There’s no denying Genshin Impact reshaped the entire gaming landscape. HoYo proved that you can have a quality game be cross-platform compatible – that Gacha can be implemented, and more than that, accepted into the genre as a form of monetization without forcing pay to win.
Studios all over the world began scrambling in an attempt to replicate the success that Genshin had garnered – bringing in a cumulative total of over $120 million dollars per month between Global and China.
Microsoft and Sony are absorbing studios in China in an attempt to create the “Genshin killer,” Hotta Studio created Tower of Fantasy, we have The Legend of Neverland – an MMO that is about as close a rip as Genshin was of Breath of the Wild.
Yet despite all of the “clones,” attempting to replicate Genshin in terms of aesthetic, world and features, they’ve all failed. Because at the end of the day – they market themselves as “The Next Genshin Impact,” copying the bright, vibrant world, the character style, even some of the cities.
The originality behind these games is honestly severely lacking. You can’t compete with something by copying them with an inferior version of what they offer. What would warrant we play your game? That’s like opting to play Allods Online instead of World of Warcraft.
But there exists a game – entering Global Closed Beta testing next month, that has the potential to change all of that: Wuthering Waves. This is a game that has been in development for the last year or two, and has been slowly accumulating an enormous following online.
And I want to talk to you guys today about why I think this game could not only challenge Genshin Impact for a share of the market, but continue to aid in the evolution of the gaming genre.

Wuthering Waves is not an MMO – let me get that out of the way first. When Genshin Impact was first announced, we were under the impression it was going to be an MMO, but we were ultimately disappointed to learn that it wasn’t.
Although would it have garnered the same success if it were? Doubtful. With this in mind, the vast majority of “Genshin clones” are single-player, or multiplayer-compatible Anime RPGs. Crafting an MMO with the scale and quality of Genshin is impossible. Look at Tower of Fantasy for reference.
Wuthering Waves is a large, open-world Anime RPG. While not an MMO, it could 100% have fully functional multiplayer, like Genshin does. Or, if we want to disregard Genshin, the Wuthering Waves devs have another game online right now that is arguably one of the most played, highest grossing Gacha games every single month.
And has been for the last couple years. Punishing Gray Raven, one of the fastest-paced action Gacha RPGs that is also launching on to PC later this year, and – that I’ve covered over on my other channel, Stix, on a multitude of occasions.
Punishing Gray Raven is an instanced RPG, meaning you take missions, deploy a group of 3 characters into a stage, and run through a selection of enemies or boss monsters until you complete your objective. Rinse and repeat. While it can get a little repetitive at times, this is the route many Gacha games take.
It’s easy, and requires very little effort. Larger, open worlds that have real-time physical exploration are rare, because of the time investment, financial investment, and how much more difficult continuing to release new content in the form of updates is.
Instanced games? Release a few stages that are mostly reusing assets for each fight. Open-world games? An entire section of the world needs to be added – to be built from scratch.

With this in mind, Kuro Games, the studio behind both Wuthering Waves and Punishing Gray Raven have undertaken a gargantuan project. Creating a massive world, filled with monsters, filled with quests, filled with things we want to see, places we want to go.
And instead of looking at Genshin and merely copying what HoYo did, Kuro have opted to use Genshin as more of a basis for the game, and taken it in a very different direction.
Genshin is a game where combat takes a backseat to the narrative, to the world, and to the features present. Over time, Genshin has continued to become more social, more casual-friendly.
Wuthering Waves is a game where combat is the focal point – they’ve taken what set Punishing Gray Raven apart from its competition – its quality combat system, and have implemented, then altered it to fit the current setting.
Showcasing the combat from Genshin Impact and Wuthering Waves simultaneously should provide a little more context.

