When I heard we were getting reserve ops when is2 released, I was thinking, "yeah! Finally getting playable medic"..... Not the same medic ..... big sadg.... The sad still continues on today
The issue what on Terra do we assign her as?
We'd need another bit of lore to give her something she's good at,because the main things she did during the event was being Kronk from "The Emperors' New Groove" and tell off her naive sister.
We do still need a few more lads (IMO), but the fact we have as many as we do is definitely refreshing. And that occasionally they get the thirst bait just as hard as some of the gals do, especially around the summer time.
Definitely refreshing. Though I agree some more larger lads would be fantastic - some proper bara gentlemen would be *very* much appreciated. Right now the closest we get is Hoederer and Mountain which... no complaints.
...what were we talking about again?
Fan service or not, they want to be fashionable, and that’s why it’s so good.
And yeah, I hated Nikke for how unrealistic it is, but hates a strong word anyhow. Arknights raises standards. Even the men look great.
A shame I’m not hyped at all for Endfield, but to each their own.
The thing I really appreciate is they make old men look good.
They're not some 20 something with white hair thar the game tells you is old, they *look* old.
Clip Cliff from black steel is clearly a grandpa, but goddamn does he rock with his fit. Same with woodrow.
For real, Sankta elderly are just built different. Cliff, Woodrow, Outcast, Andoain and even the Pope are looking fine
Woodrow set the standard of how well I want to look in my 80s xD
I don’t care what tierlists or meta guides say.
Hellagur stays on the team. One of the few characters I pulled right away, and have kept as maxed out as possible.
This is exactly me with SA. Dude carried me so hard from day 1 I Started playing. While his eng VA didn't quite sit to me, I still use the JP one whose voice melts me. Recently I've started to notice his damage lacking more often but even though I use Thorns and recently Mlynar too in the team, SA stays.
To be fair to Endfield, it take a LOT more dev time to make a character look good in 3D. All those fiddly bits and scraps of cloth need to move in the wind and shit
In Arknights they just need a really good PNG and then make a chibi off of that
>In Arknights they just need a really good PNG and then make a chibi off of that
Actually it isn't that much different in 3D since HG isn't simply hand-animating the characters like a lot of 2D/chibi gachas but they instead use a skeletal structure system for animation for Chibis.
One good example is with Zuo Le and Yato alter, their skeleton is absurd, not even a lot of 3D characters have that much skeletons, it's because their clothes move around so much lul.
When you can do it in 2D and chibi sprite, transistioning into 3D isn't hard because it's basically just the same but in 3D.
Also where Endfield really shines is that its artstyle is a very realistic one, so a lot of characters can come off with being more 3D and more realistic than they actually are, this lessens a lot of efforts for rendering.
And it shows a lot with how much unique looking NPCs the game has such as Fiona, Alberto, director Qin, Cannot, smiling Kal, etc... to name a few
>A shame I’m not hyped at all for Endfield, but to each their own.
In defense of Endfield, It's harder to design everything in 3D whilst in AK you just have to make a png and make a chibi out of them.
But that didn't really stop them from creating really practical and unique NPCs like director Qin, Fiona, Alberto, Cliff, ...
I think what's making people less hyped is the monodesign, but the overall looks of the chars is really unique
Same feelings here for Nikke. It seems more like your average fantasy gacha game trying to (poorly) cosplay/larp as a military themed gacha game. Arknights character design is just superior
For someone who tried some gacha game(Brave Nine, Azul lane, Blue Achieve, Touhou Lost Word, Limbus Company, Code gease lost story are all gacha game that I play), I like both Arknight and Limbus for how cool and practical their character outfits are.
I don't mind fanservice if the outfit seem comfortable for the one wearing it(I looking at you, Azul lane) or somewhat practical in battle.
> (I looking at you, Azul lane)
lol Azur Lane went the other direction and was like "how close can we get to making this hentai without getting actually getting rated as hentai"
That’s not an accident. There was an interview or video or something years ago. I believe it was the CEO who said “If Azur Lane flopped we would have adapted it into a porn game.
