
“Generally speaking, it was a lot of trial and error,” producer Light Zhong said. “In Endfield, in our earlier versions, we tried experimenting with cutscene delivery, narrative animations during dialogue… eventually we realized we preferred a more cinematic style.
“We’re constantly improving on it.”
The presentation also lends itself well to the characters and combat. Hypergryph’s design philosophy revolves around what they describe as “anime realism.” Yes, they know you’re playing an anime game, but at the same time, they want the characters to look and feel realistic.
“There’s a lot of neat little design ideas in every character,” explained Lead Designer Ryan. “We tried to make anime characters that blend naturally into a realistic environment for immersion.”
In a saturated market, however, it takes a lot to differentiate one character from another, including the archetypes they wield (of which there are Physical, Nature, Electric, Heat, and Cryo in Endfield). So far, there are 24 characters, called Operators, you can build a four-person squad with. While at first glance many might look similar, a second look reveals an exceptional amount of detail. From the textures and layers of the coats and jackets to the personas of the characters themselves, there’s an impressive variety on display in Endfield – something Zhong says they actively worked toward.
“This anime realism style actually gave us the opportunity to go into special character textures that you don’t really see in other gacha games,” said Light Zhong. “We actually included a lot more intricate designs and gadgets and gimmicks and attachments… our character designs, when compared to those of other games, focus more on … looking modern and cool.”
Taking things further, little character moments highlight Operator personalities. Take, for example, Da Pan, an anthropomorphic panda chef. Stylistically, he’s wearing a leather jacket and a wok on his back, but when you first access him in the menu, he puts his aviator glasses on with his chopsticks. The dual-sword-wielding Chen Qianyu, one of the first characters designed for Endfield, is introduced with an over-the-top, superhero-style landing, leaning into her confident and adventurous personality.
Combat itself is a treat, both visually and practically. On the visual side, it’s what you’d expect from a polished anime-style game of this nature – lots of effects, fluid movements and animations, and big skills that feel great to unleash.
The real-time combat feels fairly straightforward at first: hold down a button to perform a combo and toss out a special move or ultimate skill when you can. There are layers to this system, however, that make it easy to pick up but hard to master. First, while many gachas have only one character on screen at a time, Endfield puts all four team Operators on display, which enhances the feeling that you’re rolling with your squad, taking on the world.
Second, because all the characters are on screen, it makes executing combos far more enjoyable. After you meet certain requirements in combat, you’re prompted to perform a combo with a team member – during which they dash in, time slows briefly, and the camera zooms in slightly to enhance the focus and impact. This little touch leans further into that cinematic feel of the game, like you just pulled off something worth noticing. The slowdown effect on combos is also a nice, albeit brief, reprieve as you focus on what to do next.
And lastly – and here’s where the layers start stacking up – skills and combos apply status effects that can ramp up your damage if used correctly. For example, stacking the vulnerable status, rather than using a skill to consume it on the first stack, amps up the damage significantly. Finding the best path to applying the variety of status effects for optimal damage will mean experimenting with your skill trees, gear, and squad composition, further deepening the combat experience.
“[It provides] players with a lot of strategy options, maneuvers, and moves that they can try,” said Ryan.
Factories are the last major selling point for Endfield, something unique to the gacha genre. Early on in the game, you unlock the opportunity to set up a factory. As you explore the world of Talos-II, you gather resources that can be converted into items and gear at your factory (provided you have the right equipment).
This seems fairly straightforward, but, like combat, it has a fair amount of depth. Your AIC (Automated Industry Complex) is your base of operations where you automate production. You lay down drilling equipment, belt lines, processing centers, and assembly centers to carve out your own little industry. Furthermore, players can create and share blueprints of their production lines, allowing newer players to catch up quickly without having to do too much heavy lifting.
“Through factory and base building, we can initiate some active social behaviors between the players,” said Ryan. “It allows players to have more involvement.”
The goal, Ryan says, is to have players continue engaging with Endfield through exploration and base building long after they’ve completed the story.
Overall, I was very impressed with my time in Endfield. The combat felt fast and fluid, the characters felt unique, the presentation was top-notch, and the world was fun to explore. I’m looking forward to jumping back in during the November beta.