By now I’m sure you’ve realized that both Genshin and Wuthering Waves look like very different games. Kuro, using Genshin as a template, chose to take the narrative direction down a completely different route.
While Genshin, Neverland and Tower of Fantasy all look relatively similar, Wuthering Waves has chosen to take place in a very dark, grim, saturated world. You could go as far as to say this is Genshin’s emo little brother.
Much like Punishing Gray Raven, Wuthering Waves has a much darker setting, both in terms of aesthetic, and narrative. Aimed at a slightly older audience.

Wuthering Waves does have a Gacha system in place. You can pull for both Husbando’s and Waifu’s – but unlike most Gacha games, Kuro are very free to play friendly with their monetization.
Let me elaborate on that a little bit. In Genshin Impact, you pull for characters via their Gacha character banners. Rolling 10 times provides you a guaranteed 4-star character, but not a maximum rarity 5-star.
Instead, you’re required to roll 90 times for a guaranteed 5-star character, but that does not guarantee you the banner character you want. 90 rolls costs you $225 dollars – so $225 for a 50% chance at the 5-star character you want. For a 100% chance, you’re required to roll 180 times, or spend $450.
That is absolutely asinine. And admittedly I did that to get Eula, Shenhe and Raiden Shogun. Thankfully you can earn a little currency in-game each day.
Tower of Fantasy is much more fair with how they handle their Gacha system. players are guaranteed an SSR – a maximum rarity character after doing 80 rolls. However, you’re not guaranteed a character, meaning even upon hitting 80 rolls, you may need to continue until the RNG gods bless you.
Thankfully, even if you obtain an SSR character on the way to 80 pulls, your counter isn’t reset, and you’re still guaranteed a max rarity unit upon hitting that cap. This is much more fair, but also kind of relies on RNG to get who you want.
Punishing Gray Raven on the other hand has one of the most fair Gacha systems I’ve seen in all of the games I’ve played. You’re guaranteed a 5-star hero every 10 rolls, and a 6-star hero every 60 pulls.
Unlike Genshin and Tower of Fantasy which provide no guarantee at 60 rolls, with Punishing Gray Raven, you’re given the option of selecting a character or a weapon to pull upon hitting that 60 roll limit. And bam, they’re yours. 100%.
This is significantly cheaper than any of its competition, but it’s also a sign that they value their players more than their potential earnings.
Wuthering Waves is likely going to retain that level of free to play friendliness, and while they’ll likely earn less than Genshin, will show other studios that you don’t need to abuse your playerbase and milk them for every cent they have. Not that it’ll matter. Gacha studios are money-hungry bastards.

Wuthering Waves looks like a completely different type of game to Genshin Impact. I know, I know. “This is just another Genshin clone” – I can hear so many people already making that claim. But no, no it really isn’t.
They’ve taken aspects of what made Genshin successful, and they’ve adapted it into something that looks unique – that feels unique. And that shows in the gameplay. That shows in the character models. That shows in the world.
I’m not making the grandiose claim that Wuthering Waves is going to be the biggest hit of 2023 – or that this game is going to have the same affect that Genshin did. I’m saying it definitely carries a degree of potential to.
It doesn’t need to be as large as Genshin Impact. I don’t think any game will manage to cripple Genshin for a couple years, still. But like Final Fantasy XIV did with World of Warcraft, the #2 spot is almost as impressive.

With a gorgeous world, with stunning, not overly sexualized characters, and easily the best action combat in the entire Gacha scene, Wuthering Waves is going to be a massive hit. And they’re holding a Global Closed Beta in April.
So make sure to sign up if you haven’t already, or join me over on Twitch as I’ll be streaming it in real time.

World of Zenonia might sound familiar to you – Com2Us and Gamevil, known for Summoner’s War and the larger Zenonia intellectual properties respectively, was announced back in 2020. It was revealed to be an MMORPG at the time, set within the same universe as the Zenonia Mobile RPG series.
Then, in February 2023 – after years of silence, the Zenonia MMORPG received a full title – and some information. Zenonia: Chronobreak.
Interesting choice for a name, granted. But according to MMOCulture – Chronobreak actually refers to the “possibilities of the game’s adventures connecting to previous Zenonia titles, spanning multiple instances of space and time.”
A short 56 second teaser was released a week after their name reveal, including some screenshots, and a little additional information, expanding on PvP, the combat system and more.