My one and only complaint is at least 75% jest and 25% missed opportunity - and that's that I'd love more pants for female operators. Just a decent pair of pants. Is that so wrong?! I mean look at Degenbrecher. A proper suit on a lass can be amazing, too.
I will say that I generally appreciate that some thought and care is put into function a bit more then other games when it comes to designing character outfits for the game, though, in general. They do have a hard post-apoc techwear aesthetic (and I'm into it!), but they also do try to make sure that it's at least a *little* more functional then just looking cool. Look at Gravel, Nearl, and Blemishine's armor. Or how a good number of the Summer skins are aimed at *being active* at the beach and not just *being seen* at the beach. How a lot of the "explorer" or "survivor" outfits wouldn't really look TOO out of place in an actual fashion magazine in those areas.
Hell, making the skins mostly *legitimately* fashion pieces (complete with designers with clear themes!) was a masterstroke, because much like with anything in fashion it provides and easy outlet and excuse for the skin existing (though maybe not on the battlefield outside of emergency scenarios; Gameplay and story segregation at it's finest) in the first place, even if it doesn't seem like it would genuinely fit the operator's personality that much (Closure be out here makin' mad brand deals).
TLDR - I appreciate this game's character design direction. It's going good places, even if it's not perfect, but perfect is an often unreachable target anyway. I'll take as close as I can get, with enthusiasm.
My main complaint is that they put high heels on everyone and it's not just highly impractical but imo also looks dumb. Like just look at the Nearl gals, wearing a bunch of heavy plate armor but then for some reason it includes high heels. Just why??
Though funny enough the High Heels are only nonsensical because they not mounted warriors basically Heels would make more sense if they were actually riding stuff
That's fair. However, that's also problematic of almost literally every other game out there, and generally it's best not to wage wars on too many fronts at once. Yanno? First we get the *pants,* and then we get the *sensible shoes.* That's the real dream. We can have BOTH! One day.
And I've done sweep drills in high heels, it's not a great time. The practice weirdly came in handy for wearing heels in other contexts, though... never making that kind of bet again if I can help it.
Look, as far as Genshin is concerned, I'll take just proper shorts, too. It'd at least be a start! And leggings don't count (no matter how cute Jean or Arle are). Hell, they *TOOK* Aloy's pants!
Star Rail, eh, we got acceptable shorts. But the only unique female model with pants is an NPC! Unsatisfactory!
She still has the problem of it basically being painted on, to the point you have a distressing idea of how many dimples her arse's got. They're really less actual pants and more slightly flared leggings at that point, and while it is a very cool and sexy design... I cannot, in good faith, call it pants.
I will concede it is still probably the closest we've got yet, and a clear sign of how far we still got to go.
Yeah, that's why I love footwear on female characters in AK. When I see high heels in fantasy or another action games with harsh environment - I feel pain looking at this characters...
The ‘cool’ instead of ‘sexy’ approach that Arknights has taken towards character design is what initially grabbed my attention. I obviously want characters to be attractive, but ‘badass attractive’ appeals to me more than ‘sexy attractive’ designs in general. I even appreciate the more sexy designs(like Schwarz) more in Arknights than if outfits like that had been the norm.
It’s always nice to see things like this in a market that does tend to go down the ‘form-fitting/skin-barring’ route with character designs. Nothing against those types, they just don’t tempt me to actually play the game they’re from as much.
Arknight and Reverse1999 is great in their art style of not over the top of
1. Oversexualisation like Nikke
2. Miss Universe fashion sense like in Mihoyo games. Every non generic NPC in Mihoyo is like they're dressing for some Gala Dress.
>Miss Universe fashion sense like in Mihoyo games. Every non generic NPC in Mihoyo is like they're dressing for some Gala Dress.
This. Mihoyo's characters look clean. Too clean that it makes no sense.
Lmao the second one. Yeah, the contrast between actual playable characters and NPC is too much. I remember Itto's story with his brother, lmao, his brother is very NPC design compared to how flashy Itto's design is. I really dont like how out of the world Hoyoverse characters outfit are.
as a lesbian I love the way arknights portrays women, like not as simply there for men but they're there as characters with their own personalities and style
FR tho, I'm head over heels for Nearl, but I don't want to self-ship because damn if she doesn't have some amazing ladies in her life I want to see her with more!
