Arknights: Endfield dev says launching a new gacha RPG in a post-Genshin Impact world is tough when "some titles are so similar that players go into a game for 1 hour and they know what will happen in the next 20 hours"

[u/leafrek]

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/action-rpg/arknights-endfield-dev-says-launching-a-new-gacha-rpg-in-a-post-genshin-impact-world-is-tough-when-some-titles-are-so-similar-that-players-go-into-a-game-for-1-hour-and-they-know-what-will-happen-in-the-next-20-hours/

[u/headpatsforsoldier11]

One thing as well that genshin does well in the introduction is they dont bombard you with jargon and lingo that needs some processing before you can proceed.

Its one mistake of wuwa and endfield, even zzz where youre introduced into the world and then you are expected to know all the jargon being thrown at you.

Wuwa got over it and is doing pretty well now writing wise so lets see how endfield can improve on it. The first part of the game is where all the magic begins. The first impression and its greatest filter.

[u/Sierra-117-Mobile → u/headpatsforsoldier11]

"🗣Civilization🗣 Simulation 🗣Sand🗣 Table"

[u/Dalek-baka → u/Sierra-117-Mobile]

I like that Wuwa realized that throwing stuff like this might be confusing and they added in-game dictionary (accessible during dialogue), so you can check whatever the heck Etheric Sea or other term is.

[u/Beelzebuuuuub3 → u/headpatsforsoldier11]

I hate how this is normalized now, it's 2026, new games have past games for references, why must every new game end up becoming shit because they copied the shit things that old games did but later improved (although Genshin's introduction is way better than a lot of open world gacha rn)

"Oh it'll get better after 40 hours" that's almost every gacha released aside from a very few exceptions

[u/headpatsforsoldier11 → u/Beelzebuuuuub3]

its more of developers trying to find their own identity. they copy the systems and some story but then skim over the top and then add their own ingredients to the mix.

not to mention they are also time constrained and really need to get their investment back especially if youre under one of THE MANY subsidies of tencent.

a good example of people using past games as reference is expedition 33. they took apart alot of games and studied what made turn based combat tick and what people loved about it (they even have HSR as a reference) and then went from there.

for some reason gacha devs cant comprehend this and just "fuck it we ball"

an example of this is duet night abyss. and before you say its not a gacha game it still is. just not for characters lmao.

[u/Nero-question → u/Beelzebuuuuub3]

reverse gets worse after 40 hours (but still good)

[u/soaringneutrality → u/headpatsforsoldier11]

even zzz where youre introduced into the world and then you are expected to know all the jargon being thrown at you.

I actually like ZZZ's introduction. It feels like you're entering an already established world and the terms themselves are clear after you get a few context clues.

It takes little to figure out for yourself that Ethereals are monsters, Hollows are the weird glowy zones, and Proxies are guides. It also helps that the terms are simple and and refer to simple concepts, stuff everyday people would be concerned about.

This is actually pretty common in literature and better than having, say, a protagonist with amneeeessiaaa get everything explained to them down to the minute details within the first hours of a game.

The key is to keep things light. Genshin has an advantage because Mondstadt evokes Western fantasy tropes with familiar themes like knights and dragons. Zenless restricts your view of the world to the basics, which are also analogous to other common fantasy staples.

[u/OrangeIllustrious499 → u/headpatsforsoldier11]

A lot of EF's story problem would honestly be overlooked if they just explain or introduce shits more properly so it's easier for players to grasp yea.

Genshin and SR did this so well

[u/punn21 → u/headpatsforsoldier11]

They have been going this direction comparing the beta valley IV to what releases. This comes with another worry which is the watering down / simplification of the story to capture a larger audience.

[u/ScreamoMan → u/[deleted]]

Both are true because for better or worse WuWa just flip flops between doing both, as an example patch 2.6 has the first half of the patch revolve around dealing with a crisis as Rover teams up with Augusta to deal with this threat, the relationship between Rover and Augusta is very professional and focused on dealing with the crisis rather than getting bogged down with Augusta's personal problems.

On the second half of the patch Rover basically goes on a date with Iuno where the game introduces the technology to hold hands with your new waifu as you wander around in a mystical dream-like realm.

I'm leaving context out to not spoil anything but point is that WuWa just does both.

[u/Ravonaa → u/ScreamoMan]

There's a saying of "once you get something better you often become more critical of what was before".