Zenonia Chronobreak – originally known as World of Zenonia is an MMORPG featuring an extensive storyline said to encompass the entirety of the Zenonia series. We’re not talking a standalone adaptation – we’re talking an adaptation that includes story, characters, and entire plots from previous incarnations.
Chronobreak is an Anime MMORPG – but it features fully 3D graphics. Similar to the upcoming Dragon Sword title, with cartoon rendering, realistic background, and a dynamic camera view.
In total, the Zenonia franchise has been downloaded over 63 million times – so the Zenonia intellectual property is quite large, and has a lot of potential content to adapt.
This iteration of Zenonia will feature a brand new, improved “non-targeting combat system” inherited from the Zenonia action RPG.
There will be functional, massive cross-server PvP battles present in-game, but I don’t believe these will be mandatory in any way for those of you that hate PvP.
According to the studio, during internal testing, Chronobreak received great reviews – however, that’s easy to say and impossible to verify. I could, by their logic, say that this video received a 100% like ratio upon internal viewing. But those parties might’ve consisted of my wife and sister. Easily fabricated or altered.

Com2Us stated that the game is going to be releasing in the 2nd Quarter of 2023. This means around April through June. They are planning on holding a Closed Beta in the near future – so we’re going to need to keep an eye on that.
Otherwise, we’ll be able to fully play Zenonia Chronobreak in the next few months. I’m a little concerned due to Com2Us’s history with Blockchain games, but since this has been in development for years now, we might be lucky and they might’ve forgone the implementation of Blockchain.

I’m always excited for new MMOs, and more than that, Anime MMOs specifically. So this is a title that’s right up my alley.

Eastern Odyssey is a brand new absolutely gorgeous Wuxia/Xianxia styled Waifu-collector RPG. Hot off the success of their first Closed Beta back in December 2022, the studio have confirmed they are currently in the process of recruiting for their second Beta test at a yet undisclosed time.

Judging from the very limited amount of gameplay present online, Eastern Odyssey is an aesthetically stunning Gacha game that takes inspiration from popular Wuxia/Xianxia – a very unique Chinese theme.
Players will recruit a number of Husbando’s/Waifu’s, and deploy them in battle across a small, horizontal field. It seems as though characters auto-attack enemies, out of the control of the player, however, like most idle-games of its kind, you might possess the ability to select your abilities. Providing you a slight bit of interaction and engagement.

The studio are at present holding pre-registration for their second Closed Beta, with 12,000 pre-registered players already signed up and ready to play. They have not outlined a definitive date for the next Beta test, nor have they confirmed a release date but it seems as though 2023 wouldn’t be an unsafe bet.

Whenever I report on monthly financials, there’s always one or two of you that leave a comment like “Where is Counter:Side?” – And as much as I enjoyed the gameplay in Counter:Side, the game just didn’t appeal the market at large.
StudioBSide, the developer responsible for Counter:Side are aware of this, and have since announced a brand new game they’ve had in the works: Project STAR.
And the best part of all of this? It’s connected to Counter:Side, much like how HoYo are attempting to interconnect their Honkai games, or how Hypergryph are interconnecting Arknights with Endfield.

Project STAR was announced – or – teased might be the more applicable term here, during a showcase of updates – an entire roadmap planned for Counter:Side, detailing the game’s future.
And while I’m not actively playing Counter:Side, I’m glad it’s still actively receiving updates. After they were done with their roadmap presentation, came the reveal nobody was expecting: Project STAR.

