Arknights
Arknights (Chinese: 明日方舟) is a Chinese mobile tower defense gacha video game developed by Studio Montagne, Hypergryph. It was first released in China on 1 May 2019. Its global server was then released on 16 January 2020 by Yostar.[1] The game is available on iOS and Android platforms.
| Arknights | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Hypergryph/Studio Montagne |
| Publisher(s) | Hypergryph (CN); Yostar (EN) |
| Engine | Unity3D |
| Platform(s) | Android iOS  |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Strategy RPG, tower defence |
Gameplay
The core gameplay is that of a tower defense game, with a number of characters ("operators") as towers. Melee operators can be placed on ground tiles, and ranged operators on elevated tiles. Melee operators physically block enemies from advancing, and ranged operators deal ranged damage or heal melee operators. Specialist operators can be deployed on any playable tiles. Players must place operators on the correct tiles to prevent the enemy from infiltrating the player's base.
As the player progresses through the game, they unlock more gamemodes, operators and resources, and are also introduced to new types of enemies and gameplay mechanics. Levels that have been cleared with a three-star rating can be auto-completed without player input, as the game records the player's actions and replicates them.
The game also has a base-building side to it, which allows players to construct facilities and assign operators to them. This enables players to increase their resources in the manner of an incremental game.[2] It features the usual array of free-to-play, gacha game mechanics, such as randomized character acquisition through virtual currency which can be obtained by playing the game, through social features, daily login rewards or optional in-app purchases using real currency.
Operator Class
The operators are divided into eight classes: vanguard, guard, defender, specialist, medic, caster, sniper and supporter.
- Vanguard: early-deployment, cost-generating operators that resist earlier waves of enemies before higher-cost, longer-standing operators can be deployed.
- Guard: operators that deal melee or range damage. Most deal physical damage while some can deal arts damage or even mixture of both.
- Defender: high-defense high-HP, "tank"operators that can block more enemies in the path. Best utilised to absorb enemy attacks to protect other operators.
- Specialist: operators with particular set of abilities and talents that are used in particular situations, in which regular operators fall short of.
- Medic: healers that restore operators' HP. Some medics with unique talents can also provide extra buff to operators.
- Caster: arts damage dealers deployed on highground. Some specialise in single target, effective against high defense enemies, while some others deal AoE, effective against groups
- Sniper: physical damage dealers deployed on highground. Some may specialise in fast-rep attacks, low-rep high-dmg attacks, explosive group damage, poisonous dmg etc.
- Supporter: assistive operators that provides single-target or group buff to operators or anti-buff to enemies. Some supporters can also summon creatures or artefacts onto the battlefield.
*Note that above are generic description of the roles of each class of operators. There are many exceptions in the game. Players are encouraged to use different combinations of operators and to use their own strategies in the game. In the 1st anniversary livestream of Arknights, @rua牛, a developer of many stages and maps in the game admitted that he was nicely surprised by some very creative and unexpected strategies created by the players.
Character building
Outside of battles, character-building is a key part of the game as it allows improvement of operators' abilities by increasing stats, acquiring new skills and talents. After reaching certain levels, operators can be promoted to a higher tier called "Elite" which increases the maximum stats of the operator and unlocks new skills and talents. The level required for promotion, the cost and materials required as well as number of times an operator can be promoted depend on the rarity of the operator. Top (6-star), Senior (5-star) and 4-star operators can be promoted twice, reaching maximum of Elite 2, whereas 3-star operators can reach a maximum of Elite 1 only.
The rarity of operators affects the maximum potential of an operator, not the intrinsic quality, hence a higher-star operator is not neccessarily better than a lower-star operator when given the same level. Some low-star operators have unqiue talents that have no better equivalents that make them incredibly useful even in late game. 3-star and 4-star operators have a lower deployment cost and are therefore even preferred in some stages where cost generation is a major difficulty. It is often recommended to build a 3-star/4-star team earlier on in the game.
Later in the game as players progress through the main story, unlock new stages and enemies, the low-star operators may start to fall short as they reach their maximum. Higher-star operators with more powerful skills and better stats are demanded. Players may prioritise their resources on promoting highly versatile 5-star or 6-star operators in the transition stage.
Operator skills is an important aspect as well. All skills of an operator share a common level, from level 1 up to 7, after which the players may choose to master a particular skill. The mastery of a skill is significantly more costly yet extremely rewarding. It is a common way to maximise operators' ability in late-game. Mastery of any skill is exclusive to Elite 2 operators and provides a powerful boost to make an operator really shine.
