The only Gacha game i can recommend – Arknights Review

I normally don’t write reviews, but seeing nearly all other gacha games having 5 stars and this game at only 4.5 stars bothered me more than i thought it would. To preface I am a level 70, spent about 30 dollars on the game, and have never not enjoyed my time with it. While i did spend money, the game is very generous with it’s free to play scene, and unlike most gacha games, you can expect a 10 roll every 2 weeks and more once you reach a moderate level. Outside of the generosity of rolls, which includes a pity system, a guarantee system, and a secondary shop to cash in your dupe rolls for specific units, the game also features low tier units that will last you throughout the whole game. Gameplay is a tower-defense esque game with an ease of access that even a child could get into. This doesn’t mean there isn’t any skill though, as challenge missions, 400 enemy gauntlets, and difficult mid-late game content incentivizes skill and reactive thinking. This game is above nearly all other gacha games by allowing unique strategies and plenty of opportunity to plan, making beating levels actually feel good. Ask yourself when playing a gacha game whether you feel satisfaction in completing a difficult stage. Few gacha games even have half these kinds of moments that Arknights does. While auto-leveling is a thing, since it requires no player input, its seamless and not so much of a time sink. So autoplay is more a feature than a mandatory option since you can still go ahead and try a different strategy or different units on a mission you beat already. The one aspect that people get hung up on is that the stamina system is limiting, to which I say... duh? If the game doesn’t push you to buy your way to the top-tier characters, doesn’t have ridiculous prices for skins, then how do they make money? Even then, during events they always grant plenty of stamina to make sure all players can securely complete every objective, and the game still gives you weekly stamina to boot without paying a time. While I will criticize the use of time limits on the stamina restoring items, I feel that if the stamina is the biggest issue in Arknights, then Arknights is doing a fantastic job. Speaking of paying, the prices of items are fairly standard for gacha games. A ten roll if you simply bought standard currency amounts to about 18-20 USD. Sounds hefty, but the game also provides plenty of “roll” currency every week, and first time purchases + monthly deals are at a more reasonable price. I won’t defend gacha game methodologies of earning cash, but relative to games like FGO, PAD, 7sins etc., this game is probably twice as generous (cost AND roll chance wise). For the sake of brevity (which is not the case seeing the length of my review) I won’t explain the ways to get the free “roll” currency, but it’s simple, efficient, and integrated in the daily and weekly tasks. Since this became an essay more than a review I will stop it here with this: This game is for casual and devoted gacha players alike. Since downloading this game, I have almost exclusively played this over all other gacha games. I can’t stress enough that this game deserves more love and attention from the greater gacha community. Follow the reddit, subscribe to their youtube channel, and download the game!
Review by Flash#4691 on Arknights.