Introduction
Arknights is a tactical free to play, RPG/tower defence mobile game that was developed by a Chinese Developer Hypergryph. It was released in China on 1st of may 2019, then it started to branch out into ther countries on 16th of January 2020, and Taiwan 29th of January 2020. Arknights is currently available on Andriod and ISO, and PC through blue stacks. Through out the years there have been a spin off made for the game Arknights called Arknights: Endfield that was announced for PC and moblie in march 2022. Soon after the announcement of the Endfield an anime was produced by Yostar that retold the story in an animated form, a second season was announced called Arknights: Perish in Frost that soon premiered in Octoboer 2023.
Gameplay
The core gameplay is that of a Tower Defence, that houses a variety of operaters that can range from Caster, Defender, Guard, Medic, Sniper, Specialist, Supporter and Vanguard. Because there is a limited number of viable solutions, especially at high difficulties, Arknights has also being refered to a puzzle game this is because it doesnt require a quick response time as it allows the play to pause and think of a plan, this happens because it forces on the spot tactical analysis and foresight. As you progress through the story of the game you can noticed the difficulty increasing causing you needing to change your paly style for something different or try the other mechanic pulling for new characters, this function if a gacha type causing the player to pay in game currency to pull a character they like or need for a limited time, it is the same with crossovers and events. By having the increasing difficulty and gacha mechanic it allows the players to stay in engaged, and wanting more from the story. There is another aspect of the game that is a base building machainc allowing the player construct and assign operaters to that facilities, by having this function it allows the creation of materials which lowers the time for grinding that specific material at the cost of other materials and in game currency.
Other Mechanics
- Materials, Leveling, and promoting operaters and yourself - throughout missions you will collect materials that range from common all the way to legendary, this form of materials are used to promote your operaters and, level up their abilities. At the end of the mission you will collect a set amount of exp tokens and exp, the tokens will be used to level up your character to there max level allowing more damage, health, defence and other stats to go up, and the exp you gain from the mission goes towars your own level.
- Gacha mechinic - In the game you can get a currency called orundum by completing a mission with 3 stars or completing events with 3 stars and other types of game modes, once you have obatained this currency you can excahnge it for Originium which is used to purchase skins, furniture and trying your luck at drawing a character, you will need at least 6000 Originium for 10 draws or 600 Originium for 1 draw, by doing this you have a chance to get 6 star, 5 star, 4, star, 3 star, 2 star, and 1 star operaters.
- Base Building - The base consists of several different types of facilities, which we will go over below. Operators assigned to each of these facilities provide and receive various benefits depending on the type. Each Operator has bonuses called RIIC Skills. These skills will take effect when an Operator is stationed at a specific facility. As an Operator works in a facility, their Morale goes down over time. When their Morale reaches 0, they become distracted and will no longer contribute their bonus. RIIC is the main source of Trust for Operators, especially those not taking part in battle. Every day an Operator will obtain Trust points one time when stationed in a facility.
Voice Line/Gameplay
Opinion
Overall the game is well crafted with noticable effort being put into the game from the most simplest task to the most difficult task, by having that effort put into the game it makes it more enjoyable for people that range from a variety of ages. As you keep progressing the challenges are different never the same, as most games will have the same object over and over making the game pretty boring, but Arknights strive to have a fun game that requires alot of planning and stratgy with fun mixed into it. Overall the health mix of a tower defence and RPG makes it more exciting as it can unpredictable with alot more content to back it, with a great story to stand by it. Even then the game provides vanity like skins, which are well crafted for each operator designed to suit there personaility.