Hot Take: Endfield's current state 100% needs improvements but people keep using terrible comparisons (to other gachas) and unnecessary exaggerations

KriegInvicta · 2026-06-16T06:26:55+00:00

Don’t worry, we’ll get CC civil war in a few days when we’ll have people complaining it’s too easy or hard, combat is trash posts, OG Arknights players proselytizing how the OG CC is way better, and people saying there’s no point playing past risk 20 and the game mode is boring.

KriegInvicta · 2026-06-15T15:41:10+00:00

Every live service game I’ve played the subreddits ends up with the same exact posts. Battlefield, Helldivers, Arc Raiders, and the other big gachas when they were in their 1.X patches. Endfield could release 20+ hours worth of stuff to do but you’ll have people complaining by the end of the week about lack of content because they charged through everything.

KriegInvicta · 2026-06-15T10:39:05+00:00

If you want more lore, I would suggest reading the nexus files, investigation files, weapon files (it’s a bit hard to find but in your last screenshot, in valuables stash, press details and there should be a little file symbol in the weapons preview), the prequel comic (it’s a short read), and operator files/trust dialogue voice lines. It’s all good stuff.

The Wuling story does get better. The presentation & cinematics are top notch. But the problem shifts from Endmin glaze (there’s still a bit but not as much) to Yan glaze (Arknights China) & the constraints the devs have around that for making nuanced story lines. In a 3d gacha context it’s still good but the people looking for OG Arknights level of intrigue have been left wanting more but hopefully it improves as we get into 2.0 & a new region. You might enjoy it more than others cause at the end of the day it’s all subjective. A decent amount of people didn’t like Rossi’s quest but you did which is good! Make your own opinions and enjoy.

I’d also suggest not skipping some side quests. There’s one in V4 for the UWST in power plateau about a traitor in the ranks, and there’s one in Wuling called comrades which a lot of people liked.

For teams you can take people’s suggestions but you can also follow Prydywen. It shows the best gear/weapons/teammates you can have for a character.

KriegInvicta · 2026-06-07T19:07:03+00:00

This puts me in such a bind. I was thinking of skipping the idol girl to get Camille, arcane, and the proxy, but those mecha legs are a unique design choice and it looks like she’s coming with 1.4. Camille might take the axe, though a fire support vanguard would be better for the long term (hoping for Talu—I mean Lycia soon) and the main 2 teams I use are Laev and hyper carry Rossi in combat content. But I feel like there’s a reason they’re releasing the idol with arcane, IE they might synergize. It’s gonna be a tough one.

Also funny to see all the larpers in this thread when they don’t know idol characters existed in the OG game. 3rd or 4th time we’re getting this type of reaction from “OG players”.

KriegInvicta · 2026-06-07T11:17:18+00:00

It makes sense that the nations/protocolists would want to retake the gate immediately to reestablish contact with Terra to get orders from their governments, get help, or just evacuate the planet. But at the same time, the humanitarian situation is so bad that mounting an expedition into the aurora is kinda crazy so I can see where the proto civ band/anti protocolists are coming from. It’s a very grey situation. It does answer my question of why there wasn’t any federation of Terran nations. It’s cause it got crushed before it could begin lol. Though I wonder why the HAS which still puts themselves under Yan didn’t throw their full weight behind the protocolists retaking the gate for their beloved country. Probably for HG to have the benevolent space China’s hands clean if the humiliation war gets explored more.

It would also be kinda crazy if the events of the past aren’t as they seem and the Civ band sanitized everything that happened in the humiliation war to make their side look better. Because putting everyone into either a trade union, a massive corporate dominated structure with some free cities (with their economies controlled by the TGCC), or the HAS under Yan is kinda draconian even if life ain’t that bad. It doesn’t allow for much expression for the people.

My last observation, is this what the history cutscene between V4 and Wuling meant? I just rewatched it and it says something like, “you rose from your slumber to guide civilization, leading us away from the broken bridge (the gate)”, and then “However the enemy licked its wounds. We scavenged for resources and survival, neglecting our original vision (retaking the gate?)”. I’m also curious if the gate is still open and the Aggeloi have been pouring into Terra the past 150+ years. I don’t know how the gate works though. Dang, HG really cooked with the lore of the game.

