Arknights Endfield First Impressions

[@ilyasykatsuya]

Combat could definitely be better, it feels like skill cooldown waiting simulator for me.

[@ThaDude]

You can control 4 characters so micromanaging them would be the difficulty. Battle formation and AI commands can make it interesting.

[@TrollBishbaalkin]

​@@ThaDude i wish we do get battle formations, the teleport on skill will practically kill the tank role on this game.

[@Ak4set]

If they are going to continue with this combat i really hope they pull something none of us were expecting like enemy or terrain gimmicks. If not then they have to dismantle and overhaul the entire system which i dont think theyll make the effort to do so

[@zetaxenos8888]

​@@TrollBishbaalkin where did you get that conclusion bruh 🗿

[@TrollBishbaalkin]

@@zetaxenos8888 tank job is to tank attacks, if taunting exist then its fine, but if not, telegraphed attacks are going to be a problem. Having a weak def caster using a skill and her being teleported in front of the enemy because you just used a melee character is weird. Auto attacks could be a problem if the enemies prioritize attacking anyone near, not specifically melee character/defender class operators.

[@DarkfrostEN]

They have a lot of time to improve and polished the game, personally i rather have them take their time to make it good

[@MrBlackNorton]

The endfield is still aiming for multiplatform which includes mobile, and its graphic settings is probably bottlenecked by mobile hardware, maybe in later build it can offer pc side graphic upgrade.

[@Eckogen]

I hope the PC side gets more love.

[@SoulWhiteAngel]

And dont forget it has to cater to ps5 too

[@AzlanWake]

Personally, it feels like the gameplay lacks the depth and strategy of OG AK, classes don't feel special or distinct unlike in AK. I also don't like how you can't command your units in battle, letting the AI decide feels like your role as Administrator feels like a name template.

[@srajo7211]

They Will definitely add more class later, because in Beta og ak only have 3 class too and look how many class and sub-class we have now

[@AzlanWake]

@@srajo7211 I'm basing my opinion on actual gameplay and footage, what your saying is all speculative unless you have actually have leaks and information about what the content is on launch.

[@srajo7211]

@@AzlanWake yes i only speculating like you said

[@mindorykim]

As for combat, you seem right, but I think the whole gimmick of attacks hitting no matter what thing is inspired by the battle system of Xenoblade Chronicles. Xenoblade's battle system worked pretty similarly to this, a position-based combat (in terms of specific attack effects landing) with a party of four, with enemies targeting specific allies for attacks that hit no matter your location as long as you are within a certain target range. I think it definitely works with Xenoblade, but I am not so sure about Endfield. To mitigate this issue, Xenoblade added features like shields to block major attacks and dodge buffs to avoid getting hit, and I hope if they decide to keep this quirk, they add something similar. So far, it seems like this battle system can go stale fast, as it seems to be lacking in some major factors that make Xenoblade's battle system, which is probably taking inspiration from, work. I'm not so confident in this opinion though mainly because I've never seen significant gameplay footage other than this video and a small amount more. As a huge fan of Arknights, I am looking forward to this game's eventual release and what it has in store for us. It's because of this love that I hope they take their time to polish this game until it's ready for release.

[@idoltrash2353]

It feels quite different to xenoblade. I appreciate he only spent a minute on it but the combat section of this review is pretty shallow and he spends half that talking about how you can't dodge normal attacks, yet most hard hitting enemy skills are telegraphed to an area - which you can dodge. Normal attacks on your end however, can be a good tool so you likely don't want to auto them. Evywenna crit build can do some serious damage just with her normal strikes.

[@Eckogen]

@@idoltrash2353 5:35 is when I show off how attacks auto lock.

[@idoltrash2353]

@@Eckogen Yep enemy auto attacks lock, but what I meant was the enemy skills that are telegraphed with a red area. The way it felt to me like it was intended to work is that you pull aggro with a defender to eat normal attacks up and then either push through with support skills in longer fights or wrap things up quick enough that you can just heal after the fight with the many resources AIC gives you to do so. Your content is usually pretty decent bro but it feels here like you didn't fully understand or experiment with the systems on offer and then call the developers lazy over a feature that feels like it works as intended.

[@Eckogen]

@@idoltrash2353 You'd be surprised on how quickly HP drops from even regular attacks. Stats have a huge impact in this game.

