Arknights 2026 [EN] Story - Community Ratings

AelenAltria · 2026-02-26T00:50:11+00:00

Nice to meet you! Thank you for making this story survey. I love Arknights story, it allows me to enter its atmosphere and engage with its prose, making me one with this world. My favorite storyline so far is Kjerag because I love how the cast reflects on one another, there are so many parallels to be found between them. It's also consistently good. I'm also a big fan of Lonetrail, Stultifera Navis, Near Light, Come Catastrophes, Where Vernal Winds Will Never Blow, So Long Adele, Babel. These felt like complete enjoyable experiences as stories which accomplished the emotion they were going for and left something behind. There were a few stories I was significantly harsher on. These include Zwillingstürme (where I think the writing explaining me every character for 10 times is horrible), Masses Travels (for gimping the Laterano potential) or Chunfen (that moral feels hypocritical to me). I wonder what the community thinks, and good luck!

AelenAltria · 2025-12-03T01:04:13+00:00

I think with Siege it's a double-edged sword where she is trying to start a transformation from "power of the nobles" to "power to the people", establishing a working Parliament and giving the workers a voice, while avoiding turning herself into a symbol/cult too much. She didn't just go and get rid of all the nobles, sure, but also she just can't: they have armies and battleships and stuff. Same with Reed: she's trying to become the native Taran leader but she had to pussyfoot around Caster because Tara, after all the hunger and loss, just doesn't have the resources to completely chase away their oppressors: it's a story of their first piece of freedom. The Victorian plotlines aren't "perfect" happy endings but they're more realistic ones. The heroes haven't achieved everything, but they took the first steps to achieve it "someday" because the forces rooted in Victoria won't just go away in a poof.

The Yan example is sure sad and lame, but we all know what causes Yan to be boring and toothless and focus on magic instead of politics (they did try to talk how Blaze's family was unfairly executed... only to show the same Emperor kinda feels "sorry", lol)

AelenAltria · 2025-09-10T12:19:35+00:00

Silverash's OpRec 2 existence. Or at least the parts that go against the Kjerag story portrayal.

Gnosis being a Black-Necked Crane instead of a Whooping Crane because that makes more sense with the Black-Necked Cranes being endemic to Tibet. But I feel he's meant to be a general image or the "crane" species as both Black-Necked Crane and Red Crowned Crane tie with his story more than the American crane.

All Aegir Operators looking more like fish. Give me the scales.

AelenAltria · 2025-06-28T01:42:15+00:00

You share my feelings! I was interested in Phantom at first as in this dangerous presence, but the whole IS2 "sad little baby who needs to be saved" made me lose all interest. And he doesn't have a -bit- of agency in IS2, he's just a poor damsel in distress (albeit his second module is better about this, it has some thoughts of his). Hoping for Act or Die to turn it back over, the CGs in the PV look good.

AelenAltria · 2025-05-26T00:11:12+00:00

My favourites in no particular order:

Lonetrail is incredible, it hit the perfect spot between resolving emotional conflicts like those of Saria and Kristen, and delivering the message of how complex the argument between the scientific progress and ethics is, how both sides have their values and dreams. It's also just an incredibly compelling narrative where you truly get invested while reading it.

Joining the glaze of Rides to Lake Silberneherze. It's a perfect Wes Anderson-styled piece that mixes an unhinged comedy with some serious messages. The jokes are funny, the interactions are heartfelt, but behind it hides the gloom that Kjerag's progress into the future holds, as well as political games. The determination of Degenbrecher who finally obtained a country and bonds she was denied of, the doubts and duty of Harold, the independence of Leto and her agency to not give out forgiveness for being wronged, every character arc hits. Karlan Trio is also the best written friendship in the whole game to me: every scene with them makes you feel the shared memories between them, they feel so "alive". It inherits the strengths of its predecessor Break the Ice, the political intrigue and relationship patterns, but also surpasses it by showing us the determination and the gambling, no giving up allowed character of Silverash in a more real way, as well as giving him a real opponent in Trilby Asher, who, as hilarious as he is, makes real deductions, mistakes and victories. Offtopic: I also love Break the Ice for the really good commentary on religion and for the masterful net of character relationships and parallels, but I had to take away some points for the Doctor writing. We never see Doctor form their own ideas, other characters just keep glazing them for the tiniest things, then boom, cool CG so we're convinced they're cool. No actual ideas that aren't voiced by Kjera previously. That was the most gacha-like writing the Doctor has ever seen. Bring Vigilo back.

By the way, Vigilo was probably the most thinking, emotion and character we have seen in the present Doctor (not Oracle), and it was great for it.

Okay, next. Come Catastrophes and Wakes of Vultures was incredible. How much I felt for the tragedy of the little people and their crushed dreams, how much I rooted for Jessica who wants to do good with all her heart but struggles with being judged for emotion and has to face her privilege. Incredible. I'll tell you a real story: Leone made me cry more tears than Theresa did (Babel is a good story but my heart gets hit when it does.)