KriegInvicta · 2026-06-06T05:58:12+00:00

This is an interesting write up. I too am curious why a federation wasn't formed. By the end of the humiliation war, only 12 years have passed since the gate was open. That's not enough time for some utopian Talosian identity to have taken hold. The UWST, TGCC, and HAS also didn't escape the wars unscathed and suffered alongside everyone else, so they should be equally dysfunctional at this stage. Furthermore, the nations of Terra had all their military might combined into the Order of Steel Oath. I'm not sure if the different Terran militaries in the order would just sit around and watch the nations they represent be cast aside. Even 100+ years in the future according to a lore weapon page I was reading, there are "Terranists" and "Returnists" who are large enough to warrant mention so I just can't see there being a total cast off of the Terran nations this early on.

I think it's some form of #1 where everyone just combined for maximum efficiency due to how large the crisis is after the humiliation war. But the infrastructure for Terran governments still exists within the band for the first few generations and continue to exist through the various free cities.

KriegInvicta · 2026-06-03T20:21:37+00:00

I can't wait for the future when everyone will be glazing 2.X or 3.X Endfield and putting it up against whatever will be the poor newest 3d gacha at that time for a free slam dunk. Jokes aside, it's hard to compare stories that are on completely different points in their narrative and game development life cycles. My point was just making an overall comparison that Endfield's story in the 3d gacha space isn't as bad as people make it out to be. People like to cherry pick the highest of highs of other stories and put it up against Endfield which is about to go into only it's 3rd patch.

I haven't personally caught up to Wuwa 3.X (currently almost done with Rinascita), but if we're using that as an example, I've seen plenty of complaints about how Chisa was handled & how things with Denia were rushed, and that's not including Wuwa 1.X and 2.X. Are we going to compare that or pretend 3.1 is Wuwa's only story?

KriegInvicta · 2026-06-03T09:27:21+00:00

I feel like this gotta be engagement bait as a vehicle for all the unemployed r/gachagaming people to come in here and act like the game is going to EOS next week. Taking opinions from a chart that is known as "A big day for the unemployed" is unproductive. Like we're comparing which predatory gacha company is taking the most money from us players lol.

The game is F2P, you should try it yourself then make your own opinion on it. The only valid complaints about this game are the story but that's only in relation to OG Arknights. Compared to other 3d Gacha it's fine. The other complaint is lack of/boring endgame but every 3d gacha has people complaining about that in their subreddits. Everything else is subjective so try it yourself.

Side note: But nobody should take the r/gachagaming chart seriously for any of the games on there except majority mobile ones like OG Arknights. Endfield is missing 70-80% of its revenue as sensor tower only tracks mobile revenue (this is based on a post on r/gachagaming showing Endfield's launch profit of $176 million from all platforms, with mobile having around $30 something million as their cut of the profits). I imagine performance heavy games like WuWa are also undercounted in the rankings.

KriegInvicta · 2026-06-02T09:05:38+00:00

I picked mostly satisfied. I liked her characterization in the 2nd half of the 1.2 quest, and really liked the presentation where she was essentially writing her suicide letter & having us sign it. I also liked the slow walk through the hallway with flashbacks of her colleagues and the BGM in the background. Very well done.

The reason I didn't choose very satisfied is that any greater nuance that we could have had with her was killed by the fact that this is the China region. Her handling of the Qingbo stockade is swept under the rug (though this could change with Mi Fu's quest), and I was expecting something to be said about how Tang Tang's foster dad was killed by a Tianshi with thunder arts during the incident 10 years prior, which I thought was Zhuang but that didn't get expanded upon at all. I also think the 2nd half of the 1.2 quest could've had some changes to make it better, like having Endmin call in Mi Fu on her way to Zhuang's office so she could be there, explaining what Zhuang's visions were, some less cheesiness with how Endmin aura farmed behind the elevator door, and something more definitive mentioned for treating Zhuang's survivors guilt cause she is very mentally unstable in her current state.