[@idoltrash2353]

@@Eckogen I have access to the alpha build too. As long as i've been sensible with positioning (not teleporting casters into melee range) I've not had a problem absorbing normal attacks with ember. I think the problem you're running into is the steep level curve due to cramming so much level progression content into the early game. Def pierce scales with the relative difference between levels and it's really not a game that wants you to be tackling content under-levelled.

[@wanstarz]

Ecko using NASA space pc and still got some fps drop....my god.

[@VCE4]

Mostly agree with everything you said except of "game for PC" part. The fact that it is going to be a mobile game explains a lot of choices made, especially regarding combat system and it's simplicity. Adding too many buttons means controls on phone would be a hassle. However I will agree that have no ability to avoid taking damage is kinda sucks. There is essentially no tactical options in combat. And the only "strategical" approach to combat is to just acquire more stats and make sure that your build makes sense. All this together makes Endfield combat even less engaging than combat in Genshin, which is a damn shame. Can only stockpile loads of copium in this regard, hoping that they will improve combat somehow in release build.

[@dzintars8034]

Yeah genshin is peak in simple but more complex combat as you dive in further, so far, at least from the gameplay I've seen this game is just waiting for skill cooldowns, there's nothing you can do aside from that, in genshin you can dodge attacks, set up positioning or switch to other characters to set up reactions and use their skills so cooldowns are never something to worry about. Also the fact that in endfield you appearantly can't beat anything unless you're at their level is bullshit and I pray it isn't the case for the release. In genshin if you have a basic understanding of some mechanics you can solo anything that's a hundred levels above you and it's why I love the combat in the game. The way to fix it is giving the player more freedom I guess, In normal arknights it's also basically a skill cooldown simulator, but when you activate a skill at the right time and have good strategy and positioning you can overcome something you couldn't in autopilot mode at a dire moment, having guaranteed damage on you and gameplay that doesn't encourage strategy is a massive dissapointment from endfield at least for now.

[@VCE4]

@@dzintars8034 from my perspective combat in Genshin is also primarily based on numbers rather than player's skill. Yes, technically it is possible to fight while underleveled, but it is so painfully slow, that I don't like it. In original Arknights stalling doesn't feels drugged out so much and there are generally more tools and tactics in your sleeve. Beating out stages while underleveled feels rewarding. But definitely can't say about Endfield. As of now, in tech build you can't even engage in combat if underleveled, cause there are no stalling options.

[@dzintars8034]

@@VCE4 Maybe my perspective is biased but I feel like it's more skill based in genshin, by using I frames on ults and dodges, using reactions correctly is one of the most satisfying things I've had in any gacha game combat and it's why so many people praise it's combat system. Numbers are a part of it yes like all games in existence, but there are always limitless ways to overcome the gap and beating anything because it's more sandbox-esque. And having the option of beating the story bosses without even leveling up or equipping a single artifact is a fantastic feature. OG arknights is more numbers based than genshin in my opinion, there are enemies and stages you just can't beat without certain operators at certain levels and spending weeks or months building up your teams so i guess i wouldn't say endfield is too different in this aspect from what I've seen. I just hope they listen and polish the game more, I don't really want this game to copy genshin because it is its own thing, but having more strategy in a game based on a strategy game would be great.

[@VCE4]

@@dzintars8034 guess we just have different perspectives.

[@pdrpm8269]

Hoping that they will improve it on release is not copium, the game is not close to releasing since if it is still in alpha, so they have a lot time to improve it

[@ooczzy]

My main issue with it is despite being intended for pc you can clearly tell theyre designing it for mobile. The settings, the constricted corridor maps despite being supposedly a sandbox base simulator. I liked a lot of it so far, but the potential is cut because they want to make this available for phones

[@Milessss]

I mean that didn’t stop Genshin from becoming what it is

[@Eckogen]

Mobile market dominates gaming so makes sense they would go for it from a business perspective. Hope they don't let money get in the way of a good game.

[@draconicalz8207]

@@Eckogen While I do hope for this with 100% of my heart, it's a little more than hopeful to think that a gacha game wouldn't prioritize money over being a 'good game'. If people will play and spend that's good enough for them

[@reyxo4657]

