The Most Varied World in Gaming
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- čas přidán 25. 06. 2024
- In this small video essay, I wanted to scratch the surface of one of the most diverse and expansive pieces of worldbuilding I've ever seen in a game. Worldbuilding and writing are two things I'm incredibly passionate about, so seeing all the stories that the developers managed to weave seamlessly into this world is nothing short of amazing. I hope you'll like it!
Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
01:54 - Intro Sequence
02:18 - This is Arknights
03:18 - Setting the Scene
06:17 - The Stories of Terra
10:22 - Closing thoughts
10:40 - Outro Sequence (nothing to see here)
Here are the channels I mentioned:
/ @qaisermlg
/ @frostbyte262
Songs I used in the background were taken from this video: • you put your pen down ...
Quick Byte - Nycto, Isaak Wolf
Delectation - Nycto
Other songs:
The Godfather Theme Song
In Da Club - 50 Cent
Prison Break Season 1 intro
Fes edm - Heart of Surging Flame OST
Ludwig the Accursed Theme
Ludwig the Holy Blade Theme
NFL Theme
Xue Hua Piao Piao - Fei Yu-ching
Vamos Pra Gaiola - MC Kevin o Chris
Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Zombies Theme
Under Tides Theme
too lazy to link them all :P - Hry
“You can’t use guns unless you’re rich or you’re from the Vatican.”
I laughed more than I should’ve on that one 🤣
Or isekai-ed from another world
@@alvianekka80 I still don't understand how Ash's riffle is able to do any damages as the introduction scene is basically the whole team having to use heavy weaponry just to take down a basic enemy.
@@lechatrelou6393I do not know if that may be because her (and the rest of the R6 team's) weapons were in some way enhanced to better fight off the threats on Terra.
But what I can say for certain is that this is just for gameplay reasons - in the same way why Ch'en-Alter's water gun is far more powerful in-game than her base version's sword even when in the story it is supposed to be the opposite.
Real late but apparently gunpowder guns don’t exist in the world of Arknights; the firearms all operate on originium-arts based ammunition which is stated to be less powerful than gunpowder munitions. Iirc in the event some mercs were surprised at how much damage rainbow team’s weapons were doing but grain of salt
@@ariam168 I swear I remember some lore about Sesa potentially having the capability of making weapons that don't need originium arts and it could be a potentially dangerous thing bc yeah, ppl would no longer have to rely on originium arts to deal damage from a distance
arknights feels distinctly like the kind of setting where you can tack on "and prom is tomorrow" at the end of any lore infodump sentence and it'd fit in perfectly. the ocean is alive and trying to assimilate you, your only hope against it is either to dry up the entire ocean or this cute jellyfish boy of ambiguous gender, rock cancer is rampant and incurable, there's 12 different pieces of a dragon god that could potentially fusion dance and wreck havoc, one of which likes to make shitty kung fu movies and is chronically unemployed, the sky may-or-may-not be fake, an immortal catgirl doctor with a spine monster hates you, political and/or capitalist corruption is everywhere, there's a weird fucking thing in the angel city's basement, which is basically redneck catholic valhalla, you can dress up god in a cute maid dress, there's an evil theatre kid group that won't let you leave after you sign up for auditions, there's a girl in full power armor who talks to rocks and the rocks most likely talk back, immortal birds exist that are distinctly different from the normal anthropomorphic bird species that also exists, one of them is a penguin rapper who runs a shipping company, there's a group of actual earth humans that have been isekaied into furry anime land, their event is unironically really well written and a great introduction to the mechanics and themes of the setting, your merchant friend has unexplained tentacles, dubstep horsegirl poland is a major setting location and is home to the WWE but instead of wrestlers its fully armored knights and wizards beating the shit out of each other, a dragon girl can kill with a water gun better than she can with a magic sword, nobody knows what endfield is, the leader of the resistance movement was possessed by an eldritch russian snake god, AND prom is tomorrow. see it just works
This comment is absolutely golden.
Literally the single best comment about Arknights I've ever seen. You have won Arknights 👏
I'm not sure why I found "dubstep horsegirl poland" so funny but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna remember that phrase any time i use any of the nearls from now on.
Why does this all make sense to me?
This needs to be preserved for future generations
I had always wondered why the main character is named Dokutah, now I know that in this game you run a PMC where your soldiers are dying of magical super cancer 👍thanks Haedal!
I'm sure u mistaken PMC for P"harm"acist, sir
@@Dr.Krezotexe Well, Pharmacy is the P in PMC
Well we are a doctor after all lol
Actually, MC is Dokutah that stands for "Ph.D." not "Doctor" who heal other.
He is (used to be) a genius Originium researcher.
@@tearaterranean6401 thanks for correction
Don't forget that Terrans are more stronger than humans that Tachanka struggled to even pull back a Crossbow's string once in the R6S collab.
It is really cool how they actually used the collab events to build their world still, when most other gacha games' collab events usually are treated as cool fanservice at best
Tachanka: "Y'all live like this???"
Meanwhile Command and Conquer fans see R6S humanity be like: Pathetic.
It always kinda bothered me how easy everyone uses crossbows in this game considering how difficult it is to pull back the string irl, it's cool that they addressed it.
I love their addition that adds more lore especially Closures bewilderment on their firearms and the magical substance called "gunpowder"
fun fact: the honse event or more colloquially known as Near Light, that tells us the story of the horse family, has a total word count of 230,570 words, that's approximately 512 pages, and i hear that one of the new events, that tells the story of the american space program (lone trail) has an even higher word count. So yeah, the novel comes with a free tower defense game.