Project STAR and Counter:Side, as noted, share a connected world, but are at the same time completely disconnected from one another. Which admittedly sounds very confusing.
There are characters shared amongst games – like Maria Antonov’s awakened silhouette, which I’m sure you guys immediately recognized during the trailer. But they’re set in different time periods, and also feature entirely different settings.
Counter:Side is set in a kind of post-apocalyptic, dystopian future, where Project STAR is a purely fantasy-based game like Genshin or Epic Seven.
Unfortunately not a whole lot else was revealed. It’s going to be a traditional fantasy-RPG, will feature a bounty-board system supposedly. I’m going to assume a type of horizontal combat – where characters move horizontally across the screen, kinda like Eversoul.
The animation shown during the trailer though was gorgeous, and I honestly hope the characters in-game are presented in 3D as opposed to chibi, but either way, I cannot wait to see full gameplay when they progress far enough through the development process that they reveal it.

This was an exciting, albeit unexpected reveal. This could be a quality game release – as Counter:Side was actually a pretty solid title. And it isn’t the typical Chinese churn ‘n burn, thus it holds a semblance of potential.

Can you believe we’re almost through the first month of 2023, moving into February? That’s unreal. This year is moving along pretty rapidly, and new Gacha games are releasing equally as fast.
We’ve had several pretty large releases in January already: Eversoul, Eminence in Shadow. But with February right around the corner, I’m sure you’re wondering to yourself.. what comes next? What new journey awaits? Which Waifu’s can you add to your new harem?
That’s what we’re here today to find out. Every month there is anywhere from 2 to 10 new Gacha releases. Gacha gaming has become quite a lucrative market, with studios pushing out more Gacha games than almost any other type of media.

Zold:out is a brand new cross-platform Gacha game entering Early Access next week on PC. I know, I know. “Stix, that isn’t a February release.” True. But it releases on Android and iOS on February 10th, so technically it does launch in February.
According to the Steam page – yes, Steam, as this game is cross-platform compatible between PC and Mobile, this is a tactical RPG featuring deck-building and card battles.
Traditionally in tactical RPGs, the game takes place in a grid-based battlefield. Allowing you to move or place your units a number of spaces. Zold:out is different, and gives you ultimate freedom to navigate the battlefield without restriction.
This is an absolutely adorable looking Anime game and I’m honestly probably going to try it out once it’s playable next week.

Volzerk: Monsters and Lands Unknown is another cross-platform Gacha game releasing at some point in “late January/early February.” They haven’t given us a defined date yet, and given we’re closing in on the end of January, I don’t anticipate it launching within the next week.
Volzerk is essentially what would happen if you gave HoYo control of the Pokemon franchise. It has the vibrant, lively personality of Genshin with the monster capturing, taming and breeding capacity of a Pokemon game, providing us with something fun and unique.
The game is set in a large open world, features an extensive story to follow and will be releasing on to PC and Mobile devices. Plus the music is done by the legendary Yoko Kanno. What more do you need to know?

Higan: Eruthyll is an upcoming turn-based Anime RPG with a very strong focus on story. So much so that I often found myself a little overwhelmed during the Beta. Which isn’t bad – but this is no Path to Nowhere or NIKKE in terms of narrative.
I got to participate in a Global Closed Beta a couple months ago and found the game to be a lot of fun. It had a limited selection of Husbando’s and Waifu’s to collect – There is quite a large focus on Waifu’s. Which means we know their target demographic.
The studio confirmed that they would be holding Closed Beta testing over the next couple months, with pre-registration currently open and available, so if you’re looking to get in to this to try it out before it launches, this is your chance!

Last month, Bandai Namco confirmed that they would be holding a Closed Beta running January 14th through the 16th, allowing for 50,000 participants. However, after running in to a serious, game breaking bug, the Beta test phase was delayed from January to February.
Closed Beta registration is still currently open and available, meaning if you want the chance to play this Beta test next month.. this is your one single opportunity.
Blue Protocol is an action-combat Anime MMO Gacha developed and published by Bandai Namco – one of the only true, AAA budget MMOs released in years releasing exclusively on PC, with potential console plans down the line.
Unfortunately we do not possess an exact release date for the final Beta test, but it is 100% coming in February. Likely the first or second week.