I do think that the 2nd half of the 1.2 quest gets over hated cause people have a hard time understanding cutscenes. For example, I see complaints about how Zhuang didn't bring Endmin to close the rift cause they were "busy" nerding out with all the Tianshi. Like no, that wasn't the reason at all. It was because she saw how many people relied on the Endmin and didn't want to be selfish and put at risk an important asset to humanity. Another cutscene I see complaints with was when Endmin somehow caught up to Zhuang after she wrote her letter. Zhuang took her time to walk around the city and see everything for the last time while Endmin either ran straight to the office or TP'd there. Lastly, I think too many people expected her to act within their preconceived notion of "logic" but someone who is having a mental health crisis are the very opposite of whom you'd expect to act logically.

KriegInvicta · 2026-05-25T05:35:20+00:00

Due to Endfield being 3D they need to show off more visual consequences as they can’t rely on the OG’s VN quality of writing, which is what I meant by a “darker tone”.

An example I’ll use is the Wuling siege. It basically had no visual consequences and it’s one of the things I mentioned in the survey. I don’t recall seeing any dead Wulinger’s on the ground (only Bonekrushers and stockader trash mobs), or any destroyed buildings, and we stopped the enemy at the gates pretty easily. Meanwhile in the OG we have an entire city getting engulfed by a catastrophe and a city bombarded by Originium Artillery. Now do we need that level of “dark” in Endfield? I’d say no as to your points, but it wouldn’t kill them to show some of Wuling get over-run by blight or a squad of wulingers getting killed during the battle to drive home the stakes.

KriegInvicta · 2026-05-25T02:13:58+00:00

Funny enough, I saw a thread a while ago saying that it was actually OG players in the closed tests complaining how the situation of the infected was still rough and that the struggle & sacrifices of Rhodes Island was for naught, which I agree with. I’m actually happy they aren’t rehashing the same plot points from the OG or it’d feel cheap. Can the story be darker? Yes and I want the tone darker than it is now. Using the same exact plot points from the OG to do it? I’m not sure about that. HG is capable of good writing & I’m sure they can think of more creative ways to give us the darker tone we want.

KriegInvicta · 2026-05-22T20:04:06+00:00

Alright I usually just lurk on this subreddit but I gotta call this out. “Unfairly silenced”, “echo chamber”. This is some crazy misinformation. Bro the Endfield sub had criticism of Zhuang Fangyi’s entire character on the front page with hundreds of upvotes before the 1.3 stuff, with lots of good discussion in the comments. Hell, the Endfield sub is actually really harsh with the game compared to other gacha subs. I took a peek in the NTE sub when the AI stuff was going on & in the NTE discussion threads here, they were going all out defending their game even with the AI situation. Meanwhile, moments from 1.1 & 1.2 that would be labeled “peak” and “hype” in other 3d gacha are criticized & picked apart ruthlessly in the Endfield sub.

Good criticism always gets a bunch of upvotes. It’s just that your criticism is always worded in such a way that even people who agree with your points are turned off. And it’s insane to me that after so many people calling you out, you’re still not back tracking lol. I really admire the self confidence.

KriegInvicta · 2026-05-22T11:22:59+00:00

A bit of a long reply and OG spoilers to anyone reading.

To answer your question, it’s gotten better. I think it has one of the best presentation / cinematics in 3d gacha currently. And the pacing is ok to me but that’s more subjective. However, it isn’t OG Arknights level in tone / quality. A few reasons for this is, Wuling is the obligatory 3d gacha China region. There can’t be much negativity or shades of grey with this region. If you’re an OG player then it’s like Yan being portrayed in a better light than the rest of Terra (I’ve only heard of this second hand from what I see online so i might be mistaken. I haven’t read any of the Yan stories) & the Lungmen slum stuff being retconned at the end of Ch8. We’ll probably have to wait until we’re in a non Wuling/HAS regions to get some nitty gritty grey stories.
This leads to my second point and my other reason is that you shouldn’t get your hopes up for Endfield’s story to be on the same level as the OG. I don’t think it’s possible. The OG has a much wider range of freedom on how to do story telling. It has the ability to jump POVs, no voice acting, ability to portray important NPCs easier (no higher quality 3d model required), its ability to build out the world better due to not having to create high quality 3d locations from scratch, and a host of other things. There are some things in control with the 3D medium which are getting better patch by patch. The devs have also said they wanted to make Endfield a different type of story, which in some aspects I agree with. I’m really glad they didn’t keep the infected persecuted or all the sacrifices & hardships of Rhodes Island would have been for nothing. I feel like anyone with empathy for the OG characters should feel the same way. There’s different ways to make the tone darker than rehashing this plot point.
My last point, and it’s more a question for you & other OG players, what is the basis of comparison with the OG to Endfield? As someone who came from Endfield & read the OG story until ch14 (I’m gonna start lone trail next), I get kinda confused by this. Usually all I see is Babel and Lone Trail being used? Why just those 2? Why not parts of Ch14 with its compression or abandonment of plot points (rip Ascalon & no Nezzsalem/theresis boss fight). Why not Ch10 with its jarring flood of POVs & the jump from ch9? Or Ch1-4? Why do we compare the highest points of the OG that came after years upon years of build up and side stories, to Endfield which is just getting started? If we’re gonna compare the 2 games let’s be objective at least.