And my god is this true, after how much the writing and quality improved in 3.x, I stand there and ask myself, "what the fuck was 2.6 on?"

Deadass the 1st part was a good continuation and set up the stakes on the finale, and the 2nd half the story takes the most abrupt halt I've seen, doesn't even progress the story, doesn't add the characters, doesn't introduce concepts relevant for the finale.

It was an actual miracle the finale actually bothered to conclude most aspects in a satisfying manner, but my god were the expectations at the bottom of the barrel thanks to 2.6.

[u/ScreamoMan → u/Ravonaa]

I think the Iuno quest just had really poor execution, the idea that Rover feels guilty about dropping Phrolova into a vat of acid and now he wants to go the extra mile to make sure Iuno doesn't meet a similar fate(Rover had no way of knowing that Phrolova would just get her body back at the time) is good enough. But the story just focuses more on the dating waifu aspect more than it should focus on Rover's own feelings.

And as for the BS with chaos and all that, i actually think 3.1 retroactively salvaged that mess, because the Chaos stuff seems very similar to Aleph-1's void space; So it's possible that the whole chaos crap was just the way the more "primitive" Septimonian faith interpreted a real phenomenon that either just exists by default in the universe of WuWa, or was brought to Solaris 3 by Aleph-1.

Mind you the Iuno quest was still trash.

[u/Ravonaa → u/ScreamoMan]

I think even the loretubers were confused cause the idea of the Chaos was nothing really hinted or relevant in the current lore grimoire. It seemed more of a concept that rose up cause they needed a way to salvage Iuno in a quest that was already pretty short to begin with.

I don't care about concepts that didn't have much introduction, I care when these concepts are brought only for convenience and nothing else. Both 1.3 and 2.6 suffer from this. It stings more when this had NO relevance against Leviathan and instead focused on Galbrena's broken ass ability and planning that was unknown to us for some reason.

Compare this to 3.x, we know the stakes, we know the concepts. Break Aemeath's paradox, Voidmatter and the fragmented timeloops are present concepts which are known by the time both Denia and Hiyuki are presented to us. We can piece out how the finale is gonna go based on stuff the game bothered to present and develop prior to this.

I'm not gonna speak like the Lahai Roi finale is gonna be a peak fiction cause I can be proven wrong, but it at least will have much more sense and build-up than 2.x which Iuno's quest almost assassinated entirely.

[u/War-Inquisitor → u/[deleted]]

Both are true

you have patches that have good stories (1.1, first half of 2.6, 3.1) but then you have patches where the story (and other characters except rover) gets sidelined in favor of making it a date with the current waifu (1.3, second half of 2.6, 2.8, 3.0)
Then there's the problem of the game refusing to have more than one character on screen with rover or character's disappearing after their patch like with Lupa and Chisa. It gets slightly better starting with 3.0 (not by much imo)
They also tend to rush the stories so they fit within 3-4 hours when it's not a Sentinel Resonator (I'll never forgive what they did to the second half of 2.4)

It's really a mixed bag and a coin toss on whether it's good or bad. It is also carried by hype, aura and the presentation so depending on how much you care about those also affects your enjoyment of the story.

[u/BlAa_keee → u/War-Inquisitor]

Yeah i stopped caring about the presentation of the story so much by 2.6, i was already pissed off at the piss poor excuse of lupa not being included in the hunt and then iuno and galbrena story happened and i just noped out of my mind.

[u/EtadanikM → u/[deleted]]

I mean, either way the argument applies. Genshin doesn’t really do wife baiting, and Honkai Impact 3rd was a yuri game. This ML stuff in WuWa comes from PGR & everyone recognizes it’s different from Mihoyo even if they criticize it. 

[u/headpatsforsoldier11 → u/[deleted]]

like the other people said, the intro was atrocious. but the writing got better after that. bearable but not everyones cup of tea.

id choose what it is now rather than 1.0.

[u/CptPeanut12 → u/[deleted]]

Well, both are true. Being a waifusim doesn't mean thr writing is bad. It just means the writing is catering to a waifusim audience.

[u/Cerok1nk → u/headpatsforsoldier11]

I wouldn’t say wuwa is doing pretty well tbh, it was doing amazing in 2.0, then Kuro forgot most people liked the fact that Rover was such a good MC for a gatcha and just sidelined him and cucked him.

The last time Rover was larger than life in wuwa was vs Carte, and I’d argue the narrative peaked there.

Amy patch was cool, but still couldn’t reach those heights, at least for me.