I feel as though February is the month for cross-platform Gacha games, as Limbus Company, a brand new semi turn-based semi realtime brawler RPG has confirmed they are releasing simultaneously on PC and mobile platforms.
Honestly, this game isn’t your traditional cute Waifu collector. This feels very different. Very mafia – very noir themed, and it’s an aesthetic I haven’t ever seen in a Gacha before. I think the closest I’ve seen is Path to Nowhere, but it’s still such a contrasting difference.
Limbus Company is rolling out on February 27th, with pre-registration currently open for players. I’ll definitely be trying the game out.

HoYo confirmed over on Twitter yesterday that they would be holding their final Closed Beta test for Honkai: Star Rail. This Beta test begins pre-registration on the 24th – with the final Beta taking place at some point in February. Is that for a potential March 7th release? Hmm? I guess only time will tell.
Star Rail is pretty much a complete game at this point, HoYo were merely waiting for the Chinese government to pass their license for release, and since that happened last week.. they’re going full steam ahead.
Honkai: Star Rail is a much larger, semi-open world Anime RPG as opposed to Honkai Impact, which was mostly instanced. Unlike Honkai Impact, which was action combat, Star Rail is also a turn-based title. To the surprise of many.
This could arguably be one of the biggest releases of 2023, and is one of the games I’m most looking forward to this year as a huge fan of turn-based combat systems.

And that’s everything. All of the Gacha games slated to release – either fully, or into some form of test phase, in the month of February, 2022, at least that I’m aware of. I probably missed one or two, that’s bound to happen with more obscure titles.
And with the rate new Gacha games are announced and released, it’s all but guaranteed. Nevertheless, these are the main games I’ve been following.

GRAN SAGA is an MMO I’ve been actively talking about since its announcement. It was one of the 4 larger Anime-related MMOs I was most excited for. Genshin Impact, Blue Protocol, Tower of Fantasy and GRAN SAGA.
3 of these ultimately ended up turning into MMOs. 2 of them released Globally. Blue Protocol is releasing Globally this year, and GRAN SAGA was just confirmed to be receiving a Global release as well.
Honestly, I couldn’t be happier. I love Anime games. I love Anime MMOs. They’re one of my favorite types of MMO in the entire genre. With Tower of Fantasy having released just a few months ago, Blue Protocol and GRAN SAGA both releasing in the near future – there’s going to be a lot of variety for Anime fans.
And given GRAN SAGA isn’t some cheap, exploitable, bug-ridden Chinese game like certain other releases in recent memory, rather, a more polished Korean MMO, it might stand a better chance of succeeding where others have failed in the past.
But what is GRAN SAGA, and when specifically is it going to be releasing?

GRAN SAGA was announced back in 2019. I did my first dedicated video on the game on November 26th, 2019, I think the very same day the trailer for the game dropped.
I was excited because it was touted as being a fully and completely open-world Anime MMO, allowing you the freedom to traverse the world at your own pace, with no boundaries.
At that point, we didn’t have any Anime games that really did what GRAN SAGA promised. Genshin wasn’t released. It hadn’t even held a Beta test yet.

Fast forward to 2021, GRAN SAGA officially rolled out in Korea. Within its first 3 weeks of service, the game managed to earn an incredible $100 million dollars, absolutely shattering records.
This is from a studio – NPIXEL – with no history of developing video games. Rather, GRAN SAGA was their very first title, and it had taken the Korean MMO market by storm, destroying its competition.
But it remained a Korean exclusive for a very long time, before releasing in Japan. Because.. you know. Japan loves Anime so it was the logical next market. This left Western players hoping we’d be next.
And admittedly, that seems to be the case, as the studio founder released a statement on Twitter going on to confirm the following:

“The global version of Grand Saga is being prepared. It will come out after many parts have been fixed in the current service version. It will be released when kindness, convenience, and content quality are maximized. Everything will be reflected in the Korean and Japanese version”

And no, GRAN SAGA, the MMO that we’re discussing in this video, is not an NFT project, and has no Blockchain or Crypto BS in it. The Tweet was in reference to a Tweet concerning another MMO project currently in development sharing a similar name: Gran Saga: Unlimited.
I’m going to do a separate video on that in the near future, but the 2 games are completely disconnected. They share the same intellectual property, but like Final Fantasy games, they are otherwise set in completely unique worlds.

