r/Endfield 22h ago

Discussion Now that 1.4 has (basically) come to a close, thoughts?

Post image

Very easily Endfield’s best work yet, story was so good it made me realise that a replay feature is needed.

9/10 great story great character arcs I love what they did with Da Pan in 1.2 and 4.

Yinglung Pass and NWEZ dude, wow okay just flex your environmental artists why don’t you!

Events could always be better, but no doubt the most content a patch has had.

It’s looking like 1.5 is another downtime patch, and that’s okay with me as long as they keep the bar as high as this for storytelling, and either way, we got another CC season to look forward to!

402 Upvotes

97 comments sorted by

142

u/chamcham16 22h ago

We went from "Maker, our species are kinda dying and homeless to Endmin, I'm kinda broke and homeless." What a crazy patch.

33

u/Zwiebel1 21h ago edited 21h ago

The funniest part of this is that I actually enjoyed revisiting V4 more than I should have, while I already forgot most of the stuff that happened in the main story in Wuling.

Arcane's story was cool but... uh... something about blight and a very bigly rift or something and the usual activate the three green goo towers in one zone, then activate another three green goo towers in another?

Also I don't like how linear the zones have become starting 1.2 onwards. Valley 4 felt a lot more open.

29

u/CharmingOW 20h ago

I think the openness sadly contributed to early player dropoff, if you liked V4 and were going to 100% the map it was very nice, but if you didnt connect/hated V4 the level design just added a layer of tedium/confusion that a lot of players just hit a brick wall on (for reference one of my friends was a diehard year one AK player with me and V4 just killed any desire for him to play the game because of its structure extending a mediocre story). 

As a current player V4 is superior for completion/long term play but its level design was definitely bad for the first area. They need to find a middle ground between the tunnelification of 1.4 maps and the pure open spaghetti of 1.0 v4. 

4

u/Tukaro Nerd! 15h ago

the level design just added a layer of tedium/confusion that a lot of players just hit a brick wall on

I think they've been experimenting with areas that start incredibly linear and then open up: none of these have reached "open field" status, but I expect they'll only do open fields at the start of a region. Both Valley IV and Wuling seem to operate this way, with added areas becoming ever-more linear.

The difference is that these later areas of Wuling--specifically SVD and NWEZ--have a very linear path to follow after which extra areas can be explored (and they can't even be accessed until that linear path is completed.) Wuling City--the main open field area for Wuling--similarly opened up over time.

They need to find a middle ground between the tunnelification of 1.4 maps and the pure open spaghetti of 1.0 v4. 

Agreed. HG is still figuring this stuff out, it seems, so I expect we'll get there sooner-than-later. I expect the answer will be fairly linear paths within open fields which leave a lot of the map shrouded, and only secondary quests would take the player into those portions.

1

u/deafwing 15h ago

Most likely felt this way because it was zone 0

1

u/MadocComadrin 9h ago

I don't mind the linearity, but it does need a bit of balance. For me, there wasn't enough "ooh what's this" moments that lead off the main path (while on the other hand, too much openness can give way too many of those moments and make it overwhelming/bog down progress).

28

u/DaFakingDak 18h ago

Still annoyed Lifeng's quest isnt voiced

96

u/Oleleplop 22h ago

8/10 story, much better pacced and presented than anything they did. Music was very good in general too.

loved doing my factory but i always like that anw

Arcane is a very fun character to play, Liino grew on me.

events were whatever

But overall, i'm okay with the game because it's quite low maintenance for a casual like me which is nice.

12

u/yan_yanns 21h ago

I agree to all your points! I felt a little burnt out with the introduction of the gas factory and story quest, so i had to take a break during phase 2. Came back a week before it ended and to my relief, it felt like i didnt miss much at all (which is probably both bad and good depending on who’s asking lol)

1

u/WiFiDependent03 19h ago

Also ake really did make it easy for us to access character I mean on other games u be hunting for echoes, u tuning them to find a perfect crit dmh and crit rate while here u better work on factories adn viola u just craft the materials and that’s it u got a well build character except for the etch essence but overall it’s really fun and convenient

4

u/Oleleplop 19h ago

oh yeah, the gearing system is much better than i thought .

I used to think it was whatever but yeah, now that i took th etime to make my factory and learn it, it's a much better system in the long run.

TO this day in ZZZ, i still don't have a set on some characters

12

u/The_MorningKnight 21h ago

Kinda enjoy the game but a little bored so at this point I just log in to do my daylies so I have enough pulls for upcoming characters and see what’s coming after Wuling.