And a free music album too, cant forget that
Is that word count for english?
@@pj9100 word count in CN, maybe longer in EN
@@tearaterranean6401 actually on EN it's shorter, 65k words and 367k characters
If HG decides to release event stories as books, I'd 100% buy them
One of the things I think you brought up but was a wee bit understated was the willingness to bench the player character. You are not the axis upon which the universe spins, you're at best an influential player, and at worst completely incidental or uninvolved. This is what gives the world of Arknights the feel of an expansive world to me: Things of significance happen when I'm not there. Almost every character that has been introduced feels like they have their own lives, whether it's a simply one or not. Everyone has hopes and aspirations that do not necessarily have to do with our goals. The fact that in some stories, you can absolutely forget that Rhodes Island, or even the Infected, even exist, without it coming into conflict when you remember they exist, that is something that I love about the world. The world feels expansive because the scope expands well beyond us, and that is a wonderful thing I think more games can embrace.
This. The main story is just a story out of the many ones out there. Even the main casts wouldnt exists. The world of arknights will still keep on spinning
the last part is what nails it with me. it's easy to make a world spanning on multiverse or omniverse even yet to have it so cramped and small bcs everyone interact with everyone too often, or the main cast just keep appearing anywhere. if you sense and intention is to built hype then sure maybe it is the way like how Marve did things, but it just became too stale later on no matter what you did.
creating a 'world' that's just one planet or even one country but make it so expansive even with the technological advancement, AK nails it really well
This. So much this.
I adore Arknights for this too.
This all reminds me of the story on A Light Spark in Darkness.
Not only that, but it also stands out for how much more grounded it is especially in contrast to stories as of late.
In this story, there are no gods or such messing around, no superweapons (scientific or supernatural) to dread of activating or shut down, or even large political actions whose scope extends beyond the story's immediate setting itself.
Just one Infected girl, whose life was ruined and slowly rebuit by the actions of locals whose most elite members hardly have much global influence if at all.
Make no mistake, many of these large-scale stories are good and/or have a place in this game. But having these smaller stories helps remind us that the world is far more than these larger-than-life figures and, funnily enough, makes it feel more alive.
Heck, most of the best written stories from this game don’t involve the main character.
as much as global server clowns on the schedule being so late relative to CN server, think about the delays whatever you wants but there's a lot of thought put into global schedule, it's hard to consider them all as pure coincidence (some examples):
1. dorothy's vision event started on pi day (3/14)
2. episode 10 (Dublinn focused) started near an Irish holiday
3. Il Siracusano went live on May 23, the date the Italian judge Giovanni Falcone was assassinated by Italian mafia (Penance is Lavinia Falcone, it's crystal clear who she references)
4. Phantom's L2D skin went live on IS2 global near the date of the first performance of the Phantom of the Opera.
As someone who plays FGO (2 years delay for content), Arknights' mere 6 months delay feels just perfect.
and additional PV Animation for Global Release 💓
Also not sure if this was a coincidence or not but Integrated Strategies 3 also released on global at the same time as Il Siracusano. That day was also Namie's (character designer of Mizuki) birthday.
additionally CN server on purpose delayed some streams to make things seems "coincidence", tho I don't remember which stream, it was delayed until seconds accuracy
@@narukahana6321Executer the Ex Foedere
This games world-building is insane. They have a fleshed out politics and economy for each countries with unique legends and beliefs. All the characters have their importance in the story of this world, so much that each side stories makes us understand that all of them are protagonist, we just get to see their perspective. There's so much mystery between the main cast too that makes us just want to know more.
Agree and i need to point out something ppl often doesnt realize or care about. Is about relationship between MC, Rhodes Island, and characters.
The vast world building of AK and grim atmospheric world shape the relationship between characters to much more dynamic style which i never saw in many gacha games. Operators are not doing lovey-dovey or cute things with you. Some of them use you for their own interest, some of them literally doesn't care about justice and infected wellbeing afterall, and some literally want to kill you, not because dere-dere thing, but because the genuine hate toward you.
Genuine hate towards the pmc is a pretty rare thing in gacha which I really like cause it makes different dynamics happen
Gotta love W.
Kal'tsit despises you for what you did to the queen, W genuinely will kill you the moment you got your memory back
Our ex-wife literally hate us 😔
@@alvianekka80Tbh, after a certain chapter that I can't remember correctly, she does state that she doesn't hate the current us anymore and will cooperate accordingly.
Arknights has unironically been the most fun settings to play with for my DnD campaigns, about to run one of my own and I'm having a blast preparing for it
That does sound like fun...
GM: "Have you got a character concept yet?"
Player: "I was thinking dual-wield chainsaws?"
GM: "Sounds legit."
Wassup sword found ya lol, and yea it’s a fun setting to play in
@@frederickthesquirrel Sounds like something that Blaze would come up, causing headaches for the Engineering Department again.
I always wanted to run a game where the players are basic foot-soldiers in an Ursus penal legion and they have to hold the line against a Daemonic incursion from the North. It'd be something like the first session to "All Guardsman Party", if you've ever heard of it. The survivors from that session would then go on to be recruited into an Elite unit, possibly even becoming Emperor's Blades, and travel across Terra doing all sorts of missions.