While GRAN SAGA has been relatively well received – it wouldn’t have made nearly as much money if it wasn’t, NPIXEL’s founder confirmed there are still some areas of the game that need improvement. They are currently in no rush, and would rather the game be perfect before releasing to Western players.
I cannot stress enough how important this is that they are taking the time to reflect on where the game seems to be operating poorly, and are making adjustments to it accordingly in an active effort to provide a better experience for players in not only Korea and Japan, but also outside – us.
Tower of Fantasy is a prime example of an MMO that rushed its release – both in China and Global, and we were met with the same bugs, the same exploits, the same hackers. And look where it ended up.
If GRAN SAGA has any chance of success, it is going to be tied to how well received it is in its initial week of release. Having glaring bugs that even the studio founder recognizes will tarnish their reputation, and that seems to be something they’re conscious of.
As such, no release date – or even year – was given for the Global version of the game.
All we were given, was a direct confirmation that the Global version of the game is currently in the process of being localized. But they are making alterations they deem are absolutely vital, alterations that will be reflected in current versions of the game, before they finalize anything.

GRAN SAGA, much like Tower of Fantasy, is a cross-platform Anime MMO that allows players to – essentially, obtain weapons in the form of Gran, with every Gran having their own unique look and abilities tied to them.
What this means is that there is no holy trinity or class system. Rather, every class takes on the form of a weapon, and weapons are both earned in-game, and obtained via a Gacha system.

GRAN SAGA has the potential to be a fantastic MMO. But it carries just as much chance of the opposite.
And while I’ve covered this game – both the good and the bad, I’m hoping for the best. We need more variety in not only the MMO genre, but also the Anime subgenre, and this could be another chance to lose yourself in a gorgeous Anime world.

Those of us eagerly awaiting the release of Honkai: Star Rail might not have to wait much longer as HoYo just had their license for the game approved as of January 17th, 2023.
What has players even more excited is that with Honkai Impact’s current story coming to an end, Star Rail’s release could be right around the corner, allowing players to witness the end of a chapter of their lives, and move into something new, yet simultaneously familiar.

Last year, HoYo confirmed that Honkai Impact’s story would be coming to an end. Many players took that to mean the entirety of the game’s story would be ending, as opposed to what was the desired meaning: Part 1 would be ending.
Part 1 of course consisting of the story from day 1 until the final day, ending the story of Kiana as protagonist. While bittersweet, it’s honestly time to move on to something new. It’s been years.

And while Part 2 will begin in the near future, after some type of interlude, Star Rail is also slated to release likely in the time between arcs.
If what I read online is to be believed, Part 2 of the story is going to feature the ability to travel to other planets and fight new alien enemies, which ultimately carries the potential to tie into Star Rail.

Star Rail was expected to have released earlier in 2022 had China not changed the process of licensing and releasing video games within the country, freezing approvals for all new games, domestic and foreign.
According to the National Press and Publication Administration, China has approved 88 games in total for licensing and distribution within its country.
Many games I don’t recognize – but Honkai: Star Rail comes in at #78.
Interestingly, given Zenless Zone Zero held Beta tests recently, it in fact is not listed as being approved for a license, which can only mean it is going to release at a much later date than Star Rail, to the misfortune of many of us.

HoYo are on absolute fire right now with regards to game releases, somehow developing some of the most gorgeous, engaging Anime games in the entire genre.
And while it’s unlikely Zenless will launch any time in the immediate future – probably 2024 or later, if I’m being honest. Many players are claiming – or at least hoping that Star Rail will release on March 7th.
HoYo have not given any type of concrete release information at present, but according to players on Reddit, patch 6.4 ends on March 8th in China, allowing for the perfect tie-in with Star Rail.