The thing with mmo Is that you have ~20+ skills Making so you are not bored/always have something to do Cause you'll always have a skill off cd If they want to take the mmo/tactical route Just adding a taunt won't be enough They'll need to have *at least* 3 skills per character (and separate the Skill & Ult button, I swear...) In top of adding more controls/commands over the allies/IA And polishing the elemental reactions/orbs & characters passives Cause as it is rn The game is a "real time 3D tactical RPG" But without any depth or "tactical" element in it No skill expression, no real strategy making it objectively boring and uninteresting Can't believe some people are defending it Sure, People have the right to want the game to not become an action game because it would be "a GeNsHiN cOpY" (as if Genshin had pioneered action games...) But please, acknowledge at least that the gameplay sorely lacks depth and needs significant changes/improvements, whether it's the MMO/tactical or action route And b2w, if people could get Genshin out of their heads, taking the action route would also be entirely feasible and fitting for this game, in addition to attracting many more players It would be the easier way sure, but I rather prefer a easy way than *no way at all* Cause honestly, unless they are nailing it with huge changes in the tactical route by adding everything I said as a minimum Especially the "more skills" part (I highly doubt they will do it), because you can't make a real-time tactical game if you have only a few options That would be a hit or miss for me

[@melchizedekpsj]

Thanks a lot for the honest evaluation. I do hope it will improve as it goes into its next phase of development.

[@Hervoo]

I do hope to see some Lappland looking characters or even reference

[@stuntkid1870]

What's with lappland why everyone so obsessed with her, there are 100's of the other operators.

[@Serxne_]

@@stuntkid1870 It's a lot of people's first 5* pull, she's a menace, her lore is pretty wild (like her personality), and she holds long enough in Arknights that she is an essential unit for many with her silence (chapter 6's ice spiders can be silenced and not explode, which save many ops from becoming opsicles, which makes a huge different in 6-15 against Frostnova).

[@Hervoo]

@@stuntkid1870 she's just so cute

[@Another_Dusk]

best ship

[@signer0001]

@@stuntkid1870 best girl, expecially with Il siracusano event showing off her personality

[@sinsiliuxs120]

I really hope you will take the time to share your conclusions with the devs. You'd be doing everyone a huge favor, including yourself, by potentially improving the game before it's done cooking. And it's a long ways off if the version number and it being a tech alpha is anything to go by, so there's a high likelihood that most of your feedback will have a big impact on the rest of the development.

[@bloodust7356]

About taking every auto attacks i think it's because it's meant to be played like a mmorpg like FF14 or WoW And i guess they will propably add defender operators so you will have to switch to them to soak damages.

[@flamefox6236]

Ember is a defender 2:24

[@dereturd]

There are defenders in the game, the problem is that the aggro system is unclear on how it works thus the wrong operator can get targeted and you'll have to use a healing item that you weren't supposed to.

[@mcbill7352]

man i will be so sad to say goodbye to the original arknights cast

[@MiseryRG]

I sadly can't comment as I was unaccepted for the beta. But from the footage I've seen everywhere I'm still on the fence about Endfield. So far the only reason I'm interested is because of the connection to Arknights. Arknights has become my no. 1 game because of its gameplay and Endfield is a huge departure from that. I don't know if the base building/management + exploration aspect will entice me and keep me hooked once the initial awe wears off. That is what Arknights has done well for me. Enticed me and kept me hooked long after I started playing. The combat in Endfield looks very simplistic, which isn't bad per se; But so far I haven't seen it reach the depths of Arknights mechanics in terms of strategy needed. It feels like you're spamming skills until you get an ult to throw into the mix. If gear increases stats and, as you said, gatekeeps you if you are under-leveled, that further exacerbates the combat. Arknights lets you tackle an insane amount of content with just 3 and 4 stars which aren't the strongest units in the game. Endfield should do the same to allow players to at least progress. Graphics are fine, still has that AK feel to it, though I hope PC does get a bit more options in terms of settings management. 60 fps hard cap on PC gaming in 2024 feels like it should be illegal... Any crashes at all during the beta? Helps to identify how polished it already is...

[@Aizen2468]

I dont know, just...the plain look of the Arknights ui always kinda felt so....sterile and bland to me. I might be alone in that, but the menus and uis just always looked so bleh for me. Even if they are easy to navigate. The characters look neat though. As for the gameplay, it clearly needs work. The question is, how much can they fine tune this from what it is now to where it needs to be, in the time they have left before launch? Ive heard the same arguments for the likes of Zenless Zone Zero, where people are finding it boring and the gameplay modes bad, but people defending it saying "its still in production!" But like...yeah, it is. But not for much longer, and how much can they really fix before release? Its not like they can completely overhaul it, in the time frame theyve set for themselves. Same question here. Does this gameplay feel engaging enough, from a game that will CLEARLY be requiring you to play it dayly to keep up, for you to want to spend every day playing it? Competing with other mobile or online gacha games that might be taking your time already? Does it compete and pull your attention enough, for you to potentially replace one of those games from your busy day? To me, i dont think its there yet. And im not sure they can get there in the time frame theyve set for themselves. Hard to say though, as im honestly not sure what they can add in a small time frame to spruce this up to a 9 or 10 outta 10. Because anything less than that, and its hard for it to compete with some real super giant gacha games out there right now, that demand a lot of your time.