Currently running a not-too-serious GFL x AKN game using a homebrew system that is a mish-mash of Shadowrun and Eclipse Phase. Players are currently playing T-Dolls who've discovered RI's Black Steel squad having accidentally Isekai'd themselves to 2064 Earth (a deliberate reversal of the R6S collab). Planning to maybe have them Isekai'd to Terra for a brief stint. If they try to bring one of their Collapse Fluid dirty bombs to Terra (and I know one of them will), then by the strange physics of Terra, the bomb will become a dormant Daemon Gateway (due to the strong thematic overlap between GFL's and AKN's concept of Collapse), and anyone that finds out will immediately brand the PCs as a world-class threat. It'll be fun.
Now that you brought it up, I wonder if it might be possible to play an Arknights-based TTRPG along the lines of the World of Darkness, in particular Vampire: The Masquerade.
Considering just how messy Terran society is especially for the Infected, as well as the many deific and government powers at work, one could imagine many scenarios using this system.
One thing I adore the most is every subplot has its own genre of music as they were the product of a culture and terra has lots of them it really made the world feels more diverse
I love attention to details in this game, for example Kazmierz is based on Poland so you get bigger stuff like dude wearing outfit inspired by winged hussars or some names but then small stuff, like random goon using Polish swear words (even more since it's in totally unrelated event).
Also Chapter 8, I'm glad I started playing before all broken operators and fight with Patriot was a scary experience.
I mean the pegasi race is clearly a reference to winged hussar, and the way Nearl is told is screaming Sabaton especially in her PV.
Maybe I should actually redo the patriot fight without using the -tactical- strategic nuke that is surtr + goldenglow + texalt + suzuran
Fighting patriot with just your CC#Beta core is pretty hard ngl
Fiammetta swearing in latin is my favorite moment in the game.
as a Polish person I also love the name itself, Kazimierz uses the sound I think only polish has that letters "rz" put together create. The japanese voice actor for Młynar absolutely nails how it sounds too in "Kazimeirz", while the english one to my dismay sounds russian not polish, the languages are not even close in sound ourside of the hard "r" and I just dread each time I hear any of the Kazimierz characters voiced in english, they are horrid. On another note the korean voice actor is the one that nails how "Młynar" is pronouced while the english one butchers it so bad I can't even comprehend what he's saying.
"A pharmaceutical company that employs a small army."
_Looks at my operators._
Small?
Ah yes, a pharmaceutical company with access to some of the most powerful firepower that could even destroy cities or countries.
@@ReonLeon tbf some of them are part of a different countries/armies, and occasionally work with Rhodes island on missions.
@@Dwivil rosmontis alone is enough to level a city I think...
@@ReonLeon Blaze alone can set a whole city on fire, though she may need some blood transfusions. Horn is a literal walking cannon, give her some ammo and she can level the field to a flat surface filled with crater, Literally REED IN HER EVEN WAS STATED TO BURN DOWN AN ENTIRE STREET. Thats what most 6* operators are, walking mini catastrophes waiting to happen.
@@astupidlylongnamethatstoolong lets not talk about skadi who might've sliced a mountain in half during her wander as the "Walking catastrophe"
It's strange, The Rhodes Island Landship is basically an Ark filled with different kind of animals like,
Russian (Ursus) bears
Chinese (Yan) eastern dragons
Polish (Kazimierz) horses
Australian (Rim Billton) rabbits
German (Leithania) deers
British (Victoria) cats, lions, and dragons
Spanish (Iberia) birds
Brazilian (Sargon) lizard people
And fish people from Atlantis (Ægir)
they have Angels with guns chilling in Arknights Vatican and they are somehow related to the Devils in terms of ancestry.
Edit: I forgo the Lupos/Wolves from Italy (Siracusa).
There are also mysteries like the outworldly horrors north of Sami, the Seaborn, the eldritch starfish/seaflowers in the south seas of Iberia and The Machine called "The Law" underneath the AK Vatican (Laterano)
i mean the true meaning of the name "Arknights" in CN is something like "Ark sailing through the nights/troubled times"
@@HMN134"tomorrow's ark"
basically noah's ark
@@HMN134 it's just Tomorrow's Ark
'明日" = next day
"方舟" = Ark
Dude , you forgot Italian (Siracusa) dogos and foxes (Suzu from Siracusa btw)
I started playing this game because of the amazing illustrations and character designs, they have always worked as a huge inspiration for me as an artist. But I never initially thought this game has such complex and mesmerizing world building, I didn't expect a mobile game to build an entire world with proper geography, races, cultures and politics all the while being consistent about it. Most of it resembles the real world, yes, but it manages to be unique nonetheless.
YESSS!!!! This is one of the reasons why I love Arknights so much!! I find myself skipping stories so I can read it in one go when I finish all the stages because I get so immersed in the plot I didnt want gameplay to suddenly stop the flow hahaha
ngl I purposely read it so I get those interruptions, sometimes it just really funny to me when it cuts to combat just due to how shitty of timing it has
I like the gameplay to act as a sort of break from the story segments just to change the pace
I think the other big part where Arknights is far better than its competioners are the characters. In most other gacha/anime games it seems that the biggest problem of almost every character is that they can't spend enough time with you. Not so in Arknights, every character has its own unique problems that often form theire motives and explains their actions. They simply are belivablen beeings. Than there is the trust system which is basically exactly what it says, the more you use a character the more they trust you and tell you more about their pasts, motives or somtimes other characters that they know. And that all without beeing horny or starting to FaLl deEpLy in loVE wITh yOu...well except of gravel, shes actually just horny for you
Every single time I got the fast redeploy tag in recruitment: 😘
"muaachh"
That is definitely praiseworthy, especially for a gacha game. That being said, while there are definitely some operators who have romantic feelings for the Doc, they are either understated enough to be also read as just affection, or the character has a significant reason that justifies their attraction.
