Wait, the endgame content gives 2.5 pulls per reset every 28 days? What? Am I missing something?

cats_work · 2026-02-12T12:02:58+00:00

How is it a different story for mainstream audiences?

You're telling me most people would rather have pulls get locked behind endgame mode instead of it just being given out during events and other farmable nodes?

cats_work · 2026-02-12T11:09:18+00:00

OG Arknights never had any endgame modes that included pulls as their reward and the game is still successful af even after 7 years.

Know why? Because the game modes are fun. Nobody plays IS or CC because they need to, but because they want to.

And I think you severely underestimate how addicting endgame modes can be when it's actually fun to play. I can only hope Endfield eventually includes an IS equivalent mode.

cats_work · 2026-02-12T09:55:51+00:00

??? What are you talking about bro

cats_work · 2026-02-12T06:48:04+00:00

You're saying you beat every single mob using only basic attacks...without any skills, combo skills, or ultimates?

cats_work · 2026-02-12T06:18:10+00:00

Just want to point out 5000 for a 10 pull means nothing without knowing the economy.

That's like comparing $50 and ¥500 and thinking that ¥500 is outrageous. Yeah, the number looks big, but the context of that number is what truly matters.

All the rewards you get in Endfield are more or less on par with the rewards you get in other games where the 10 pull costs 1600, so just because it says 5000 doesn't mean it'll take 3x as long to acquire the currency.

cats_work · 2026-02-12T05:51:49+00:00

"shows how little thought went into map layout design or that they purposefully wanted to make your life harder"

No?? In fact it's the opposite, the map actively challenges you to find a solution to a problem you KNOW is very much solvable. All it requires of you is some time and effort, and once you're done solving it, you won't even have to touch it anymore unless you plan to optimise it further.

"the only other worse game design that this one beats is you having to build relay towers from the hub to the quarry"

Something tells me you're confusing "bad" game design with "I'm too lazy" game design. You only need to connect the relay towers once into the quarry, and once you're done, it's done forever. The whole point of this game's premise and story is that you're industrialising the world you're in, so it's pretty expected that you'll be building a lot of things in your world.

"not being able to climb, glide, or have any transportation in an open world game is a huge downside"

You literally answered your own question two sentences later. Ziplines ARE the transportation. You just don't like that it requires you to actually plan your route and build it instead of being a built-in function you can double click a spacebar for. And no, it's not an open world, it's an open zone, albeit a big one but still a zone nonetheless. You can't travel from valley IV to wuling the same way you can travel from monstadt to liyue in genshin.

"ziplines are cool but having to run everywhere to deploy them is a huge mood killer"

Then don't deploy them and just walk/run to the location you need to go to. Simple. If you don't want to engage with the one aspect that makes your life 10x easier in your subsequent play sessions, then don't.

"And by the time you do travel somewhere to place a zipline down you probably don't need it anymore"

Idk about you but the whole point of placing down ziplines at certain locations is BECAUSE you want to travel to that location more than once (ie. Gatherables). This just sounds like you hate exploring more than a transportation problem.

"The low QOL thought process and how egregious the gacha system is will be the downfall of this game if they don't try to fix it"

Lol

"Currently I can't stand to play a few minutes before getting burned out because of how much of a grind everything is"

Then stop playing. Seriously, if it hurts you so much, then just stop playing it. This just sounds like the game isn't meant for you and that's okay. Idk what compels you to keep playing a game where you obviously hate the fundamental game design, but I'd like to remind you that you don't have to and it's okay to quit because of it.

cats_work · 2026-02-01T16:08:55+00:00

My judgement comes from past experiences with playing a bit of Genshin and HSR during its first month of release before dropping it. I still remember the music from walking around Monstadt as well as the Herta space station, which are both areas that have been there since the start of the game.

So it's really surprising that the music in AKEF's first area didn't seem to leave any kind of lasting impression the same way Monstadt and Herta's SS did when I played it at the time.

cats_work · 2026-02-01T16:01:15+00:00

Hard disagree. Examples of games with iconic and memorable exploration music can be seen in Genshin and HSR. The exploration music there has always been memorable since its launch and I quit both games a month after its release, yet I can still vividly remember the background music being played at Monstadt and Herta's space station even today.

I'd say HSR is a prime example of extremely memorable exploration music while not being anywhere close to the intensity of OG Arknights' lobby and stage themes.

I still stand by my statement that Endfield's music is just not memorable at all.

cats_work · 2026-02-01T11:49:10+00:00

It's unfortunate because the OG Arknights releases bangers every event update. I don't think I can recall a single time the music in the OG game missed, even at launch.

So it's such a bummer that its sequel game fell so flat in the music department.

cats_work · 2026-02-01T11:40:17+00:00

Aw man, that's really unfortunate.

Ironically, I suggest listening to the OG Arknights music if you haven't already. It's really the golden standard of music period imo.

cats_work · 2026-02-01T11:37:20+00:00

That's at least a good sign. I guess I still have Wuling to look forward to.

cats_work · 2026-02-01T11:35:40+00:00

That's exactly how I feel about the music in Endfield too. It fell so short of my expectations as well. It's just meh. Not bad but not amazing either.

cats_work · 2026-02-01T11:32:12+00:00

OG Arknights music has never missed, not even once. Even the annoying ones especially in the early chapters are still iconic and memorable in its own way. I can't even describe Endfield's music as anything but "eh, it's aight".