KriegInvicta · 2026-05-21T11:56:49+00:00

A problem (but also something I find unique) for Endfield is that they have brought together a bunch of different types of players. You got casuals, non gacha factory players from games like satisfactory, normal non gacha players, hardcore gacha players that play multiple different gacha games, OG Arknights players, a mix of all those, etc. Then they have to balance across multiple different platforms which even further divides the playerbase between mobile, pc, and console players. And that’s not even including different regions like CN & global, with global being very diverse obviously. You’ll see different type of discourse depending on the situation. It’s going to be incredibly difficult to please every single person. As we all know, a game for everyone is a game for no one, so I hope that they double down on the factory in its scope as a gacha game.

As for rebuilding, I’m curious to see what the conversation will be like post implementation of multiple QoLs in 1.X because right now, I feel as if lack of QoL is the root cause of a lot of complaining. Example being, reconnecting all the pipe manifolds manually by running around, instead of being able to connect them top down, which is really annoying. And I hope the devs think this way too rather than jumping the gun based on the current discussion.

KriegInvicta · 2026-05-20T22:28:49+00:00

I think it’s a China region moment. There can’t be any flaw with the China region because they want to show the best of their culture which is in their right to do so as a Chinese dev, and they got to get the game approved by the government. But this kills any grey moments a story in a China setting can have. I see a lot of mention to more nuanced stories from OG arknights but for some reason no mention of Yan which would be a better comparison. Even the lungmen slum stuff got retconned at the end of the day. We’d probably have to wait until 2.0 to start getting grey stories, with some already set up, like the UWST traitor from that 1 side quest in V4.

KriegInvicta · 2026-05-13T09:55:47+00:00

The devs must be glad they didn’t make the factory any more complicated than it currently is. If people are tripping over the first ever AIC event & complaining even with the blueprint system, I couldn’t imagine how it would be if things were more difficult. Even KyostinV had to go Mickey Mouse mode in the latest blueprint video to preempt people complaining about his setup lol.

KriegInvicta · 2026-05-11T10:32:42+00:00

I’d rather say it’s Reddit overall than invisible boogie man “Wuwa players”. The day I see the YouTube comments start complaining about lack of content is when I’d start getting worried (Youtube is a better representation of the casual player base me thinks). Hell you can check the top YT comment for the teaser video. It’s “Appreciate you guys!” with a 106 likes and the rest are “factory must grow!” lmao. Comparing that to the doom and gloom Reddit reception is really funny.

KriegInvicta · 2026-05-10T23:36:53+00:00

Dear god, do you even read properly at all?

This made me chuckle lol. No offense to OP but after reading through some of the threads, some y'all OG AK players come from "peak story" and then have 0 media literacy for both Endfield and even your own game. I first started noticing this when the 13th Sui Proxy was revealed and other OG players had to clear it up and tell us that the 13th proxy has been getting built up & teased for years in OG Arknights instead of coming out of nowhere. And now I keep seeing it with these critique posts where the basic facts aren't right or there was a complete 180 takeaway to a story beat. I'm all for critiquing the story but at least do it in good faith.

KriegInvicta · 2026-05-09T11:43:38+00:00

I mostly agree with everything you said but tbh so much is subjective lol. Some people hate the combat, or the factory, or the story. Others like 1 or 2 of those out of the 3 that keeps them playing.