Off the top of my head, the candidates are Skadi, Angelina, Blue Poison, Platinum, Gravel, Yato, Ho’olheyak, Closure, and maybe Skyfire and Swire. Of special focus: Muelsyse.
Skadi is established to have deep feelings of affection for the Doctor, understated in her base form but made explicit with her alternate-universe self. Angelina most definitely has a crush on the Doc, likely born out of her deep admiration for them. Blue Poison can be as just affection and appreciation for Doc’s willingness to touch her in front of others, to show that she isn’t toxic. Platinum is explicitly stated in her operator files to have loyalty to the Doc, not Rhodes Island, a loyalty born from them rescuing her from her nihilistic life as an assassin. Gravel is one of the most blatant in her attraction, but whether she’s just flirty or it’s a serious romantic attraction is debatable. It is unquestionable though that she admires Doc greatly. Yato’s base form shows a considerable admiration for Doc, but she has way more development and chemistry with Noir Corne so I prefer her with him. Ho’olheyak is interesting because while Doc clearly does not like them, she is very fixated on the Doc, her voice lines implying that she is often trying to get their attention, and she even shows a bit of jealousy towards Muelsyse. Closure has a rather suggestive line if you tap on her enough about her wanting the Doc, but who knows what she means by that. Skyfire mentions how her heat goes up whenever she walks by Doc’s office so that may be telling. Swire wants the Doc to take her out and she even asks them to join her company.
Muelsyse deserves special attention because of just how heavy Hypergryph lays it on. Her interactions in-story and voicelines reveal a clear attraction to Doc, her 200% Trust line has her telling Doc is her hope, and her Max Trust operator
File reveals the source of her loneliness: the inability of others to “see” what she sees in nature, communicated by sharing thoughts and emotions through touch. In her life, only Doc is able to receive info this way. Nobody else.
While the nature of being a gacha game probably dooms most ships from never being realized in-story (always have to worry about obsessive fans getting angry that their waifu has a love interest with someone else, or being angry that the “official” waifu isn’t the one they want, etc.), I say that Muelsyse is probably as close to a “canon” girlfriend we will get, but that remains to be seen, especially as we learn more about Priestess and whether or not she may still be around, and what exactly her relationship with Doc was, and may still be.
The fact that I could see how varied, rich and strange the Arknights setting was just from the CGs I kept coming across was what hooked me. What inexorably drew me in was realising the robust and versatile fossil fuel allegory embodied in the cycle of originium, oripathy and catastrophes. Here we have an infection that saps away at the life force of everything it touches - not just human-infective but affecting animals, plants, whole ecosystems and suffusing them with unpredictable magic. Here we see them dying and the powdered crystal from their originium nodes being blown away into the atmosphere. Here we have natural catastrophes wiping whole biomes off the map and sealing their life force away as mineral wealth. Here we have an industrial revolution with the handbrake ripped off, as people get sicker, the environment gets ever less stable, and the world becomes more and more dependent on originium-powered technological quick fixes to survive the concequences of earlier cycles.
Fossil fuels, climate catastrophe, environmental illness and pandemics sweeping human and animal populations as ecosystems collapse.
Look at any one of the staggeringly diverse countries and cultures on our planet earth, with their wealth of culture and history and mythology, and you can tell a specific, local story of their relationship to oil and coal, to industrial, to ecological disruption and climate change, the global stories that the empires of the industrial revolution have imposed on the world. That's what the Arknights writers are drawing on. The diversity of Terra reflects the diversity of Earth, and the throughline that ties all of these stories together is their robust allegory for the global crises of Earth. It's an imaginitive setting, yes, but what I admire about it is how well observed it is, beneath the bizzarety.
5:05 - ERROR,as Ptilopsis would say.
You do NOT need to suffer from Oripathy in order to cast Arts without an Arts Unit like a wand,Skyfire showcases this during "Light Spark In Darkness".
Whilst having some Arts in you,whilst not enough to cast,is enough for you to operate a Lateran firearm,since control over the Arts is more important in that regard,but having more does make it easier.
Otherwise,great video,keep up the good work.
pardon me but I'm sure Skyfire mentioned having an reserve arts unit in Light Spark. Also, a Lateran firearm is essentially a Art Unit as well, just a very specialized one that's extremely difficult for non-Lateranos to master.
@@alterist64 ,odd how she needed one when she causes fires to burn out from her body based on her emotions,but yeah,she did have one.
But that simply makes Lin Yushia the better example,unless she too had an arts unit in her melons during the championship.
There's also Kjera,who in her own domain,could move the clouds apart,and her lil' drones with nothing in her hands.
Yeah,because control of Art is what's needed,but the actual amount needed to trigger is low,it's the whole reason why Jessica can do it,the comic even shows that she has just enough power to even overload a round,creating a dangerous release of Originum particles from the misfiring round.
Having absolutely no Arts at all was why Team Rainbow 6 needed both Arts Units modifications to their weapons and a Arts battery packs.