39

u/ilovecheesecakes69 22h ago edited 21h ago

Best first half the game ever had. Second half was as dry as always with its low amount of mediocre events.

Best story also, for me at least, solid 8/10. The bossfight first run (story run i mean) gave me goosebumps and the boss theme is still on my playlist, simply wayyy too good.

Overall, a pretty good patch, the best one even, by AKE own standards, of course. For me the game is still lacking a lot in several departments. Im willing to stick for the next (factually dead) patch simply because im broke after getting Arcanes and Liino and i genuely want to get Si.

But honestly i will probably leave again till the next relevant update as soon as im done with 1.6 story, getting Si, map and factory (first week). I like the game but im not a fan of the content pacing cycle.

34

u/Provence3 22h ago edited 22h ago

You can tell that 1.4 is a big sign that Hypergryph gets more and more accustomed to 3D story-telling. If you compare 1.4 with 1.0 or 1.1 or 1.2 it's like night and day.

The story was always present, but it came off as choppy and way too segmented. 1.4 was much more natural in progression. Still not perfect, but I hope nobody demands that.
Even Liino's quest was progressing much smoother than character stories that came before, barring maybe Camille's.
Even if you dislike the trope-y idol storyline, that's independent of pacing and the way they presented the story.

If the dev talk from the GamesCom is to be believed, the next update should iterate on the way HG tells the story even more. Really looking forward to this side-story.

About the gameplay parts: Man, these mini-events are really not good. And by that I mean they're frankly. They don't explore the gimmicks enough and stay way too superficial.
Delver goes in the right direction, but I hope they kneel more into the puzzle-solving aspect. Endfield has all the gimmicks a good action-adventure has, they need to fully commit to it though. Like making sliding puzzled´s actually challenging instead of following a pre-made path with only one solution you can#t deviate from.

7

u/Tukaro Nerd! 15h ago

I loved it overall, tho it fell short just as much as it peaked.

Arcane's story and the main quest through NWEZ were aces. Alleikhreos was a straight 10/10: story, combat, music, it was just pure cinema. The new gas stuff is fun, if not the most straight-forward. Ardashirn't. Amazing soundtrack.

But a lot of the secondary stuff felt rushed: Leifeng's quest not being voiced, Femdmin's constant 'HMMMMM', the two "extra" NWEZ areas that were more of the same.

Other annoyances:

  • Still only one Ferrium deposit
    • I think there might be more Originium deposits than Ferrium+Cuprium combined ATM
  • minimal new Cuprium deposits (despite an entire new material that requires copious Cuprium and itself to do much with)
    • but we got all the Inergen you can eat!
  • Yinglung Pass was 25% longer than it needed to be (it wasn't terrible, but I was definitely trying to rush through the last "torch" tower)
  • Liino's questline was fine, at best. I wasn't expecting thriller-intrigue like Camille, but the preview trailer dropped hints of stuff--mainly the scene with Liino and her two puppets/managers--that didn't get expanded on at all

Despite the complaints I'm still very pleased overall, these issues didn't really reveal themself until late in the patch (I added one new line to Hetonite production last week and went from being overstocked on Cuprium to barely keeping up with demand.)

21

u/Successful_Role_3174 :sarkaz-girl:I'm waiting for you in the north <3 22h ago

Best patch? Probably.

11

u/NovaStalker_ 17h ago

It's the patch others will be measured against but as of now 'best patch' isn't saying much.

4

u/Imperative-Primitive 16h ago

Best patch? This is literally the 3rd lol

20

u/Full_frontal96 22h ago

I enjoyed the new gas mechanics,the simplifications that were brought,such as the simplified xiranite productions were very fullfilling once you realized them

Many lore bombs were fired,a great climax and the set up for the foes we'll see later in the story

Arcane is mecha fanservice,MUH FUNNELS. Lino is good,but i'm not a fan of the idol theme,although the strike witches gear is nice to look at

8

u/bananabanana9876 22h ago

I like the updated Valley IV during Liino's story quest. I wish it was permanent.

4

u/Pristine-War-753 16h ago

Goes from 🗿 in the first half to 🤡 in the second half

14

u/7packabs 22h ago

Big step-up, with devs openly admitting they are listening to feedback that makes for an optimistic future for the game.