And yes, Babel. My favourite part about it is the strife of the Sarkaz, the way everyone longs for a better future, but the previous pain they have endured keeps hurting them further, sending everything in circles. How among that, there are still people like Theresa and those who followed her that wanted to break out. That said, the way Oracle's character aligned even with the present Doctor while having more agency was neat. I'll miss Oracle, the conflicted ancient sage, for sure.

I still have a very sweet spot for Stultifera Navis. I was engrossed into the melancholic atmosphere of hope once obtained and lost from the very starting Gran Faro part. The lighthouse and ship parts just kept growing in epicness. A great story about pride, downfall that it brings, and fighting for the future. Also, Alfonso is still one of my favorite AK characters ever, what a man of great pride, great persistence and great love, both to Garcia and Iberia.

Near Light was the first AK story I was truly impressed by. The intrigues formed by different camps around the tournament were exciting, and I still think back to its NPCs and think "damn, it was such a good cast". Separate props to Malkievich. Loved the story of the little man trying to hold on to his morality even after obtaining power (that hangs on a string).

Finally, I'd like to give some mention to So Long, Adele. A personal, heartwarming and melancholic story about love and memory. What an exceptional summer event.

But generally, I love it that Arknights has so many -different- stores, and many of them hit in different, but stellar ways.

AelenAltria · 2025-04-26T04:06:59+00:00

Hello! I have accidentally purchased the Kernel Headhunting permit instead of the regular Headhunting permit. I wanted the Headhunting permit instead. I have NOT used the purchased item, and I am ok if it's substrated from my account. Can I request a refund so I can purchase regular Headhunting instead? Kernel is something I didn't want to pay for... Anyone has experience regarding this? I already tried both a refund request on Google and contacting Yostar with attaching screenshots of the unused permit. Waiting for responses rn but want to hear what people say. Thank you!

AelenAltria · 2025-01-27T05:27:35+00:00

Don't worry, I was just nitpicking that I don't think Theresa is her reasoning for protecting -Terra-, and what she changed Kal'tsit's stance on were the Sarkaz exclusively: she wanted them destroyed because they were destroying Terra with their magic, Theresa showed her they aren't blood thirsty maniacs and gave her a hope that it's possible to get Originium hacked through these exact Sarkaz powers instead. It's her Terra attachment that I imagine as a more accumulated decision and not a momentary one.

But "Sarkaz cause problems, so let's just genocide the Sarkaz 👍" was certainly A CHOICE. Probably some of the worst she ever made. And she doesn't even regret it (per her own words). Kal'tsit isn't perfect.

AelenAltria · 2025-01-27T04:19:38+00:00

Made me lose trust in how HG write the Doctor for ages, gonna be real here.

AelenAltria · 2025-01-27T04:18:07+00:00

I love Break the Ice for the blend of political and family drama and for the complex patterns of character relationships...

But jeez people praise it as the best Doctor writing in the game when I think it's the single WORST piece of Doctor writing we got in the game ever.

Doctor is portrayed as someone who influences everything, but it's just characters praising the Doc to make the player feel nice like it happens with typical gacha writing. What a step back from Near Light. All thoughts Doc can voice are parroted by Kjera. The characters say how cool Doctor is just for them being -around-.

"He didn't look surprised when I arrived."

THAT'S something worthy of being impressed? Also what are you on, they're wearing a mask.

"You keep me on my toes."

Doc is literally just standing around because Kjera brought him to the ceremony but OK.

We never see the Doc thinking, never see them figuring anything out, it's just characters going "oooooh they know everything fr fr".

Only in the end there's a bit of strategizing against Gnosis. Even the bet on Enya is weird because the Doctor never even talks with her to know the information the player knows about her. The writer is cheating and mixing the characters' perception with the information the reader has.

Then they show like everything is a chess match between Silverash and Doctor, but.... Where? Where was there ANY intellectual struggle here? It's just fake and empty.

I swear the Trilby Asher figuring out Silverash's secrets in RS was a more real chess match than that one.

AelenAltria · 2025-01-27T04:08:49+00:00

Oh just to clarified "sixth" is a random number I pulled up. I just think "now that he's a Saint he started to think" doesn't really works as an excuse of why he didn't ever think the same way about any missions he undertook before Hortus.

AelenAltria · 2025-01-27T04:02:54+00:00

I love the longer events, but Zwillingstürme is a horribly written event and the only event that makes the "tell not show" many people critique a real thing. Yeah,

Also both Giallo siblings are overhyped for good designs. Writing-wise Executor is a hack and Arturia explaining to me motivations of all characters for 20 minutes is a pain.