[@Aizen2468]

For me, some suggestions I'd have for the developers would be this, even if they sound vain, you'd be shocked how much this can attract new players: 1) Spruce up the combat effects and camera angles. The zoomed out features and static nature of the camera doesn't let you appreciate the character models very well. For most gacha games, it's the character models that draw people in to start looking, while the gameplay gets them to stick around. But if your camera is so zoomed out that I can't even look at and enjoy this, probably VERY expensive character I drew for, then I don't actually feel much joy or happiness in owning the character. Might sound silly, but it's shockingly true. People WANT to look at the characters they drew for. And this camera just ain't doing the characters justice. Get some zoom ins, maybe even some dynamic cinematic shots for certain skills. Get fancy with that camera, and close in a bit if you can, without hampering the gameplay. 2) add some better effects. Make it flashier, brighter and more dynamic. Have lighting effects that really make attacks and abilities pop on screen. Mix that with the camera angles and zoom ins to really make the character feel flashy, and you'll draw more eyes to your game. As of now, the effects look unbearably plain compared to many other gacha games on the market. I know these two suggestions sound very vain, and a lot of people are gonna say "I'm gameplay first! Graphics second!" But, again, you'd be shocked at how much having a dynamic camera and shinier effects make a game draw more eyes and attention to it. The flashiness and attractiveness of a character (either from $xx appeal, or from coolness factor) making people wanna check it out on a whim. Versus very plain boring looks to a game, making a person not even give the game a glance, even if your gameplay is good. So, I'd suggest camera angles being more zoomed in and dynamic. And making those abilities flashier. Show those characters off, and make people wanna play and pull for them.

[@HisuiOgawa]

@@Aizen2468 While I understand the desire for characters you pulled for to pop out I'm not sure "brighter & flashier" would do them good because... This is the world of Arknights. It's meant to be bleak most of the time. If they go too far on the brighter/flashier side of things, they'll loose that part of their identity along the way. Although I don't know if making things more dynamic without the brighter/flashier part would be enough to reach the effet you're hoping for. 🤔

[@Aizen2468]

@@HisuiOgawa you're mistaking "bleak" with being akin to looking "bland," and using that as an excuse for their poor looks (not meaning to be rude, I promise! But I've heard that one before for several others games that failed miserably). You can still have a bleak setting, and make effects and characters pop and really draw your attention. When I say brighter, I'm talking the flashy effects. As it stands, the moves right now look extremely average and boring to look at. I mean, honestly and objectively, do you think a lot of people are going to be up for spending 50 to 100 bucks for one of these characters (maybe more), and the character and their moves be appealing enough to keep them checking in and playing DAILY? investing their time and income into the game, versus other very hard hitting popular gachas out there? They need to pull you in, and characters that have a really interesting and eye catching design with abilities that really pop and make you go 'wow, that was awesome!' are what sells the game.

[@Aizen2468]

But truthfully, the background environment design matters less than the characters themselves. They can make their background as 'bleak' or 'bland' as they need it to be to save some money, so long as those characters pop with their designs and effects. The background is just the cherry on top, not the center piece of what is going to draw in and keep players. In my opinion, its too late for the gameplay. Not enough development time left to do anything more than 'pretty it up,' and bug fix, or fine tune some numbers and cooldowns. So, characters and their flashy moves will be what they can truly focus on polishing in the time-frame they have left.

[@selensewar]

Thanks for the review. Considering your words, your points evaluation is extremely generous.

[@khorva4865]

The homing hits remind me of my old Runescape days lol. Its also a con for me, but i am honestly looking forward to seeing if they decide to keep it in the proper release.

[@Eclin]

Personally, the gameplay is a hardsell, they have to do something about it. Making good UI and flow is hypergrphys specialty tbh, i don’t think they ever missed on that.

[@rielyyy]

even tho im very interested in endfield because of the character designs, scenery and lore, i totally agree with a lot of these points especially about the combat like i hope we can at least get a dodge or parry mechanic and i’d also like a climbing mechanic cause to me it looks very annoying to explore without that

[@chariothe9013]

World doesn't look lived-in or dangerous. It's just hallways for players first before anything else, and random artificial props placing that doesn't really care about the lore, it shows that human were there but at the same time there is no sign of living.