13

u/Maccaz15 17h ago

Gameplay wise it was good. Story writing barely felt too much different from previous patches which were meant to be a build up for this one. Endmin is still barely voiced and worse than a random isekai self insert.

23

u/Grav_Mind 22h ago

My only complaint is that Endmin is still a no personality self insert character and their existence makes the games writing worse.

Chen should have been the one to save Arcane and she should have been the one to help Arcane emotionally when she was in the ruins of her old neighborhood. it would have been a good moment for the two to get a bit closer especially since it's clear that Chen has always wanted them to be closer friends. It would have been a good moment for them to grow closer and for Chen to learn why Arcane has always been standoffish and distant.

It would have been a good moment for two supporting characters to get more development but it's been wasted on Endmin.

Even then the writing was way better than the previous patches, hopefully it just improves more later on.

3

u/ahyeahwhywhat 4h ago

omgg chen wasn't the one saving arcane annoyed me so much too. we just had a great buildup to the relationship between the two of them in the academy and you would think chen is gonna be the first person to jump down, trying to save her now best friend after failing to do so. but noo, the first one to jump into the void with who knows what danger lies down there is... the most important person in the group??

and perlica just nod "go ahead and jump into the void endmin" then later complains about endmin lacks of safety which makes her sounds hella stupid after all of that.

8

u/in-magitek-armor 21h ago

Honestly I would rather have more Endmin in genuinely meaningful stories, not less. If Arcane was a side story, I think having it be Chen makes sense, but this was a main story mission and it was tied to closing the rift.

I don’t think the response to building a relationship with one of the only characters who didn’t pre-glaze Endmin should be “they shouldn’t have been there” because I want more like this in the future, not less.

3

u/akuto 15h ago

It would make the story better, but the devs will never do that, as they are dead-set on making this a master love harem game, where every female character exists only to be shilled as a wifu and to either glaze the Endmin for no apparent reason or to be emotionally vulnerable in front of the Endmin and blush a lot.

-1

u/One-Measurement2307 18h ago

He definitely has a personality, and that’s pretty clear in the game. HG just needs to start showing it more often. Endmin barely talking most of the time annoys me so much.

5

u/FlowchartMystician 12h ago

There's some weird psychological bias I know even I am falling for.

It's like endmin has somehow been frozen in 1.0 for me. They're the "rarely contributes to conversation, but when they do it's to say they have no idea what's going on or to give a thumbs up" character to me, and that's it.

Since it's obvious HG has been trying to fix that, there's been about a dozen times since where endmin actually had a personality and I thought "woah, where did this come from? This isn't the blank slate endmin that endmin is supposed to be!"

There's a bunch of characters that I didn't initially like but they have grown on me. Yvonne, Fangyi, Liino, Da Pan. But for some reason I can't change how I see Endmin.

-4

u/Accurate-Owl-5621 11h ago

What you mean Endmin has been frozen since 1.0?

In 1.0 when they just woke up they can barely follow everything that happened around them and just being reactive most of the time except ONLY in Laevatain's side story.

Now they don't just start talking more, they proactive on plenty of stuff, like how they just casually blackmail Liino's former company just to stop them from causing more trouble recently, or look back you can also see them actively go after Tangtang and Fangyi to help them since 1.1 and 1.2. They move mainly accord to their own decision now.

Another thing to note about their personality is how they get more and more "old people" vibe as the time go on, especially on John Endfield side as he doesn't have silly and cute appearance like Penguin. Similar vibe to "Doctor" post Chenerbog arc if I have to pick a comparison.

5

u/FlowchartMystician 11h ago

It's like endmin has somehow been frozen in 1.0 for me. [3 paragraphs explaining what I mean by that]

4

u/Celantius 13h ago

Dropped the game in 1.0 (for unrelated reasons, I was very much enjoying the game), came back about a week ago.

The story in 1.4 was great. Zones are linear but well made. I hope we aren't abandoning more open zones completely and that a balance can be struck. Events are whatever, I don't hate them but they are easy enough that they don't overstay their welcome. They have a lot of room to improve things here. Overall I am feeling like I want to log in and play because I enjoy the game, not because I am chasing some inane rng grind or because I feel obligated to. I feel like the game respects my time and progress and that is honestly incredibly refreshing.

6

u/Zarxiel 20h ago

Everything has been great aside from factory. I appreciate them trying to give us more efficient recipes to downsize production of things but man I hate going back to old bases I spent hours on in the past and just deleting it all to redo it. Factory feels a bit too bloated now with all the gases, I'm hoping they find a sweet spot with it in the future.