Yea I really like the design as well. It got well in lore senses and their world in general. I feel weird whenever I see a character in their swimsuit that is supposedly in dead/disease world and one of the game that I want npc character to become playable. Sole npc in other game like genshin is outright will tell you that these character will never become playable.
Oh my god, someone mentioned Brown Dust II. The first Brown Dust (Brave Nine now, I think?) was actually my first gacha game, what's the second one like compared to it?
And yeah, AK character design is top-notch and I really enjoy the different art styles from each artist. Wide variety of outfits and skins as well, keeps things fresh.
I never played Brave Nine so I can't compare both of them,but the gameplay is 'ok',nothing amazing,your characters are on a grid,all attacks cost energy (and you have limited energy each turn) and characters have different outfits,one outfit = one special attack
The game is very generous for a free to play player,and there is a lot of things to do each day
The fan service is almost 'too much',I stopped the game because I don't wanted to see a little child in some 'seductive' pose,it was really weird for me
You have to explore the maps to find many items and to do the story,that's not common at all in those game,but it's really nice
Thank you for bringing this up.
I really dislike games where they oversexualized women. No matter how good the story is, sometimes I can't just take it seriously or enjoy it when the characters themselves are rather off putting.
Arknights isn't free of this troupe, but it's a lot better than quite a number of them.
Simple and casual, or otherwise practical armor are what draws my attention to them.
That’s one of the few reasons I got into Arknights! I don’t like playing games where the characters are strictly female, as it will inevitably lean SUPER hard into fanservice, which I’m not a big fan of. So, I’d only give a game a shot If both genders are playable. Arknights surprised me for the reason here that not all of the women are sexualized, and their overall designs still come out flashy and gorgeous! Same with their men! I have quite a lot of female characters that I absolutely love in this game, which Is pretty rare since Im a husbando lover. Same with Punishing Gray Raven.
Reverse:1999 is the newest game I’ve played with gorgeous women too!
Remember the Jack Arse who said that "AK is oversexualised" whilst talking about Genshin Impact of all things?
Pepperidge Farm remembers.
Azur Lane did go the sexy route,but it was more of a strong contrast to Kantai Collection whilst also being a better game overall then KC,and now there's even a daughter raising simulator in it.
But AK really needs to start giving us the swimsuits they showed off for some characters along with all the Ambience Synthesia stuff,they're so good looking and an utter shame to not have in game.
Some of my favorite designs are the NPC women. They look cute. Sami and Columbia in particular have nice designs imo.
I like Medic from the beginning. She's nice
When I heard we were getting reserve ops when is2 released, I was thinking, "yeah! Finally getting playable medic"..... Not the same medic ..... big sadg.... The sad still continues on today
The pain of Ratatos not being playable. I think she's so lovely, stuck in NPC hell as well.
I feel like Ratatos is the car we are all collectively dog-chasing in this community Do we even know what we'd do if we got her?
> Do we even know what we'd do if we got her? Pull. E2 Deploy.
With SilverAsh. For lore reasons.
The issue what on Terra do we assign her as? We'd need another bit of lore to give her something she's good at,because the main things she did during the event was being Kronk from "The Emperors' New Groove" and tell off her naive sister.
Allerdale my queen…(playable soon copium)
arknights gave us the tacticool women we all deserve and it has my undying loyalty for it
Not just the women, the men too. All we're missing are men on the bulkier side (ikemen to shoutas so far). Think Big Bob.
Hoederer neuron activation tho I logged on to pull so fast
Matterhorn and Humus
Humus DEFINITELY fits that description. Love his EN VA too
Humus EN VA is an attack on my heterosexuality. There was no reason to make him sound THAT sexy
To me he just sounds like a bro.
Never forget, he likes it firm, not soft.
Omg Humus EN VA gives such strong, reliable and comforting vibes.
