Arknights is the latest gacha game published by Yostar.

Arknights is a tower defense game in which players will deploy and use operators to prevent the enemies from reaching a designated point on the map. There are a variety of operators, including melee units, attackers, defenders, and castors.

The gameplay is surprisingly challenging, requiring players to strategize to succeed. Some of the mid to late game stages will test the player’s unit choices and deployment. At the same time, it isn’t unfair and players won’t be forced to whale to succeed. There are of course some great rare units, but quite of the few lower-ranked units are just as good as the rarest, if not better. The characters all feel fairly unique, which allows for some solid experimentation on difficult stages.

Like all gacha games, the appeal of Arknights is going to depend on the players’ interest in the characters. Arknights doesn’t utilize any major existing franchises so it depends on great character designs and art. The character art is fantastic, with high-quality anime-style artwork. The game’s artists utilize great designs that feel fresh and familiar. Arknights art doesn’t rely on excessive fanservice to attract players and simply relies on great-looking characters. The colors fit the theme, using excellent shading to bring a 3D-like element to the 2D art.

The in-game character models utilize chibis. While they look fine, they don’t look as great as the chibis found in games like Fire Emblem Heroes and Granblue Fantasy. The 2D sprites sit in somewhat 3D environments that range from bland to colorful. Summoning operators is flashy and fits the theme, making this one of the better-looking summoning sequences in the genre. Units are summoned with lengthy introductions, allowing players to get to know the original characters before they even start using them.

The story is generic but serviceable. It’s brought to life by well-drawn environments and good dialogue. The story utilizes heavy themes like war and its impact on families. There isn’t a lot of voice acting present during the story segments, which is nice for storage space but not so much for immersion if players play with sound. Speaking of sound, the music is simple with somewhat lively menu themes and moody action songs.

The game runs well, avoiding ridiculous load times and giving players a few quality of life features. A performance mode is present for weaker phones. There are also settings to aid in battery consumption. Players can bound their accounts to Yostar, Facebook, and Twitter. Yostar is known for treating its player base well, so we can expect plenty of support for Arknights in the future.

Gacha rates are currently 40% for 3 star operators, 50% for 4 star, 8% for 5 star and 2% for 6 star. It remains to be seen how often players will receive the premium currency needed for pulling operators.

Arknights is one of the better gacha games I have tried recently. It has simple but enjoyable gameplay, strong character designs, and decent presentation. If its anything like Azur Lane, players can expect a generous flow of premium currency for summoning too. This is one to keep an eye on throughout 2020.

The Global Version of Arknights Will Be Available On Google Play and the App Store in January 2020

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