@@NareshSinghOctagon Kjera is a god. It's not arts, she's literally a godess, on the same level as Ling or Dusk, though her powers are limited outside her domain apparently. Same as Ling nor Dusk nor Nian require any originum to cast magic.
Those are not "human" beings.
On arts units we can't tell since arts unit can have any shape size or form it can be a trinket Lin is carrying on herself, so that's meh. Could be the handle of her sword, or anything really, but that's not a really good explanation.
@@ZheinPasRoux ,turns out something was an Arts Unit when she was in her swimsuit,but the only thing we can see was the trinket.
@@NareshSinghOctagon In the Dossoles chapter, before the competition started. Tequila showed them his shop and asked if they want any extra weapons. Lin replied that she's already fine with her arts unit meaning she did have one and since arts units seem to come in many shapes and sizes, it's possible it could be something as small as a ring.
I did not expect there to be an event within an event that is actually an operator's drug trip. This game is wild.
Ah yes Ceobe getting high af XD
@@dalgona4819 Still best doggo.
3:53 Yeah, putting a whole entire city on a vehicle must be so heavy, like how is this physically possi-
Oh look, Shangshu decided put a whole entire mountain range on top of it.
To be honest it makes a bit more sense once you realize that one of Originium's side-effects is that it can literally warp spacetime an break physics.
@@MyFeuerFreyR6 event?
Stories in Arknights are comparable to novels because that's makes them unique. They're not disposable lore that you can just throw away in an event (although you can skip cutscenes). Each story has something to offer, something new or something you're familiar with. And when it comes to their length, it's understandable, knowing the history of literary works in China/Eastern Asia. Of course, they're not without their flaws, but the main selling point is what it can serve towards you, and trust me, it's always worth it and pays off in the end. My favorite is the Darknights Memoir because Sarkaz lore is so interesting imo. But that's just me, I guess.
My favorite is every Iberia-Aegir-Seaborn arc because I love my crazy shark nun waifu.
Funny enough, an event story of Arknight can be counted as a full on average length novel. So if you count the whole game and it's past, present and future events, it would most likely be longer than the whole dictionary tenfold or more.
Arknights has been one of my absolute favorite games for a long time now. I wish it got more attention outside of Japan and China.
yes i agree with you, this game is not released in my country so very few people know it and arknight's english vocabulary is really diverse so people who are not good at english won't be able to understand they just pay attention into the gameplay and gets boring quickly, typically my friend
AK is the most popular gacha games in my country though, that's before Genshin Impact released.
@@alvianekka80 what country are you from? just curious
@@ebel6321 Indonesia
while I really like most of the lore-oriented AK channels, your delivery and jokes really hit the spot, and I really hope we get some more AK-lore vids from you sometime!
What you said about chapter 8 being goosebumps is none but facts.
I can't even explain how hype the chapter 8 trailer is. Tower fierce is just that good. it fits so well with the final boss feel and the emotions that has been building up since talulahs back story. Its just godly man.
7:00 to 7:13 I have never heard anyone explain Arknights events like this and make sense
I will watch your career with great interest. Arknights has a lot of lore to cover, and I'm here for it.
It doesn't feel like a movie stuffed to the gills with stuff desperately trying to lock down your attention, it feels like a masterful series, fleshing out it's lore, a meal with a plethora of courses, each one potentially an entirely different experience with a pleasant balance of flavors, not overly sweet, nor bitter nor sour but every so often there are bursts of flavor momentarily that contrast with the dish and provide a pleasant, memorable and enjoyable experience. There's a plethora of intricate flavor notes that less refined palates or ravenous consumers would dismiss if they notice at all but for those who genuinely appreciate those subtle notes, it enriches the flavor a bit more. The world feels so alive and dare I say, so vast, nothing, from any mobile first game I've played, comes close.
Perhaps it's because I grew up reading many books with nary a picture to be seen within the pages which honed my imagination to the point that I often blur the lines between anime that I've watched and graphic novels that I've read with the scenes I remember so vividly but I enjoy the relatively text-heavy presentation.
The story is fantastic, but it's not a Shonen style story at all. If you want very deep world building and character development with massive payoffs, Arknights is for you. If you want constant action or have ADD, it is not.
Arknights feels much more like a Seinen to be honest.
Arknights's world building, lore, and character designs is one of my hyperfixations for real
I have ADHD, and reading lore with this much variety is very fun to me.
Maybe this is a bad example for me since the one shounen anime I've ever gotten into is one piece and that shit will spend literally dozens of episodes at a time on either setup or overly intricate worldbuilding. (Obviously not to the extent that AK does.)
Another thing aside from the godly world building is how down to earth the story is, even though there are some major events that can mark the story of the world, the majority of situations that occurs in Terra, doesn't affect more than a single town at best, problems are truly more seinen than shounen with this one, I mean, just look at the tragedy that happened in Wolund-whatever, it was horrible how a civil war happened over night just for racism, it was something out of a movie and it didn't even make it to the newspaper of the next town much lest affected a single thing in the nation the town is based on.
The story is so good that without introducing us to a major deity or huge monster, it's still hype AF, heck, other gachas are already fighting in parallel universes against fictional hypothetical gods of massive proportions while just recently Arknights build their first space rocket xD talk about being god tier and low profile at the same time :v
Honestly, world building is my favorite in this game.
I was curious in AK lore, but after my friend told me the story of Patriot i litteraly downloaded the game for myself, litteraly man do everything for good of his people and always suffered. And lol he was just too angry to die.
This vid is just fire.