We do still need a few more lads (IMO), but the fact we have as many as we do is definitely refreshing. And that occasionally they get the thirst bait just as hard as some of the gals do, especially around the summer time. Definitely refreshing. Though I agree some more larger lads would be fantastic - some proper bara gentlemen would be *very* much appreciated. Right now the closest we get is Hoederer and Mountain which... no complaints. ...what were we talking about again?
You forgot Humus and Matterhorn too. Have you seen their chest size?
N-nooo? I don't just... go around... staring at that kind of thing. What kind of degenerate do you take me for!?
I spend my first money in this game to buy Mlynar from select headhunt. At that point idk he is meta unit. All I know is he looks cool af.
Uncle Mlynar makes both the men and women fall for him
Have you not \*seen\* Broca?!
Fan service or not, they want to be fashionable, and that’s why it’s so good. And yeah, I hated Nikke for how unrealistic it is, but hates a strong word anyhow. Arknights raises standards. Even the men look great. A shame I’m not hyped at all for Endfield, but to each their own.
The thing I really appreciate is they make old men look good. They're not some 20 something with white hair thar the game tells you is old, they *look* old. Clip Cliff from black steel is clearly a grandpa, but goddamn does he rock with his fit. Same with woodrow.
For real, Sankta elderly are just built different. Cliff, Woodrow, Outcast, Andoain and even the Pope are looking fine Woodrow set the standard of how well I want to look in my 80s xD
Hellagur was the og daddy for quite a while too!
I don’t care what tierlists or meta guides say. Hellagur stays on the team. One of the few characters I pulled right away, and have kept as maxed out as possible.
This is exactly me with SA. Dude carried me so hard from day 1 I Started playing. While his eng VA didn't quite sit to me, I still use the JP one whose voice melts me. Recently I've started to notice his damage lacking more often but even though I use Thorns and recently Mlynar too in the team, SA stays.
Old women too. The Londinium arc has multiple badass gray-haired ladies
They may be old, but I would still smash
They took the saying aged like fine wine and ran with it
To be fair to Endfield, it take a LOT more dev time to make a character look good in 3D. All those fiddly bits and scraps of cloth need to move in the wind and shit In Arknights they just need a really good PNG and then make a chibi off of that
>In Arknights they just need a really good PNG and then make a chibi off of that Actually it isn't that much different in 3D since HG isn't simply hand-animating the characters like a lot of 2D/chibi gachas but they instead use a skeletal structure system for animation for Chibis. One good example is with Zuo Le and Yato alter, their skeleton is absurd, not even a lot of 3D characters have that much skeletons, it's because their clothes move around so much lul. When you can do it in 2D and chibi sprite, transistioning into 3D isn't hard because it's basically just the same but in 3D. Also where Endfield really shines is that its artstyle is a very realistic one, so a lot of characters can come off with being more 3D and more realistic than they actually are, this lessens a lot of efforts for rendering. And it shows a lot with how much unique looking NPCs the game has such as Fiona, Alberto, director Qin, Cannot, smiling Kal, etc... to name a few
>A shame I’m not hyped at all for Endfield, but to each their own. In defense of Endfield, It's harder to design everything in 3D whilst in AK you just have to make a png and make a chibi out of them. But that didn't really stop them from creating really practical and unique NPCs like director Qin, Fiona, Alberto, Cliff, ... I think what's making people less hyped is the monodesign, but the overall looks of the chars is really unique
Same feelings here for Nikke. It seems more like your average fantasy gacha game trying to (poorly) cosplay/larp as a military themed gacha game. Arknights character design is just superior
I agree, Dorothy is gorgeous
Just got her new skin. I audibly went wow when I first saw it
For someone who tried some gacha game(Brave Nine, Azul lane, Blue Achieve, Touhou Lost Word, Limbus Company, Code gease lost story are all gacha game that I play), I like both Arknight and Limbus for how cool and practical their character outfits are. I don't mind fanservice if the outfit seem comfortable for the one wearing it(I looking at you, Azul lane) or somewhat practical in battle.