Resource management
The materials required for operator promotions and skill mastery vary. There are different grades of quality, and different series of materials in the Arknights world. Materials can be farmed from main story line stages, exchanged or purchased from shops and obtained as bonus rewards from side story missions or time-limited events. Crafting allows players to make scarce higher-grade materials from farmable lower-grade materials. There are 6 major series of materials:
- Device --> Integrated Device --> Optimized Device
- Polyketone --> Aketone --> Ketone Colloid
- Oriron --> Oriron Cluster --> Oriron Block
- Polyester --> Polyester Pack --> Polyester Lump
- Sugar --> Sugar Pack --> Sugar Lump
- Orirock cube --> Orirock Cluster --> Orirock concentration
Alongside with 6 slightly rarer series of materials:
- Loxic Kohl --> Whitehorse Kohl
- Grindstone --> Grindstone Pentahydrate
- Manganese Ore --> Manganese Trihydrate
- RMA70-12 --> RMA70-24
- Silicic Alloy --> Silicic Alloy Block
- Synthetic Resin --> Fined Synthetic Resin
There are 3 extremely rare types of crafting-only materials that are required exclusively for Elite 2 promotion of 6-star operators and skill mastery:
- D32 Steel
- Bipolar Nanoflake
- Polymerisation Preparation
Stategic management of resources is a key aspect of Arknights as the limiting factor for players progression is sanity, which is restored with time. Players often joke about they become "insane" because they used up the "sanity", which is like the endurance in other games. Correct prioritisation of resources allow players to build their operators gradually with their play time. Although some criticised it for being too slow, unsatisfied with the speed of progression players can make without consuming originium to obtain extra sanity, this problem has been later improved after free sanity-refilling potions were added to weekly quests rewards.
Plot
The game is set in the dystopian, post-apocalyptic future setting of the planet Terra, where magic exists and the humans of Terra exhibit features of animals or mythological races. Natural disasters leave behind a mineral, originium, which infect people with a progressive disease, oripathy. Due to the disease's 100% mortality rate, and its high infectivity at the time of death, hostility towards the infected became widespread, leading to their mass quarantine and expulsion by governments worldwide.
The player takes the role of the masked and amnesiac "Doctor", recently recovered from cryonic sleep. The Doctor commands a team of "operators" belonging to Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals, a medical and self-defense organization. As oripathy spreads, the team must search for a cure while defending themselves against the Reunion Movement, an Infected anarchist military force bent on overthrowing the governments of Terra in revenge for persecuting oripathy victims.[2]
Background
Stories in Arknights are set on the Continent Terra, a fictional world that vaguely resemble the real world geographically. At some point in the past, unpredictable Catastrophes started to emerge, spontaneously destroying cities, homes and lives. Countries were forced to create "Nomadic Cities" for survival.
Not only did catastrophes bring natural disasters, they also created black ores called "Originium" wherever catastrophes had swept across. At first, origniums brought hopes to the people of Terra. Because they were enriched in energy, originiums had been widely utilised in industrial technologies. The people of Terra also discovered magic called "Orignium Arts" which used energy released from Origniums. However, it was then found out that whoever in close contact with originiums started to develop irreversible and incurable disease called "Oripathy", in which internal organs would be gradually degraded, corroded and crystallised, eventually turning a living body into originium ore.
The horrible disease segregated the infected and the non-infected. Societies became divided. The healthy were afraid of the infected and started to blame the infected for their suffering. Soon enough, fear, hatred, violence and revenge were brought to every corner of the world of Terra. Any normal person can become infected, only to be dehumanised and expelled once this is discovered. The infected sought to fight against their oppression, so a militia group called "Reunion" was formed. Reunion members initiated terrorist attacks, vandalised cities. Different countries and goverments got involved and wars were started.
Reception
Arknights is very popular in China, where it was first released. Pocket Gamer highlighted the game's extensive lore and high production values.[3]
References
- Lada, Jenni (24 January 2020). "The Doctor Is in as Arknights Is Available Outside Japan". Siliconera. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
- Jensen, Brock (29 January 2020). "Arknights Review - Gacha Tower Defense Done Right". Noisy Pixel. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
- Gregson-Wood, Stephen. "Arknights is a tower defense game for iOS and Android that puts a huge emphasis on its lore, you can pre-register now". Pocket Gamer. Retrieved 7 February 2020.