And one thing, why does everyone is this game litteraly mastered the drip Art's?
If you want a very brief summary of arknights, its basically a novel about rock cancer with a free tower defense game made by a music company
Btw, great video on explaining not even the surface level, but a speck of dust of story in arknights universe, and it will be expanded even more when endfield is real
I actually started a D&D campaign set in Terra! It's been amazing so far and the world fits so well into an RPG setting
Hopefully we get more news on Endfield soon, because I'd really like to explore the world of AK in a more open gameplay mode
I've actually had this discussion with some friends at my table not too long ago
Terra is quite a perfect setting for an RPG, it particularly fits the system we use- "Shadow of the Demon Lord", like a glove
Small tidbit about the guns, they're not guns we would use, but rather glorified wands that shoot originium bullets that require arts to use
adding into it the originium work as the spark to blow the projectile yes which you need to magically detonate which why rifles will takes too much toll to use than a handgun which the "vatican" has efficiency to and the other race dont
I'm short
*AMERICA WAND*
"RANDOM GUY YELLED BALD EAGLE SCREAM WITH USA ATHEM IN THE BACKGROUND"
Your wives are Mudrock, Bagpipe, Skadi, Lappland. A splendid choice sir. I for one am also a Mudrock and Skadi enjoyer, but also enjoys Specter and Horn.
based
Fellow shark enthusiast 🤝
As you said the variety in this game is amazing, we can be chilling in an artificial beach trying to win a competition and in the next one we can be diving into a simulation of an apocalyptic event caused by an ancient being from the ocean. Really good video
oh hey i recognize that song.
NO WAYYYYY
BRO I LOVE YOUR SONGS
@@Haedal_VT And I enjoyed this vid bud. Awesome job. You're free to use anything else from my copyright free catalog of over 200 songs.
One thing that is magnificent in Arknights is how it's world is slowly being constructed by the Operators their log files and the modules that the have. Everything has lore in it. Heck a chair has an important piece of lore.
Rhodes Island annual office chair racing championship
Oh man, you just reminded me of the Elite Op furnitures...
the winner of the chair racing competition is now officially playable (in CN at least) letsgoooo
Blaze negotiates peace with her extended chainsaw is peak comedy 6:10
"I have an offer, join us or talk to my chainsaw"
Cant believe this vid doesnt even have over 1000 views, love the vid man
started because of tower defense
stayed because of the lore quality and references to history + tiberium (shows how the devs did their homework well). gameplays and game modes are rich tho
heck they even prepared the EVA voice waiting to be used somehow.
Introducing the story and lore in a way that is interesting and attractive, while throwing in memes that only those who read the story would laugh at, this guy knows what he's doing.
One of the best content creators on CZcams I've seen in a while, instant sub. Keep it up, chad!
Surprisingly well made video
i remember the drama when someone pointed out that ayako's design (as in outfit) is superior and that arknight is so bad they said that it appeal only to horny 12 years old kid, kid me not even both fandom did not agree to that lmaooo the person got bombed with literally every splash art with sarcasm horny lmaooo
That was indeed good advertisement
*You have alerted the HIVEMIND*
As an AK player, I can confirm that we act like seaborn
honestly one of the main reasons why i still play this game, along with being a fan of the tower defense genre, is definitely just the story of Terra and its inhabitants
Arknights and the world of Project Moon are the 2 most varied and expansive worlds. The lore and attention to detail is like anything I have ever seen.
There is indeed a lot about Arknights setting which greatly intrigues and facinates me, with much of it being covered in this video. Some other highlights include the international relations between nations (for instance, the events of Dossoles Holiday happened in a neutral city in between a three-way proxy war); how the more supernatural elements of the world, namely gods, manage to fit in to what is effectively a modern setting (like how there is a whole government institution created to keep watch of a certain group of siblings), and how history continues to play a part in the present day, as seen by Iberia, Leithania and so on.
Even at least one of the crossover events, Operation: Originium Dust (the Rainbow Six event), continues to highlight how the world works, such as on just how alien our conventional weapons are to them.
And all of this is just on things that happened at least 100 years ago - we, at least on global, have yet to find out the world's really ancient past.
I have a number of issues with Arknights, particularly being a gacha and all, but the worldbuilding and music is why I continue to enjoy it even from the sidelines. It also helps that it is a dark Science Fantasy setting with extensive lore and cultures, something that I have already acclimatised to thanks to Warhammer 40000.
I'll recommend the mangas to everyone. There's one for the backstory of Blacksteel and Fang/Kroos/Beagle in addition to several one-page 4-komas
Crap. I always getting to forget about them for some reason.
I know they are good, I started read them. But man I wish they made their manga corner on the official site like, actually readable. With features that general manga sites have.
Some of the mangas are also canon and expand a lot of the Operators backstory. the Rhine Lab one was even released as a teaser for Dorothy's Vision back in CN and actually show what exactly go down during the "Demon Incident" that was teased in previous event.
someone using Greythroat??? Bless you. FINALLY SHE GETS SOME ATTENTION!!!
Good presentation,good explanation of what the game is and good opinions well done on the video you deserve every sub 👍
I just gotta say, an arknights mmorpg would be one of the greatest things ever made
Damn, you know those chanel you watch thinking they've been doing content for years, then you check and is their 4th or 5th video?
Like holy shit man that's some good content
"Restricted to a glorified chess board"
Passenger's event would like to have a word with you...
