by theygamesIn the wake of Genshin Impact we’ve seen the gacha genre explode in the West. From Genshin’s sister titles Honkai Star Rail and Zenless Zone Zero, to other takes on the genre like Infinity Nikki and Wuthering Waves, there’s a whole slew of anime-style adventures to choose from. The newest challenger to HoYoverse’s crown is Arknights: Endfield, an open-world take on the mobile game of the same name. Trading out tower defense for team-based Genshin-style combat and survival game-esque base building, its highly anticipated beta has finally arrived, and you can get involved.
This is Talos-II, the gacha game‘s primary planet. You are an Endministrator, a being whose sole purpose is to wake up from hibernation, save humanity, then head back to sleep. With each adventure, your memory is wiped, making your past a mystery that feels like it’s worth unravelling.
In Arknights: Endfield, you’ve been sent to collect some missing data on behalf of the titular Endfield Industries. Exploring a once-civilized world left to rot, you’ll take down mobs to pick up resources, and scour a sprawling open world for your prize.
Combat plays out Genshin-style, meaning you’ll have a team of NPCs with you to help you best Talos-II’s beasties and the infamous Aggeloi, Endfield’s rivals. Chaining together attacks will result in flashy combo opportunities, so picking the right squad for the job is an absolute must. Notably, all of your teammates remain on the field; a slight deviation from HoYo’s signature switch out mechanic.
The new demo lets you choose from a 15-character roster, two of which are Endministrators (the primary player character, akin to Genshin’s Traveler). As a result there are some new combo actions to try out, and you’ll now be able to dodge enemy attacks, increasing the tempo and diversifying combat.
But where Arknights differs from Genshin Impact is in its focus on base building; here it feels more like a survival game than a gacha one. The gameplay demo below sees our merry band of misfits carve out a factory for themselves, growing plants and automating systems in the style of Palworld. The demo offers a new tutorial, as well as more construction areas and and tower-defense-inspired structures – a nice little nod to the series’ past.
The demo will also showcase a “limited portion of the game’s monetization system,” likely referring to HoYo-style banner pulls and other auxiliary transactions. Note that Gryphline has previously stated that the beta’s “progress will not be retained,” so whether or not you’ll actually be able to make purchases is unclear.
The Arknights Endfield beta is live now. You can check whether or not you’ve been accepted for it by logging in on the official website.
With the Arknights: Endfield release date slated for 2025, now’s the perfect time to take it out for a spin. Be sure to check out our rundown of the Arknights: Enfield system requirements to ensure that your PC is up to the task, as well as our list of all the best anime games to tide you over when the beta ends.
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