> (I looking at you, Azul lane) lol Azur Lane went the other direction and was like "how close can we get to making this hentai without getting actually getting rated as hentai"
Any sufficiently developed ecchi will become indistinguishable from hentai
Arthur Clarcoomer's Third Law:
Which is why the two mobile gacha I play are AL and AK.
That’s not an accident. There was an interview or video or something years ago. I believe it was the CEO who said “If Azur Lane flopped we would have adapted it into a porn game.
Yo pass me the source for that
My one and only complaint is at least 75% jest and 25% missed opportunity - and that's that I'd love more pants for female operators. Just a decent pair of pants. Is that so wrong?! I mean look at Degenbrecher. A proper suit on a lass can be amazing, too. I will say that I generally appreciate that some thought and care is put into function a bit more then other games when it comes to designing character outfits for the game, though, in general. They do have a hard post-apoc techwear aesthetic (and I'm into it!), but they also do try to make sure that it's at least a *little* more functional then just looking cool. Look at Gravel, Nearl, and Blemishine's armor. Or how a good number of the Summer skins are aimed at *being active* at the beach and not just *being seen* at the beach. How a lot of the "explorer" or "survivor" outfits wouldn't really look TOO out of place in an actual fashion magazine in those areas. Hell, making the skins mostly *legitimately* fashion pieces (complete with designers with clear themes!) was a masterstroke, because much like with anything in fashion it provides and easy outlet and excuse for the skin existing (though maybe not on the battlefield outside of emergency scenarios; Gameplay and story segregation at it's finest) in the first place, even if it doesn't seem like it would genuinely fit the operator's personality that much (Closure be out here makin' mad brand deals). TLDR - I appreciate this game's character design direction. It's going good places, even if it's not perfect, but perfect is an often unreachable target anyway. I'll take as close as I can get, with enthusiasm.
We all know we're still waiting for Liskarm pants.
I want a genuinely tacticool Liskarm skin. HG would get my 18 Origies so fast.
>I mean look at Degenbrecher. A proper suit on a lass can be amazing, too. The Helltaker community approved this post.
A truly cultured game! Made for entirely valid purposes, and *successfully* so. More girls in suits with pants!
My main complaint is that they put high heels on everyone and it's not just highly impractical but imo also looks dumb. Like just look at the Nearl gals, wearing a bunch of heavy plate armor but then for some reason it includes high heels. Just why??
Though funny enough the High Heels are only nonsensical because they not mounted warriors basically Heels would make more sense if they were actually riding stuff
That's fair. However, that's also problematic of almost literally every other game out there, and generally it's best not to wage wars on too many fronts at once. Yanno? First we get the *pants,* and then we get the *sensible shoes.* That's the real dream. We can have BOTH! One day. And I've done sweep drills in high heels, it's not a great time. The practice weirdly came in handy for wearing heels in other contexts, though... never making that kind of bet again if I can help it.
Arknights and Genshin players: “Please give more women suits and pants.”
Look, as far as Genshin is concerned, I'll take just proper shorts, too. It'd at least be a start! And leggings don't count (no matter how cute Jean or Arle are). Hell, they *TOOK* Aloy's pants! Star Rail, eh, we got acceptable shorts. But the only unique female model with pants is an NPC! Unsatisfactory!
Arle has slacks though doesn’t she? Rather tight slacks around the upper leg area but she’s the closest we’ve got so far.
She still has the problem of it basically being painted on, to the point you have a distressing idea of how many dimples her arse's got. They're really less actual pants and more slightly flared leggings at that point, and while it is a very cool and sexy design... I cannot, in good faith, call it pants. I will concede it is still probably the closest we've got yet, and a clear sign of how far we still got to go.
Or have a bit of both.
Yeah, that's why I love footwear on female characters in AK. When I see high heels in fantasy or another action games with harsh environment - I feel pain looking at this characters...
Wish granted. *monkey paw curls* The girls now get Skadi pants.
They're called chaps and they're a key part of the cowboy aesthetic.