Bro, i neeeeeeeed more of you summarizing lore holy shit that entrance really got me going
Thank you for making a video that does Arknights justice (well.. in the story department, at least.. haha.)
Next time I have a friend asking me about Arknights, I'll link them this video, it'll say more than I could in words and screenshots.
Ive gotten into Arknights about a year ago, and despite it being a tower defense I really like the game. My favorite character so far is Faust as I just love him.
nice video
i know im watching this too late now but these kinda of video are realy dope and help alot to get new players into the game
i start to play in texas/penance baner, and i only hv watched about the break the ice history and a brief introduction to the races/countrys, and almost never ever read anything, but each video i see this game lore is just a masterpiece thats bring runeterra seems like a playground ride
ALSO, tank you for the recomendations of channel to watch
I completely agree! I've always said of all the incredible aspects of Arknights, whether it be the character designs, the unique event UIs, the amazing soundtracks, it's the deep and rich worldbuilding of the game (and especially with all the research the devs put in with parallels to real world history) that keeps me hooked!
the way they spread and explain the events and idea of arknights' world building is the most important factor on their success. The game on it's own probably will never reach their success without the beautiful CG art, on character voice acting, creative story writer, great composer and music director, great artist that make details on each operator's chibi, and creative team that insert easter egg, puzzles, and clues into the operator's art and game interface. Without that, this game will only just be a tower defense game with flat chibi doll like character that hitting sea urchin that walks on land and shooting stray unlicensed drone.
Yeah. Despite that gameplay itself is pretty solid and challenging (when you give it enough time to understand it), the gameplay alone is not enough to hold me.
But in combination or even a tandem of what you listed above - the game is stands out.
It's very detailed, even things like furniture to decorate your dormitory in base sometimes can have a story and lore written in the item description.
Great narration man, hope you make another one when Lonetrail event dropped, personally looking forward for that event !
this is a fantastic video essay! from one doktah to another, well done!
I can already feel you'll going to get big. From the format to the humor, it hits.
Am a very big AK fan and love video essays like this. Hope to see more AK related stuff and maybe some will try the game cuz of you.
The fact that French didn't exist in this game lore (anymore) make this game lore even more based.
They get screwed-up by Brits, Poland, German & Russia simultaneously.
Thank you for gracing us with your content!
I’m looking forward to seeing more!
This is by far the best introduction to Arknights i've seen that is easily digestible by newcomers and entertaining for players alike. Thank you, Haedal :DD
Oh and also, if you plan to make a part 2, show some painfully hard stages other than Fang poking a bunch of slugs at 0-1 LMAO
Show some interesting gameplay like 1p relay, Crownslayer bully, or one shot the boss.
We need more!
Stay on this path, you'll get even bigger
I love world building of Arknights
"I promise this game goes hard"
I started about a month ago, and meanwhile I am in the "don't waste even 1 Sanity!" mindset... It indeed went hard
although chapter 8 is the end of the main story, there is always more to it as we find out about the Doctor's background before he had amnesia in some later parts of the story such as chapter 10
As someone who likes the genre itself too and is passionate about it this is an absolute thumbs up. You could honestly be vaatividya of this game lol.
You did a great job on this commentary but also you have quite a few wrong things here and there I would give it a pass
(23 is by far the known nations we have in the game but there could be more than that, because of some furniture mentioning a state that is outside of the known Terra)
(Aegir isn't the only nation that possesses non originium based technology)
(Mudrock is not wearing a power armor but instead, it's her stuffing things inside of it thanks to her arts)
There's so much story to be missed by viewing it from just a quick rundown of an event. So I highly suggest for it to experience the story itself.
I honestly see you improving much more by getting deeper into each story and explaining it wholeheartedly.
Highly suggest that you get into the RIHQ lore community if you wanted to get deeper and know the nuances of some story meanings in the overall narrative
(if you haven't joined yet that is)
Overall great video and would now keep an eye on your future content.
mudrock is using some semi-unpowered armor (basically an exoskeleton) just to keep her suit nice and afloat
Arknights lore really feels like it would fit SO well with DND and any other table top style game
wow thank you for video essay, i love this
What has me hooked are the OST and EP they drop.
Mlynar too cold 🥶
I have come to the part where I have more knowledge about Arknights along with the characters and the world itself than any school subjects xD
Arknights was a game I didn't really know much about, going into it. All I really knew is that Under Tides was a thing. But it really did turn out I joined the game at like the BEST time to learn the lore.
When I rejoined the game (after a half-year hiatus after burning out around chapter 3) Walk in the Dust was running. Now, I hate spoilers. I despise them. But with the encouragement of more people than I'd like to admit on the Arknights Subreddit, I pushed myself to do it, being told there's no spoilers for events in the main story, and only really expands on Kal'tsit's character.
I was immediately enthralled.
Kal'tsit went from "cool mastermind type character who's always 10 steps ahead" to a very... Human character. Someone who's been hurt before, and closes herself off, both out of fear of being hurt again, and out of fear of revealing her own weaknesses. But she still has a softness in her heart- whether it be her care for Amiya, or her willingness to stay behind with the Duke in his final moments. Yeah, Kal'tsit's smart, and she has a load of experience thanks to her immortality... But she's still a person. She's cold, and distant, but she doesn't know everything, and she has a heart. It was a revelation for a single character that blew her open to me, and showed how much depth these characters can have.