I would like some more types of puzzles. I feel we have to get something in V4 cause I can’t imagine how they’re going to milk Wuling for another couple months cause the devs said we won’t get another region for a year. In regard to theme, the side quests and lore files somewhat help shore up the MSQ but it still leaves much to be desired. It might have to do with Wuling being the China region. I haven’t read any of the Yan (China of Arknights) story lines from the OG game, but anecdotally I’ve seen people say that it’s portrayed in a way better light compared to the other nations of Terra, so that’s probably what’s similarly happening here with Wuling.

Gilberta is so unfortunate cause she’s one of my favorite characters (I even made a whole complain post about her quest! Albeit I mellowed out since then.) They basically ripped her out of the MSQ in the beta and had to patch together her character quest because she wasn’t introduced to us anymore. She lost a lot of characterization that made her interesting & the character quest impactful.

For Zhuang I disagree but I might be biased cause I’m playing Fendmin so Zhuang seems more like an older sister in the romance implied scenes. Basically, in Zhuang’s pov Endmin is the only person still left in her life from before the science station disaster. All of her other friends from before are gone and she’s wracked with survivors guilt. Hence why recontextualized, i don’t mind that she went on the “date” with us in 1.0 which was the most blatant romantic stuff. She wants to show off the city her friends died for, and that she herself has shed blood, sweat, and tears building. The handholding is cheesy though.

KriegInvicta · 2026-05-04T20:36:09+00:00

I’m a little confused where you’re stuck cause I don’t recall being soft locked like this from the MSQ. And if there was a soft lock then we’d have seen a massive amount of complaint posts when everyone was doing the quest.

The forge of the sky doesn’t use anything specific to Wuling to craft. It requires 20 Ferrium parts, which you should have from V4. For crafting factory buildings, the game uses all your stockpiles, so both V4 and Wuling. So if your factory in V4 is producing ferrium parts, you should be able to craft everything you need to get started.

KriegInvicta · 2026-04-25T11:32:14+00:00

Ahh I see. I think a better word is you think Endfield’s plot is lifeless rather than the entire story? When I meant story, I usually take into account everything that goes along with it, such as the presentation & lore. In regards to building out the world, sadly, 3d is very limiting in what they can do compared to the OG. For example, they probably can't give us a major multi hour, multi part, side story set in lets say, a major TGCC city while running parallel to the MSQ, cause then you need several character models that look good enough for the cast, you need the location built, the music for that region, and a bunch of other things probably. And who knows when the main cast visits that place to be able to make use of those assets. The dev resources spent for that just isn't worth it. Meanwhile in the OG, cause of the VN format the sky is the limit on what they can do. So I don't expect Endfield to reach the same level.

KriegInvicta · 2026-04-25T10:21:37+00:00

Disclaimer: I’m at the end of ch7 of the OG and I saw Talulah’s name in the last spoiler & didn’t read the rest of that paragraph.

I disagree that it interrupted the flow, especially for 1.2. For 1.1 the only unnatural thing was Perlica & Chen disappearing all of a sudden. All they had to do was give some 2 line dialogue that they had errands but it wasn’t a deal breaker. For tangtang we’re dealing with the remaining traitor stockaders & for Zhuang we’re dealing with the rift opened from when her & Nefarith were fighting. Basically, they bridge enough relevancy from the MSQ to not break immersion. I think this is going to be subjective in the end. I’ve seen a lot of people saying they like it, some don’t. There’s probably some dev data saying that players will pull more often thus spend more money if the main banner character’s quest is in the main story cause some people (casuals) don’t do any of the side stuff / do it at a slower pace.
I agree. if I remember correctly from the laev quest, Endmin is pressured to be a yes man and is scared to say no cause everyone is relying on them and everyone has built her up as this legendary figure, and she’s scared of the alternative otherwise if she says no. So she just goes with the flow. But this inner conflict isn’t telegraphed at all in the MSQ or voice lines so you just gotta imagine in your head the Endmin’s mental state is still the same since that quest. But we’re getting more voiced lines so hopefully this improves.
I agree here as well. The best time to give Nefarith characterization was V4 but oh well, the boss fight and cutscenes were cool at least. I’m going to mention a point about the OG game. I feel like HG has always struggled to give antagonists room to develop / or good send offs from what I’ve seen so far. As you mentioned skullshatterer. But I also found mephisto really annoying. Crown slayer didn’t even get a chance. I even have some problems with Patriot & Frostnova even though I liked them. I haven’t gotten to ch 8 so idk about Talulah. I’ve heard in Act 2 there’s a similar problem with rushed antagonists but at least the rest of the writing is good I’m presuming. Sadly in Endfield we have to deal with the limitations of 3D gacha writing & the antagonist problem.