[@michaelsoftbinbows2223]

Wuthering waves then where lvl 1 skilled player can beat lvl "50" mob

[@淡い炎]

Yea... the whole thing feels hella mid rn with how so many things feeling so slapdashed into an amalgamation of ideas with no focus. Unavoidable attacks doesnt suit this kind of combat, just feels like forced stat check on if you'll survive something or not. It's a nonissue now but with their track record of unhinged continuously bloated enemy stats.... I'm hella fucking concerned with potential gimmick bosses that'll wipe us with tight skill timing or some such down the line. Ghetto factorio/ death stranding lost its charm on me and my friends hella fast despite us loving the absolute fuck out of the 2 games that inspired the core loop of this game. Really not a fan of Ange's "backstory" in this one either, felt like the literal lowest hanging fruit of an excuse to bait old fans into the game.

[@XeqtrM1]

7 it's solid score i agree most part because the game is still far away alot can change so i won't jugde it to hard

[@secretscarlet8249]

Does the combat feel pushed in one direction? Like you can’t choose to be strategic or oongaboonga?

[@Eckogen]

You do have to be smart with your skill usage against elite enemies or you'll take a lot of damage/die.

[@kaycex1]

how can u talk about lore when this game is basically 1% of it? lore only can be discus when the game is finished its like watching dragonball and stop at ep 7 and said the story is bullshit

[@Eckogen]

As with all things. There's a start, middle, and end. The premise of the story as it builds provides an idea of the direction. It sets up the universe, which is extremely important. First impressions of any game is critical.

[@NerdgearSama]

Since im more of a person who is more into combat than lore, it definitely needs improving after watching several vids of AK Endfield's Combat Gameplay.

[@dedcet634]

NO RNG STAT GEAR FCKING KINOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@LoganRonin-vn2we]

Fixed stats gear? LET'S FUCKING GO! And yes, hopefully HG will take extra care in regards to the combat. Nice video Ecko!

[@dreiak]

You are not the only person that says that random enemies just deal too much damage, or are too punishing for the type of game that this is (at least right now). In a game like Dark Souls, you have a dodge, i-frames, parry, shield block, in addition to stats and equipment, so it is always possible to defeat enemies on skills alone. Games like Nikke give a false sense of this by having static penalties for being underleveled that undermine your skill, and this means that no matter how "good" you are, if you are having 25% of 50% of your stats reduced because you are underleveled compared to the "suggested" level, it begs the question what the point of skill is at all, since you are already at a stat penalty by virtue of being lower leveled then the enemies. I am REALLY hoping this doesn't fall into that trap. One of the things that makes AK (classic) special is that when you think something is impossible (even with META ops), someone will clear it with 3 star ops, which doesn't really mean that should be the expectation for everyone, but that there is a solution available to most players that doesn't require spending, or a horrendous grind to achieve. This is why I have (for a long time) called arknights the "Dark Souls of gatcha." I also believe that while there are predatory games that make lots of money, you always make more money (albeit maybe at a slower clip) making something that is good, versus something that is exploitative. If Hypergriph makes a game that would be fun to play as a standalone singleplayer game as is, and monitization is layered on top of that, without removing the core experience, I don't think anyone would be upset. Dragon's Dogma, and Factorio are primarily single player games. So was the original Diablo, and in many ways Genshin is as well, though I don't think that was their intention. If Genshin is a rip off of Tears of the Kingdom, that IS a single player game, so my point stands. gameplay is the ONLY thing that matters, and if monitization influences the actual gameplay loop, design, and balance, in the way that it does for a game like Nikke for example (or MANY other mobile / gatcha / pay-to-win titles), then it means that there will always be room for something else to come along that is simply better, or newer. Honkai Star rail is cannibalizing people from Genshin Impact, and while people might argue its the same company, it is not tapping as much into new players with new money. If game design is made with the intention of being zero sum, it WILL earn less money long term.

[@stepbro6646]

I just wish its just as f2p friendly as arknights where you just have to gacha the operator, no dupes needed, no weapon gacha, will only have to spend for outfits. I have every outfit on arknights and every operator, and i only spend for monthly pass, headhunting and once a year i buy the x2 OP

[@ThatguyNamedLB]

Hmmmm yessir we love industrial revolution in primal world. Thanks for the review, Eckogen! I'll consider it whether i will play it or not.