Star Rail is HoYo’s first attempt at a turn-based, narrative-driven Anime RPG on the scale of Genshin Impact. Large areas to explore, stunning environments, some of the best looking Husbando’s and Waifu’s in the entire Gacha genre.
While Star Rail is going to ultimately differ quite significantly to any other game that they hold rights to, HoYo has shown a lot of faith in every single one of their intellectual properties, and have shown no evidence of slowing down the production of their games.
On the contrary, after Star Rail and Zenless launch, there’s no doubt in my mind they’ll double down and further increase the rate of development for titles until they dominate every subgenre they possibly can.
With their funding, and the talent they have employed, I have no doubt that they can very likely achieve whatever they set out to achieve.

Higan: Eruthyll is a gorgeous, brand new upcoming Anime-inspired turn-based Waifu-collector RPG from Bilibili – yes, Bilibili, the very same company that (unfortunately) drove Artery: Gear Fusion into the ground, and have continued to produce sub-par Gacha games.

Higan: Eruthyll has been in active development for years, and after extensive testing, is receiving a full Global release.

Higan: Eruthyll is a fun, turn-based narrative-driven Gacha RPG. There are tons of Waifu’s to collect, 2 or 3 Husbando’s total (not sure why they have a thing against Husbando’s, but that seems to be a recurring theme with Chinese Gacha games.) It’s Chapter and Mission based, and honestly, having poured a decent number of hours into it during the Beta, is ultimately a somewhat fun game, if a little convoluted at times.

I’ve been playing a LOT of Arknights. I play it every single day, for anywhere from 10 minutes – to just run through my daily stamina exhaustion, to hours, if a new event releases and the stages are complex or difficult.
This is – to me – one of the greatest Gacha games on the market right now. There isn’t a tower defense or strategy game out there that I think compares to Arknights. Which is why I’m so excited for Arknights: Endfield, Endfield is the spiritual successor to Arknights – but taking it in an entirely new direction.
Where Arknights is a strategy game that takes place within small, instanced grids – Arknights Endfield is going to be set in a large, open world, feature real-time combat, and fully 3D graphics as opposed to the smaller, sprite-style aesthetic it currently utilizes.

Now I know a lot of you guys are sitting there scratching your heads wondering exactly what kind of game this is. I’ve received DMs asking me – “Stix, is Arknights Endfield an MMO?” “Is there character creation?” “Is it a Gacha game like Genshin?”
And that’s what we’re here today to discuss. What exactly is Arknights Endfield? And should you be excited?

So what is Arknights: Endfield? Hypergryph revealed that Endfield is going to be a fully 3D real-time RPG. It will be set in a large, open world with lots of varied environments to explore.
Neither a sequel nor a prequel, Endfield is going to be set in the same world as its predecessor, Arknights, featuring its own distinct stories, and characters. Now if I recall – Arknights is set on Terra. Endfield is going to be set on Talos-II, a name I’m sure a lot of you immediately recognize.
Talos-II is largely unexplored, and very dangerous. Meaning that players will be responsible for surveying and exploring the world with Endfield Industries operators as we attempt to uncover the mysteries hidden away on the planet.

Yes, yes it will. If you’ve played Arknights, you’d know that the devs are actually quite adept at crafting a good story. That’s something you can’t say for the majority of Gacha games. Most games built for the mobile platform feature honestly.. quite pathetic stories that most of us skip.
There are few exceptions to this. As Hypergryph noted, it’ll be our duty to uncover the mysteries of Talos-II. From what little information we’ve been given, it looks as though we’ll continue unlocking new Chapters – each more challenging than the last as we continue to play through the game and explore the world at large.
The world and subsequently the narrative will also feature additional factions – some good, some bad, that will have a direct affect on the outcome of your story.