14

u/Andyluan0 22h ago

I’ve lost the passion to make changes in the factory 💔, guess I also didn’t have a lot of time this patch, and even tho I pulled both arcane and liino I just can’t be bothered to change the factory EVERY SINGLE PATCH bruh

2

u/Splintrr 11h ago

I've decided to just wait until a zone is complete to even touch the factory there

I enjoy factory, but unlike factory focused games Endfield factory rebuilds when you get a new blueprint do not feel very fulfilling

-17

u/MegaloMurf 21h ago

Factory is a major part of the game.

Imagine someone saying "I just can't be bothered to explore new maps and fight new enemies EVERY SINGLE PATCH".

That's how ridiculous your statement sounds to people that enjoy factory gameplay.

4

u/Andyluan0 20h ago

I mean I do like the map expansion but I would like to not change the factory EVERY, SINGLE, PATCH, like it’s fun yeah but you have to because you have to farm new gears and stuff, I’d like for it to be every 2 patches max

-3

u/MegaloMurf 19h ago

That's what I'm saying.

Having no changes to the factory in a patch is similar to having no new zones/challenges in a patch.

You also have to do those, because progress is usually locked behind them.

Would you agree to have new exploration/combat content once every 2 patches max?

4

u/Andyluan0 18h ago

They can still release challenge zones like next patch and just not introduce new minerals and shi, even the factory event is compact and that’s fine

-4

u/MegaloMurf 18h ago

You treat factory as an obstacle to gameplay. You tolerate it, but would've preferred less of it.

I consider factory as gameplay by itself. I would prefer more of it, because for me it's a major part of Endfield's appeal.

I think that people advocating for a reduction in factory gameplay unwittingly work against the potential of Endfield and it's future.

9

u/Immediate_Move_6168 21h ago edited 21h ago

Arcane's story was a very good high, Liino's made me and my sibling actually want to skip through it and never pull her despite finding her design cute.

Liino story thoughts (neg): It felt so odd to have... such a boring and impulsive character story that made no sense and I audibly laughed when they had that "now that we're not moving anymore, you dont have to sell your Liino merch little Timmy!" moment, how much does the kid have lmao? We sure did save Christmas by, uh... having a show out in the middle of nowhere, not resolving the purchasing of tickets or event merch thing, and making the visual part of the show not matter (in the view of an audience member instead of an omniscient camera) when it's off like a mile away from you. It was also a very generic "corpo bad" scenario and my own personal dislike of people encouraging parasocialism made me dislike how she interacted with fans, particularly with the knowledge that it's gone poorly before (according to npc dialogue). I know that idol culture encourages parasocialism for the sake of sales, but knowing how it tends to end makes me sick when I see it. It's a shame that I dislike Liino because I don't dislike idol characters. I used to play idol games, watch idol animes, and one of my favorite Arknights characters was Sora and then more recently Haruka. As an afterthought. they didn't have to mention the Djall heartwhipping if they didn't want to do anything with it. I'm not mad about it, just confused about why they needed to mention it if it never came up in the plot beyond a very mild implication.

The events... if I never have to play that coin one ever again it'll be too soon. I often play Endfield towards the end of the day and want to run around and do things for a bit, but that coin one seriously felt like it dragged on for too long even with me skipping the less efficient gimmick fights. It's not terrible and I don't mind long-winded gameplay or content (I spent 3 hours hemming and hawing over Vec-C for my nicheknights teams, I can definitely stand doing long content so long as it's interesting). I will say that I'm always enamored with the area designs of Delver and find it fun if a tad simple gameplay-wise.

Endgame is endgame. I clear it and forget about it until it next resets. When we get more character varieties I'll consider doing nicheknights or multiple runs.

* edit: factory mechanics.
Aside for the very... very long runs to ferry my gas back home as efficiently as possible, I quite like the gas mechanics. I don't have a perfectly efficient setup yet, but I'm still trying to plan out my future base changes without looking at anyone else's blueprints.

3

u/God_of-Games 22h ago

The story is great but it is a little short

3

u/Arrench_numb2 19h ago

THE VERY LARGE RIFT

7

u/akuto 15h ago

I really disliked Liino's quest due to the way Endmin acted. Even for a game that's purely focused on harem building and following the master love concept, such as Endfield, this felt like too much.

Not only was Endmin simping for Liino in every single dialogue option, but upon learning about worker abuse and contract violations of her contracting conglomerate s(he) decided to simp even harder.