[@gucky4717]

At 1:56 I can see stutter, but I can't say if they are CPU, GPU or loading stutter without metrics.

[@octopus1626]

are this game can handle for pc had 8 ram?

[@Eckogen]

On min settings sure.

[@mandarinduck]

I've been looking forward to this ever since I found out about it but I'm still a bit iffy about the other planet setting. Gives me Mass Effect Andromeda vibes.

[@krismas7531]

With what they thought us in LoneTrail my thoughts on it being iffy are gone tbh.

[@KrazyBean14]

Taking damage no matter what is very akin to FF7 Remake or Xenoblade. But at least in 7 Remake, you can block to heavily mitigate damage, or you have very strong heals/evasion in Xenoblade. Doesn't seem like the case here, which is annoying.

[@Eckogen]

You all keep mentioning Xenoblade. I'll have to check it out.

[@Gabotecno1]

When you talk about taking damage no matter the distance o position, that's a very common thing on Xenoblade Chronicles Saga's gameplay, also being over o under leveled is a thing in that game too. I mean, when i saw the gameplay i feel like its almost the same but with a base to manage with an unique and stylish combat, but that's it, don't know if this is good or not seeing similar or even equal content to Xenoblade. I played Xenoblade 3 and I cant unsee the game on endfield. I think that this setting of getting damage no matter what you do while fighting means that they will give you some items to get some dodge and block chance for the characters, so certain characters can fulfill the roll of evasive tank or resist hit tank for the team, while your dps don't get hit because its build to do big damage, not to resist the beating, i wonder if they have agro in the game, you know, the more damage you do to the enemy, that enemy will focus on that character to be out as soon as possible, so the tank's job is to get the agro first and maintain that for the rest of the fight. But i see you can switch between characters naturally (genshin vibes) to manage the agro. Mmmmmm interesting.

[@jetngunzlk]

I just feel like the gameplay would feel much better if I can control each character simultaneously, letting you indivdualiy positioning each character is much more engaging imo, I mean it just weird how enemies' abilities only target the controlled character and do no damage to AI allies, kinda make tank the best the best class to control in a fight. Using an ability forced you to switch character AND wait for the full animation to be able to use another just make abilities comboing/chaining feel awkward and clunky. The boss designs are pretty good but the combat system make the fight boring, you just running around, dodging, waiting for the chance to dump all your abilitiies and then repeat. The pseudo action combat system the game having right now felt really poorly designed, lacking in depth on both strategy and action side, the endgame gonna be painful if this is the system that they're going for. For now, despite many upsides the game have, the combat alone break it for me, I'll wait and see how they change it in the future test.

[@Anissss____09]

I got question are u using emulator to play arknight? Btw endfield kinda interesting game

[@Eckogen]

Using the PC client they made for it.

[@phantom-iodine]

I always apply for these alphas with 5 emails or more, can't remember the last alpha I actually got into.

[@Eckogen]

Maybe, you'll get into the next one.

[@abrahamwijaya6631]

I understand (I'm not into this kind of game), this game has gain and demerit😊

[@nbranski43]

wait ... Angelina is only a 5 star in this game ... and it occurs *after* the original Arknights? Is this a different character?

[@Eckogen]

It's not OG Angelina.

[@ImNervv]

clone

[@MioTaeyeon]

Agreed to you man. Combat really needs to improve lol

[@reidd5776]

Is there a mobile client? I've been looking forward to this game for awhile.

[@manyblock4192]

Not yet, test was for PC only now and only choosen people can play it (I think KZbinr get priorities here) I already register for test but didn't get access

[@Eckogen]

Later on there will be.

[@afandychannel9773]

release when?

[@GabrielSenpai]

I was expecting a game where I could collaborate with other people to achieve missions, but when I saw a farming hack slash I lost my interest.

[@Korelon7]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Honestly the more I watch Endfield content, the less interested I am. The RPG + Base building doesn't really vibe with me, you don't get to see your favorite OPs since it's a different world and all that. And if the story is meh...well that's like half the reason I play RPGS.

[@ImNervv]

i pray they rework combat just a little bit to add dodging maybe parrying and better ai that will actually ya know *do something*

[@PayAttEx]

You lost me at AK lore being an 8. Like if AK lore is 8 the rest of the gacha world is a 3 mate.

[@Eckogen]

Most gacha game lore I would give about an average score. 8 is a very high score.