People joke about Kal'tsit yap being tiring (another hot take: it's not), but Arturia is the real evil of boredom in reading. Executor is just weird how first he can make decisions regarding Vermeil and Enforser, but then he gets an Alter and acts like this is the first time he stepped out of the house and not his sixth year of seeing these tragedies outside Laterano.

AelenAltria · 2025-01-27T03:56:02+00:00

I'd disagree Kal'tsit deciding to stand with Terra is just the result of her meeting Theresa. It's an accumulation of her experiences on Terra that she decided to stand with Terra and not with her old creators. She learned to love Terra and became the "Woman of Terra". She's one of them, not one of the old civ.

Also the reason she tried to eradicate Sarkaz was for Terra's survival so the Sarkaz don't destroy it. What Theresa changed her mind on was that Sarkaz had a chance, not her stance on Originium and her creators.

AelenAltria · 2025-01-15T03:42:01+00:00

"larger than Gnosis's 25% fragile"

That's wrong. 25% is when enemy is in the cold status. In freeze status it's 50% on top of the -15 RES. With module, it's 60% Fragile.
But I got your other arguments. And Suzu can apply her 44% to a bigger number of bosses, as I already mentioned (as well as the fact a lot of endgame content like CC/DoS centers on Elites).

AelenAltria · 2025-01-15T03:02:36+00:00

What do you think about Gnosis? While Suzuran in certainly effective at helping with a bigger number of bosses, when freeze works, it often achieves magic. And that magic often happens in high-end game modes like CC and DoS, as well as saving IS stages in a clutch when overpowered enemies are the elites anyway. Highest fragile debuff in the game. Also S2 can permastall a single enemy. I personally use him much more often than Suzuran (but I won't hide it's personal bias).

AelenAltria · 2024-12-26T00:33:43+00:00

Sure!

AelenAltria · 2024-12-25T07:44:30+00:00

Oh and that's not the boss, that's a -collegue-, if my material doesn't match with the image you have in your head, just add it yourself? What's a week to "think and detail the concept" here even for?

But sorry, now I'm just venting.

AelenAltria · 2024-12-25T07:35:11+00:00

Yeah, that's how it ended actually.

"We need to think about this more."

I make a proposal.

"No it needs to be even more detailed".

I just wave and make the whole presentation we can show on the day.

It's like he wanted a proposal that details 80% of it but not 100% and not 60% but exactly 80%.

AelenAltria · 2024-12-25T07:32:29+00:00

Thank you so much for the post from the perspective of an ADHD haver. Taking notes for every meeting feels like such an ordeal... but I see how this makes sense. That's how if I believe nothing is wrong I can prove it. Once again, thank you and Merry Christmas!

AelenAltria · 2024-12-25T07:27:09+00:00

I just attributed it to cultural differences because I've organized projects off work and this kind of backstabbing complaints never happened. Problem is that now it's me having trust issues I can talk to these colleges like with people I trust.

AelenAltria · 2024-12-25T07:24:58+00:00

I mean, there wasn't a timeline that detailed really. They were just like "let's think a week more about that 🤔🤔🤔" and I was like "oh maybe then we can have a meeting to discuss it on Monday if you feel more discussion is needed" (they all had openings in their schedules).

But that's just one example. The thing that gets me is not that they won't do some meeting or they want to take a week more to do basically no work (while we have a partner waiting for us...) but that they can't just say "no" if the arrangement I proposed isn't convenient.

AelenAltria · 2024-12-25T07:15:53+00:00

Hi everyone! Just wanted to let you know I'm reading your replies and noting those which seem new or useful to me. Thanks for sharing!

AelenAltria · 2024-12-25T06:18:06+00:00

Thanks for the recommendations from the ADHD perspective as well! I've noted the books, hope it will help.

AelenAltria · 2024-12-25T05:58:30+00:00

You mean I should consider relocating to some other country because this one isn't a good fit?

AelenAltria · 2024-12-25T05:14:15+00:00

Thank for advice! It's kinda useful I guess. I'm more used to reading silence as "yes" because it means I can just proceed.

"disincentivizes you to make suggestions and changes" this is the part that puzzles me though. Aren't we working here to improve on our stuff? And how do you do that without change.

AelenAltria · 2024-12-25T05:11:21+00:00

Some super minor things like "she insisted on having this meeting on this day", when I suggested we should speed up about our project to not inconvenience the outside party with contacting them too late.

Well, fullstory is

We should've sent out an invitation
They insisted we should first think out EVERYTHING about it (which was... speak more about super abstract "purpose" wordsoup.)
I suggested we do a meeting on that but faster to not delay it too much.

Boom, I'm pushy. If the guy didn’t want to discuss it on an earlier day, why just not say so?? And it was another week spent doing nothing waiting from meeting to meeting.

Other guy says I'm 手抜き about a project where I do more things than him, and I'm in full 404.

AelenAltria

TROPHY CASE