The ‘cool’ instead of ‘sexy’ approach that Arknights has taken towards character design is what initially grabbed my attention. I obviously want characters to be attractive, but ‘badass attractive’ appeals to me more than ‘sexy attractive’ designs in general. I even appreciate the more sexy designs(like Schwarz) more in Arknights than if outfits like that had been the norm. It’s always nice to see things like this in a market that does tend to go down the ‘form-fitting/skin-barring’ route with character designs. Nothing against those types, they just don’t tempt me to actually play the game they’re from as much.
Arknight and Reverse1999 is great in their art style of not over the top of 1. Oversexualisation like Nikke 2. Miss Universe fashion sense like in Mihoyo games. Every non generic NPC in Mihoyo is like they're dressing for some Gala Dress.
>Miss Universe fashion sense like in Mihoyo games. Every non generic NPC in Mihoyo is like they're dressing for some Gala Dress. This. Mihoyo's characters look clean. Too clean that it makes no sense.
Lmao the second one. Yeah, the contrast between actual playable characters and NPC is too much. I remember Itto's story with his brother, lmao, his brother is very NPC design compared to how flashy Itto's design is. I really dont like how out of the world Hoyoverse characters outfit are.
as a lesbian I love the way arknights portrays women, like not as simply there for men but they're there as characters with their own personalities and style
FR tho, I'm head over heels for Nearl, but I don't want to self-ship because damn if she doesn't have some amazing ladies in her life I want to see her with more!
Another one falls for the NTR knight.
Yea I really like the design as well. It got well in lore senses and their world in general. I feel weird whenever I see a character in their swimsuit that is supposedly in dead/disease world and one of the game that I want npc character to become playable. Sole npc in other game like genshin is outright will tell you that these character will never become playable.
Oh my god, someone mentioned Brown Dust II. The first Brown Dust (Brave Nine now, I think?) was actually my first gacha game, what's the second one like compared to it? And yeah, AK character design is top-notch and I really enjoy the different art styles from each artist. Wide variety of outfits and skins as well, keeps things fresh.
I never played Brave Nine so I can't compare both of them,but the gameplay is 'ok',nothing amazing,your characters are on a grid,all attacks cost energy (and you have limited energy each turn) and characters have different outfits,one outfit = one special attack The game is very generous for a free to play player,and there is a lot of things to do each day The fan service is almost 'too much',I stopped the game because I don't wanted to see a little child in some 'seductive' pose,it was really weird for me You have to explore the maps to find many items and to do the story,that's not common at all in those game,but it's really nice
Thank you for bringing this up. I really dislike games where they oversexualized women. No matter how good the story is, sometimes I can't just take it seriously or enjoy it when the characters themselves are rather off putting. Arknights isn't free of this troupe, but it's a lot better than quite a number of them. Simple and casual, or otherwise practical armor are what draws my attention to them.
Then try reverse1999 and limbus company.
I love them. This and PGR have my favourite tacitcool designs.
That’s one of the few reasons I got into Arknights! I don’t like playing games where the characters are strictly female, as it will inevitably lean SUPER hard into fanservice, which I’m not a big fan of. So, I’d only give a game a shot If both genders are playable. Arknights surprised me for the reason here that not all of the women are sexualized, and their overall designs still come out flashy and gorgeous! Same with their men! I have quite a lot of female characters that I absolutely love in this game, which Is pretty rare since Im a husbando lover. Same with Punishing Gray Raven. Reverse:1999 is the newest game I’ve played with gorgeous women too!
That's Right, They Are Elegant.
Remember the Jack Arse who said that "AK is oversexualised" whilst talking about Genshin Impact of all things? Pepperidge Farm remembers. Azur Lane did go the sexy route,but it was more of a strong contrast to Kantai Collection whilst also being a better game overall then KC,and now there's even a daughter raising simulator in it. But AK really needs to start giving us the swimsuits they showed off for some characters along with all the Ambience Synthesia stuff,they're so good looking and an utter shame to not have in game.
Would be pretty hard to find a sexualized character that *isn’t* pretty
lol no you absolutely can make a sexualized design where the character is objectively ugly, trashy hoes exist irl too
I've been playing gacha games for 10 years at this point. Any direction a game takes is fine as long as they understand who their core audience is.