[@israyantidien4287]

From what i see from other testers, the game surprisingly doing a good job, most noticebly for me is the AI like now they actually know how to "dodge" Other than that i agree with you, some features need to be updated like the enemies attack should be dodgeable and skill cooldown is pretty long And then feature i hope they will add like double jump, idk why, but it'll be nice thing to have

[@thearchangel5791]

For as much as I love the world of Arknights, I'm not impressed by Endfield at all. It still just looks like another clone of this genre but with a darker aesthetic. There's nothing that makes it stand out

[@Screwypone]

So basically... a dressed up mobile base building and Genshin-lite clone. Especially the combat. Truly, the mobile gacha genre makes everything very bland. From what you've went through, I honestly don't feel like Endfield is going to break the mould with the looter-not-shooter mechanics and a quicker but still weak flashy attacks. Not forgetting to mention those bullet sponges in this genre. After Girls Frontline 2 was unveiled, I really thought that Endfield would have followed a similar route with the Turn Based Strategy genre like Girls Frontline 2 and XCOM. Arknights feels like it fits that genre more. But who knows? Maybe the not very fun looter shooter aspect changes up in the full release

[@jillstingray8828]

While I agree with the most of the stuff you have said, I personally believe OG's AK lore should be closer to a 9.5-10, and Endfield's score should be closer to a 7-7.5. Reason for that is (while I only read the lore and watched videos, as I was unable to get access for the test) The Endfield's lore feels very much like Year 1 of Arknights. It started with a lot of "unfinished" events and chapters (lots of events and chapters left room for a continuation, rather than giving a conclusive resolution). Same here. It just feels like a bunch of "unfinished" stories that are going to get developed as they release more content.

[@Eckogen]

Well, for Endfield lore I can only judge what was shown at the time of the test. Not for what it can potentially be.

[@jillstingray8828]

@@Eckogen While I see your point, I just view it differently. Anyway, it still is in Alpha, so w/e we got now, it may as well change 180 upon release.

[@Floofrer]

Weapon Gacha? I'm sick of it... I hope everything is craftable instead. Also AI pathfinding is sooooo bad

[@Eckogen]

I don't think there will be a weapon gacha but who knows.

[@vbun4662]

Endfield? Sounds more like Midfield 😶

[@brigetbirbaew]

Not going to lie, I'm not much of a gamer. Genshin and arknights were both the introductions to their genres for me. This definitely looks interesting, and I'm excited to hear what other new updates come from it!

[@maskedheretic9629]

Not bad for an Alpha release. Not a fan of the game myself, but it does look crisp and seems like some minor issues.

[@Konpekikaminari]

Hearing this takes place both in the future and on a different planet kinda killed most of the interest I've had in this game It feels too far-removed from the setting and characters of Arknights, which are some of the best I've seen Like, I get why Terra wouldn't have been ideal for an open world game, being mostly nothingness between moving cities, but I'd still love to explore it, even if it's a small fraction

[@Thalasseven]