After that, the Abyssal Hunter events. First, the Intermessi version of Under Tides, then Stultifera Navis. Now, I'll be honest, I didn't finish SN, it was WAY too hard. But the expansion of the world these two events did for me was immense. See, I'd always thought Arknights was a Cyberpunk Dystopia that mirrored our own world, with mysterious natural disasters and light fantasy elements. The Abyssal Hunters shattered that understanding, and opened AK up as the fantasy world it is to me.
I love Arknights. I'm on Chapter 5 (I believe, it's the one with the Second Frostnova Final Boss) and I'm loving what's been set up so far. I'm loving the event stories. I'm loving the plot so far. Juuuuuust wish I didn't miss the Rhine Labs event, since Silence is one of my favourite characters.
My only real gripe with Arknights right now is that there's a lot of questions, and a lot less answers. I'm not saying this because I dislike it, just that it can be somewhat offputting that there's a lot of plot threads that simply haven't reached their conclusion yet. That's not an issue, it's just a minor concern, but I'm sure they'll address it sooner than later.
I'm glad that people talk about just how expansive Arknights' world-building is every now and again
that said I am of the opinion that if you're gonna come out and straight up call the video a video essay you should do the term justice and make it like a 30-45min documentary going over at least a few more of the insane stories in detail similar to or greater than what you did for the intro
but nah i'm just making a joke because any time someone calls their video essay a video essay it suddenly makes me feel like i'm about to watch a university lecture lmfao, the video is great
(you should still make a longer one tho)
The longer it takes, the less people would watch it, unfortunately.
It was you! I saw this video first but put it off for later. Then I got sucked into your Genshin video and found out you made both!
Stupefaction aside, I love your calm voice and choice of topics. As a now avid Arknights player who has an interest in its lore but was always daunted from delving into it, this video is an excellent motivator to start paying attention in the story of recent events, at the very least.
Hopefully the gacha will be kind to you and everyone else deciding to pull for the limited banner in a few hours. You got a new subscriber in me; looking forward to your next video essay!
First video i've seen from you and i'm glad i got it in my feed, i hope you do more in-depth arknights content even while there exists other videos of it there are still some stuff that can be made, however that is up to you. Looking forward to the next video.
Another great video 👍
Goated video. Definitely will send this to any one who may get into arknights or as a way to try convince them to play.
And also you definitely earned a sub with such a great video
I love video essays, and you made one on my favorite game.. thank you you earned a sub from me
I need a whole hour of this. subscribed*
My man you're gonna make it big 🛐
You have my full support
Aw hell yeah, a video on one of my favorite games
I'm so glad someone made a video on this. I love the arknights world, story and characters so much, and i love to see it get more recognition, so i hope this video blows up! I know this is a pipe dream but i hope HG gets the budget to make some sort of huge open world arknights game where you can explore every region because that would be fuckign awesome. Subbed!
Also a fellow texas enjoyer, very based
A man can dream
Mind you, that "man" can be Lowlight, who already make his game to collab with couple of his other favorite games.
So man can not only dream, but also make those dreams into reality.
Please talk about this game more
Love Arknights Lv 120 Doctor here
One of my favorite area? In arknights is Laterano. Its sooooo interesting i can imagine a lot of story and drama can be told just based on their culture alone.
Good shit brother, its fucked cuz I love the characters and story but I can't help but get tired when it gets to some of the slow burns it has, cuz good god there are a lot. Stellar world
PROVENCE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD COME HOME I HAVE WAITED ENOUGH ALREADY
Amazing video my dude
"unless you are rich or frim Vatican" this very moment i was closest to death. From laugther. I almost spit out my lungs, that line was hilarious
This was a really good video
1 thing i always wanted in arknights is put the god damn amazing osts in the actual game HG
Great video! Love how we nearly tripled your sub count in just a few days 😆
I hate that I love this game and it's story/world. I wish we had another game set in this world that isn't tower defense. I've been playing almost since it's release in global I, have every limited and almost every non-limited operator with the exception of the ones from the Rainbow Six collab. I really love this game and that's why it saddens me that I stopped playing it, because I suck at it. I'm not against hard games, I love the Souls series, but I really don't like trial and error in tower defense. Which is why I usually looked up stage clear videos before I even tried the stage, that wasn't a problem for a very long time but I've come to realise that I can't, in good conscious, continue to play the game when I don't really enjoy it anymore.
Just to give an example episode 8 was released on the 30th April 2021 and while I could have cleared it any time I procrastinated until the 23rd October 2022 to clear it. And since then, even though episodes 9, 10 and 11 have been released on global, I still haven't continued the main story. I know what happens in each chapter because I love the story and overall lore of the game, but I just can't bring myself to continue.
That's why I hate to love this game, I love everything except the most important thing, the gameplay.
well that's just the sad truth, everyone has genre of game they can't really do about or like, if you train maybe you could but would you like it in the end? 50/50. personally for me it would be rhythm game and minecraft, which is painful bcs they hype of Osu back then in 2013 forward where almost all my friends play it, when i never even could do Guitar Hero. then ofc Minecraft with the exact scenario, i just couldn't justify playing it even tho i could
Keep it going, almost 1k subs now
Instant subscribe after seeing the intro
As someone who reads all the lore in Arknights, I cannot agree with you more about how distinct the world-building in Arknights is. I mean, just in the latest event, we have a kung-fu flick mixed with a battle between gods. I know the visual novel style might put off people from getting into the lore of Arknights, but I highly recommend at least checking out some of the summaries from the CZcamsrs mentioned in the video.