I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around Arknights: Enfield. It is One Of Those Games, to which there are two versions of. Arknights: Enfield is One Of Those Games, as in an anime gacha game filled with anthro-adjacent women for you to roll for and fight with in flashy, lackluster-in-feeling combat. Arknights: Enfield is also One Of Those Games, a factory sim where you build complex systems to produce, uh, something. This is a combination I cannot fathom, but registration for its next beta test is open, so perhaps I can figure it out.
Signing up to the test is pretty simple, you just need to head to the official website, fill out a little survey, and at some point you might be told you’re in. No guarantees there, but if you’re curious about playing it, there’s no real risk involved. This is actually the second beta test for the game, and according to the press release, it’ll be a bit different from the first one.
For starters, the story has apparently received a complete rework, from new cutscenes and dialogue, to choices that you can make that “lead to unique outcomes.” There’s a new region called Wuling to explore too, a “region that blends Eastern aesthetics with futuristic elements, combining traditional with contemporary.”
The test includes nine new operators to try out, and combat has had a bit of a refresh too, with some new skills, tweaked abilities, and updated bosses. There is, of course, that whole factory system to try out too, and controls and visuals across the whole game have apparently been “enhanced.”
Again, it feels slightly odd for it Arknights: Endfield to essentially be two games in one. I understand the original has some strategy roots, so it feels like a factory sim feels like it might be appealing to a similar kind of crowd, there’s just an awkwardness to it. I wonder how the game will reckon with its sense of self because of those stark differences. There’s no release date for the game just yet, so we’ll have to wait to find out I suppose.