No, unfortunately, as much as I would honestly love to see an Arknights MMO, this is not it.
In Arknights: Endfield, players are capable of deploying several different characters – with direct control over each character. Having other players occupy the same world as you would likely be incredibly difficult, which is why I’m assuming the devs have yet to confirm whether there will be any kind of multiplayer functionality present.
I honestly hope for some – I would love to explore Talos-II with my wife Mrs Stix, with each of us possibly controlling half the team each. Cooperative multiplayer games are incredibly enjoyable, and this is a gargantuan missed opportunity if they don’t take advantage of it.

Given this is going to be an Anime RPG as opposed to an MMO, it’s unlikely we’re going to be able to customize our character.
Like in Arknights, we’ll likely play as a faceless commander of types, sending our Waifu’s and Husbando’s out on missions. But, hey. Nothing is set in stone right now. Who knows – maybe we’ll be able to create our own custom character. We’ll need to wait and see. It’s just highly unlikely.

Hypergryph describes their combat as such: “Arknights: Endfield is currently in the early stages of development, and much of the contents have yet to be finalized. With regards to the combat, players will encounter epic experiences, featuring real-time combat with various tactics.”
Real-time combat does not necessarily equate to action combat. It merely means the combat will operate in real-time as opposed to turn-based. This means the combat could be action-oriented like Wuthering Waves or Genshin Impact. Or, it could take on a strategic style like in StarCraft.

Yes! Arknights: Endfield is confirmed to be in active development for PC, Android and iOS devices. This is going to be a completely cross-platform compatible game. Meaning you can play it on PC, or on your phone.
They haven’t elaborated on whether they’re going to take a Genshin or Tower of Fantasy approach, however. And by that I mean, whether they’ll follow Genshin’s formula and develop the game for each platform in mind, or if they’ll follow the Tower of Fantasy formula and develop the game for mobile, and port it on over to PC at a later date.
I’m hoping for the former, because it is going to have to compete with Wuthering Waves, which is shaping up to be one of the best looking upcoming Gacha on the horizon.

Arknights: Endfield is going to be releasing Globally. There’s absolutely no questioning that. Hypergryph are already looking to localize the game into English, and they’re only in the early stages of development.
It’s unconfirmed if the game will have a simultaneous release around the world, or if a Western launch will come after its Eastern release.

Unfortunately, the devs are not nearly far enough through the development process to release a playable Beta. Not in 2022, anyway. They will definitely be holding various test phases ahead of the game launching – which I honestly hope to get into.
But those test phases will be available in 2023 at the earliest. Keep an eye on the channel though – as I post videos whenever games I’m anticipating are playable!

Arknights: Endfield does not have a confirmed release date at present. 2022 would be expecting a little much I believe, but hey, I don’t think 2023 is entirely out of the question. They could be much further through development than when they last made an announcement several months ago.
It would be safer to assume a release date of 2023, at the earliest, though.

And finally, yes, this is going to be a Gacha game. I know that isn’t something everyone is interested in, and that’s more than fine. But at the end of the day, if you don’t like it, you can just not play it.
Given the track record for Arknights though, how fair the game is and how successful it has been up to this point, I can say with certainty that this is going to be big. Very, very big. This could be one of the biggest open-world RPGs of 2023.
Its only competition is Wuthering Waves.

Goblin Slayer: Endless Hunting is a brand new upcoming Anime Gacha RPG set within the world of the Goblin Slayer Anime and Manga.

Goblin Slayer had previously released a separate Gacha gamed on Android and iOS called Goblin Slayer: The Endless Revenge – a title I didn’t know existed until after I recorded my video on the game. The gameplay was pretty bad, and it never really took off. Little is known about Endless Hunting, but given it shares similarities to its predecessor, it might be potentially as bad. Pre-registration for the game is currently open, with the devs anticipating roughly 100,000 pre-registered players, so if a potential Goblin Slayer Gacha game seems like something of interest to you, pre-register via the button below!