For now the game will be a pass for me. It pains me since i am a big Arknights fan, It's my most played and favorite game. But i find the game state even for a technical test to be just awful. If i had to give notes to the game for now, it would be: Characters ( including kits, and design ): 5/10 Exploration: 3/10 Combat: 0/10 Base building: 1/10 Story and lore perspectives: 5/10 There is no words to explain how dissapointed and disgusted i am after waiting for the game for so long + English isn't my main language... but i will still try to explain my issues: It's way to simple so any kind of difficulty will be implemented through dumb stats. The combat feel so uninteresting, having to dodge attacks by running around feel so bad, just give us a dodge / dash mechanics, there is a reason every game of this type have one, not doing it doesn't makes you unique it makes you bad. You don't even feel like you are hitting the ennemies there is no impact on any attacks. The core combat is basically wait for cd, press skill, repeat, then ult, that's one of the least interesting combat i have ever seen in a game, that's Genshin tier. there is almost no interactivity. I don't understand how they can think it's okay to release this alongside Wuthering Wave, it's a suicide for the game. The ult themselves and theire animations / effects are the most boring i have ever seen, it's always cool_pose.png + Explosion / Slash + random color, like legit even the og Arknights skills have more interesting design choices and animations... The IA that follow you is awful, you can't control them in any way, and they serve 0 purpose that's just marketting to appeal to the guys that will see that in this game you have a team and think that makes the game different from others. In reality, well you switch character the exact same way as in any other gacha and their attacks are useless, what a fucking joke. They exist only to take damage outside of your control ( what a great idea lmao ). The exploration is non existent, there is nothing to do on the map, it's basically just big tunnels without any interest that you just travel to give you illusion there is actually a world. and the movement are so god damn awful like wtf, i'm not asking to be able to climb a cliff like in Genshin / Zelda but at least GRAB THE FUCKING EDGE WHEN YOU JUMP IT'S SO FUCKING UNSATIFYING AND ANOYING !!! And it's something so basic like how do you miss that in a game in 2024 ??? Have the developpers played any game at any point in their life ? The base system is, well, completely uninteresting, like it's just afk farming i don't even understand why they give you the option to build anywhere in the first place, it serve 0 purpose because outside of zipline there is 0 interaction with the """""open"""""" world and you will basically never interact with it again outside of refill / order / collect once you finished to build it ( build which, btw, will be just copy pasting guides because gacha and especially Arknights players are dumbass that refuse to use even one of their braincells and just want the dopamine of getting waifus but that's another problem ). And i know some people are gonna say "well it's the point of those kind of games". Well i didn't play to much of those, but like how is just optimising for absolutely 0 purpose fun in any way ? Why don't the base positionning have any sense, why does it not interact at all with the environnement ? I'm trowing some dumb idead, but why don't you have some kind of attack / defense system, with events like raids and stuff like that ? why isn't there some kind of buildings that can act like caserns with pnj from the open world ? why isn't there some kind of personnal management thing ? why don't you add fun stuff where if you do something the wrong way it explode of some things like that. Why isn't there any kind of fun way to gather material ( press E on anything on the ground is sooooooo anoying and unintersting ), like minning or aggriculture ? Why not propose some kind of real open world interacting stuff, like connecting ruins to your base to give it power and exploit it's facilities ? In my opinion a building game can't just be Build > Wait for the building to do something, i'm sorry that's not what a game is that's what my fucking printer does at home. And that wouldn't be a problem if like in og Arknights that was only a minor part of the game but no, that's literally the main part, even more than combat !!! As for the story, i was excited at the perspective of seing the future of Arknights, and i was very happy they didn't do some kind of Alternate Universe bullshit. But i soon as i saw the most lazy plot devices ever i knew that the story wouldn't be good. Like really, using amnesia again ? Can't you try fake that you care ? And don't get me started on that Arknights ops clone bullshit or Kal'tsit who isn't Kal'tsit ( Yes i know what the AMA are, that's still lazy as fuck ), this is the worst thing about all this game in my opinion. If you want some Arknights character to join, then fucking assume it, makes some immortal character a part of the game don't use those kind of shitty plot device. It literally feel like in those movies where they end on a text screen that says "Dave surrendered to the police 3 days later, he is now serving a 23 years sentence in federal prison. Catty became a politician and won the 2034 congress elections". I could go on, but honestly i'm just so disgusted i don't even feel like playing Arknights anymore, i'm just autodeploying i've stopped doing IS or SSS and i'm not reading any story anymore ( which was the main reason i played ). I lost all my trust in Hypergryph, i really thought they would be better than this. I was so happy back when i watched announce in the livestream back then... i feel betrayed as an Arknights fan.

[@aizeroth8858]

You should probably wait until the actual release of the game before deciding whether you hate it or not. You said the story is bad, but... most gachas have a very basic story at the beginning, it takes a while for the story to get good (FGO for example). Original AK was also not very interesting at the start, you need to get to at least chapter 5-6 to get invested. Endfield might be the same. Does that mean it's worth waiting 1+ years after Endfields' release to get good? This depends on the person, there is no right answer. Personally I won't be playing Endfield on release, even if it's praised, because I know that after 1-2 years it will be an even better game to start playing then (assuming it doesn't shut down). Btw I'm curious what is your main language?

[@EvalithFoG]

Just say base building isn't for you lol. Base building so far is probably one of the strongest aspects, incredibly fun to optimize. It even got Vifer, who's known for not reading anything, to fully unlock the base skill tree. Also it's in early alpha, chill out lol

[@Thalasseven]

@@EvalithFoG Base building is only one of the many failed aspects from this game. And even for a technical test the game is awful at the core of the gameplay this is not normal

[@EvalithFoG]

@@Thalasseven Sounds like it's just not for u too bad

[@Thalasseven]

@@aizeroth8858 i will of course test the game anyway, in hypothetical beta and when the game will release, this is only my opinion on the state of the game right now. As for the story, it might be possible, but it would be weird for the story to take as much time as Arknights to get good, they aren't newbies anymore when it comes to writting. I'm french btw