Image: GRYPHLINE

Arknights Endfield is a real-time strategy 'Gacha' RPG that tasks you with defending the "frontiers of human civilisation" by building factories and teaming up with various characters to expand humanity's home on the untamed, wild world of Talos-II.

The key to expanding your reach is the AIC factories; build production lines to boost your industrial output and find new, more efficient ways to make your factory as good as it can be. If you like factory-building games like Factorio or Satisfactory, this aspect of the game will tickle the logical, planning-oriented part of your brain, as it takes good management and careful planning to perfect your factories.

While building these factories is extremely fun, you may want to let loose a little by taking control of the many amazingly designed characters you can find (or pull for in the gacha system) in free-flowing combat scenarios.

These characters can be used in combat and freely controlled, with their different abilities providing real value against formidable enemies; build a team that synergises well, and you will be set to push the human frontier!

However, because Arknights has gacha elements, that comes with the inevitable, and all-too-painful, grind for characters. This issue probably isn't new to many of you, but if you haven't had the displeasure of losing out on a character you really wanted in a gacha game, I would just say proceed with caution, and keep in mind you sadly won't be getting every character you want (unless you shell out a lot of money or play a crazy amount of hours).

While you have some downtime, you can also explore the stunning planet Talos-II. Filled with mysterious threats and serene landscapes, the world of Arknights Endfield shows real care and deserves to be explored to the fullest.

If you like gacha games but want a deeper experience, I think Arknights Endfield is worth a try, and since it's free, what do you have to lose? (apart from hours of your time!)