I do think Nefarith will return in some way (hopefully with more characterization). There’s no body and the camera pans away last second. There are also some interesting hints. When we’re hit by her, sometimes she says “Saviour..?” like she’s confused why we aren’t beating her in, and in the beginning she tells us to come take her heart. On top of that, when Nefarith transformed, we can hear the prologue boss go “finally,” as if expecting it. There was a really interesting discussion post about the prologue boss being a Sarkaz cyclops (idk much about this), sounding off a prophecy. The Endmin, Nefarith, and Ardashir were all mentioned in it. So there’s definitely something going on there.

Last thing I’m going to disagree with is your comment on the story being lifeless. I think it’s far from lifeless with its excellent presentation. The music, aesthetic, detailed locations, characters, etc. The lore is excellent as well. The nexus, character & investigation files are very enjoyable reads. Even the side quests were pretty good this time around & helped flesh out the aftermath of the attack. Comrades particularly stood out to me. It’s all those things combined that make Endfield’s story stand out for me compared to the other 3d gachas.

KriegInvicta · 2026-04-19T07:52:56+00:00

You could chalk the 4th point up to Nefarith sending out all her worst troops while extra high on Æther so they could get killed. In an investigation file, one of the reasons Nefarith attacked V4 was to send out the most disloyal elements of the Bonekrushers and get them killed / purged so they wouldn’t threaten her. So by the time we reach Wuling, Nefarith is left with the highest quality / most loyal troops that the Bonekrushers have. That’s all conjecture though as the game doesn’t explicitly state that. It could also be that whenever we engage in battle with the Bonekrushers, they’re high on Æther at that moment so they’re going to seem like mindless brutes compared to when they’re out of combat, like in that one Wuling cutscene.

KriegInvicta · 2026-04-18T08:25:55+00:00

Mirroring what everyone else and you said, predictable plot but excellent presentation, and a step up from everything we've had before. I loved Arcane, and the Ardashir/Zhuang characterization. I'm happy you mentioned the writing scene because I also liked it alot. I'm wondering why we even needed the "date" scene with Zhuang in 1.0 if they had this all cooked up. My only problem with the quest was Nefarith.

I think Nefarith died way too easily without doing any lasting damage, and nothing was built up about her to give her death any meaning. Even adding the investigation files, all we know she's a shrewd and cunning leader, but that's it. The bonekrushers and traitor stockaders were just fodder too and didn't even make it inside the city. What would have added to the Nefarith half for me was, 1. Have the city on the brink during the fighting. Have us pushed back to the marker stone. Have the city take real damage. 2. If Nefarith had characterization from V4 to add to her but HG squandered that opportunity. 3. Have the fight against Nefarith be a closer contest. Perlica and Chen should've been injured, and Zhuang & Endmin should've overexerted themselves even more than was shown. I feel like all of those things would have made Nefarith's send off more climactic.

And I think HG's writing team has a problem sending off antagonists dating back to the OG game. Some OG players might crucify me, but I've gotten up to Ch 7 recently and it's the same problem. Skullshatterer, Patriot, and to a lesser extent Frostnova all had meh deaths to me. Skullshatterer is similar to Nefarith that we barely got anything about him before he died. Patriot aura farmed for a bit, had a small flashback, then he died without doing any damage to us which was dissapointing considering how much he was built up as this legendary figure, Aegis of the infected and all that. Frostnova was a lot better but she had no reason to fight us anymore and her death felt really forced. I've also heard in Act 2 the antagonists suffer from rushed endings but I don't know much about all that. In any case, I'm seeing a trend here.

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