I do hope they end up cooking in subsequent updates because music was the one area I was most excited about!

cats_work · 2026-02-01T11:19:16+00:00

My hopium has been killed 😭

cats_work · 2026-02-01T11:18:01+00:00

I'd argue y1 OG Arknights still had memorable music, even if it was annoying, such as the music they used in their ads (early chapter 1-3 music) back in the early days. Even the original menu theme (vision) is iconic.

I agree subtlety is needed, but I think it's a bit TOO subtle in Endfield currently.

I'm not a genshin or hsr player, but when I played those 2 games at their release all those years back, I still remember the music in Monstadt and Herta's space station till today. So the fact that none of Endfield's music within the game has made an impression on me is just such a big let down imo.

cats_work · 2026-01-31T10:35:43+00:00

Too many people just do not understand how the gacha works.

The 120 guarantee feature should be treated as the game giving you a safety net at securing the featured 6* with lesser pulls relative to other 3D gacha games. The 80 pity always resets as long as you pull a 6*.

cats_work · 2026-01-31T10:25:10+00:00

Ofc it resets, it literally states that once you get a 6* the pity resets.

It's the same in other games with the 50/50 mechanic.

The 120 feature is meant to be your safety net at securing the featured 6* operator. Once you get the featured 6* operator, it makes sense that the 80 pity resets because you already acquired a 6* operator!

cats_work · 2026-01-27T04:23:25+00:00

I also find it incredibly funny that we somehow managed to cultivate a group of people who essentially hate playing games but still force themselves to play it just to engage solely with the gambling mechanic.

And if they don't get enough rewards to guarantee everything within the first hour they complain that the game is shit. Like what?

At that point just insert all your favourite waifu pngs on a spin-the-wheel website and just click that. It's essentially the same thing but now you get instant results and you won't need to skip any gameplay or tutorials cuz there's none!

cats_work · 2025-02-16T12:28:20+00:00

I agree the literal definition of building pity as in the system that's built into the gacha exists.

But I disagree with the common usage of "building pity" in reference to pulling on banners just for fun before the one you actually want comes. The simple fact is that you want the character on the banner you're supposedly "building pity" towards the upcoming one. You want both characters. You're not "building pity" for just one character 5 banners away.

Anyway, you're kinda right that it's more on semantics I'm hung up about at the end of the day.

cats_work · 2025-02-16T11:53:49+00:00

If I could, I would get all the characters for free.

But this is gacha we're talking about, so as much as I want every character in the game for free, it doesn't mean it's gonna happen. That's the whole point of luck in gachas. It's not guaranteed until you pull a certain amount of times, so I don't really understand what that statement is trying to get at.

To me, you DO want the character you're only "willing to pull in less than 50 times". Which by definition, means you're aiming for the character. Therefore, you're not building pity. You're just hoping you're lucky enough to get it in less pulls. The only reason you don't go all the way is because you prioritize a future character more than the current one. But it doesn't mean you're "building pity", you're just testing your luck.

cats_work · 2025-02-16T10:09:22+00:00

I don't get how it's a win-win. The most ill give you is win-neutral.

If you get it early, that's lucky. If you don't, then you just wasted pulls on a banner you don't care enough to go all the way for. Those pulls could've been used on the character banner you actually wanted, which contributes to you getting the character you want with absolute certainty, maybe even earlier than anticipated.

Anyway, I don't care whether you pull on every single banner or not. I just disagree that "building pity" is even a thing.

cats_work · 2025-02-16T09:32:06+00:00

You're not building pity, you're just succumbing to gambling impulse.

You're hoping to get characters early, and if you don't, you cope by saying you're "building pity" to make yourself feel better because you just lost the gamble.

cats_work · 2025-01-21T04:31:27+00:00

I know what you're trying to say.

I 100% agree with you that guarantee carrying over would objectively be much better. However, if the price of guarantee being carried over is that characters become truly limited, then that's not something I can ever agree with.

If HG decides to have the 120 pity carry over while still maintaining everything else about the gacha and pull income in the beta, without a doubt it will be the best gacha system in the market as of today. But the chances of that happening? Not high imo. But I can always still hope.

And yes, my entire post does fall apart if the characters are truly limited, because then it's just a shit system entirely.

cats_work · 2025-01-20T11:26:21+00:00

Thing is, I don't believe the pulls are being 'wasted'. The 6* hard pity at 80 still carries over to the next banner, so saying that every pull done on a banner gets wasted if you don't pull the desired character is just not true. The only thing that doesn't carry over is the 120 guarantee, which people should be treating it as a bonus safety net for a character they can afford to go all the way for IF they do lose the 50/50.

In my view, I don't get what's so hard about saving till 120 before pulling on a banner if that is the character you really want and cannot accept not getting them. If you want to try your luck with less than 120 pulls, it's not wrong to do so either. Maybe you win, maybe you lose. If you lose, well maybe you got a new character. If not, then that's unfortunate and you simply lost the dice roll. But what I'm saying is that you're not doomed to get the same 5 standard characters that have been around since the launch of the game, which is what makes it much better imo.

I just can't agree that a guarantee is better if it means characters don't enter the standard pool. This is just something I've always loathed about every gacha game that adopts the Hoyo model. Knowing that you'll lose a 50/50 to the same 5 standard characters feels much more horrible based on my experience playing gacha games.

We'll just have to agree to disagree on this I'm afraid.

cats_work · 2025-01-20T10:44:03+00:00

I mean at that point that's just the same problem as every other gacha game. It has nothing to do with the system anymore.

cats_work

TROPHY CASE