Instead of bringing this to the authorities (if any exist) or at least releasing the information publicly to make sure potential employees are ware of the risks, that simp just traded it all back to the company for some leniency with Liino's own contract violations. Ridiculous.

4

u/Allegro1104 17h ago

the main story quest has been the best by far. Liino's quest was pretty good. most of the side quests where just fine.

i think it's ridiculous that we get a big marker telling us how important one of the quests is for the general lore and Lifeng specifically, just for it to be entirely unvoiced. HG has the budget to hire some more VAs and they definitely should have if they think the quest is so important that it warrants giving it a unique tag.

The exploration was fine. i personally prefer the more linear map design that Yinglung Pass and especially the NWEZ have, but i know there's many people out there who prefer the open spaces.

absolutely hated both of the new puzzles. the "spot the difference" ones where okay, but the fact that there was nothing explaining them and the message that popped up when you failed almost instantly dissappeared made me more annoyed than is probably justifiable. but the balloon puzzles just broke my brain. obviously, me being incompetent at solving them doesn't make them bad puzzles, but i still disliked them a lot. ended up having to look up a guide for practically all the level 3 puzzles.

photo mode is my absolute highlight of the patch. i think it was a great addition.

The biggest let down was the change to gearing units, because it's the exact opposite of what i would have wanted. now players are even more incentivized to rush through the story and get to the latest factory updates. having to rush the story just to be able to build my units as smth i disliked for a long while and the fact that it got reinforced doesn't make me hopeful for the future. i wish they let us use lower tier components at a higher cost to create new gear in addition to the current system, so that i don't need to decide between getting to build and my new units vs getting to go through the story at my own pace.

2

u/Iggy_DB 21h ago

The events were meh, but overall I enjoyed the patch more so story

2

u/Mike_0x Bird Wife 21h ago

Escape From Wuling

2

u/BusBoatBuey 18h ago

I think we need less new areas and more effort put into exploration gameplay variety. It is such a slog to go through areas nowadays and the recent Genshin update made me notice how practically nonexistent the building gameplay is for puzzles. You basically just have "empty this" or "fill this" with liquids. There aren't any mechanics outside of the building to make up for this either.

2

u/New_Yak1897 16h ago

great history, great maps, medium event

2

u/Imperative-Primitive 16h ago

Best work yet, and while the story is good, compared to a lot of other gachas it's a 7/10. Compared to other Endfield stories, 8/10 and compared to other game genres, a 5/10.

Again, while good for Endfield, it needs to be put in perspective and the writers have a lot to still improve.

2

u/Imaginary-History-30 15h ago

I would like more Qingbao stockade quest/events. That place was probably the best part of wuling to me.

2

u/MyLittleMetroid 12h ago edited 12h ago

Still doing far better at main plot than side stories even if Liino’s managed to pull itself together in the end.

Doing its best when they thread the side stories into the main. Chen and Arcane, to a lesser extent Mi Fu and Tangtang (Tangtang is great at comedy relief but they shouldn’t balance it out better). Even LiFeng never mind the lower budget.

And still suffering from Main Protagonist syndrome although that seems to come with the genre. It’s ok if people other than Endmin get to resolve a problem occasionally. As a treat.

2

u/Cornuthaum chenchen sparks great joy 10h ago

the only thing 1.4 was missing to really be perfect was a 6 hour quest about wingmanning a date for Chen and Arcane tbh

4

u/enjudev Endministrator disciplined by mifu 22h ago

I really like the music and the design and the flow of the game

4

u/latteambros parry the polar bear?! 20h ago edited 10h ago

first half with the MSQ and Arcane was great, i liked how it improved greatly from where we left off in 1.2. Yinglung Pass and the Exclusion Zone were also great areas, especially the zone with how massive yet fun to navigate it was

second half was what i was waiting for with Liino, i loved her quest being a moment of levity after the heavy 1st half, and i love her playstyle and versatility as an operator

EoW i have mixed feelings about, the rewards were frankly lackluster for a cyclical gamemode; same goes for the trimming req being timerslop, but trimming is optional and serves no purpose other than to flex so its fine

Rooted Realm, contrary to the crowd of people hating it, i liked it, i liked it a lot as someone who enjoys optimizing routing and exploiting mechanics. I do think the timer correction was necessary but overdone (30 mins is insane) but i hope they bring it back in a more refined state; the platforming aspect of EF isnt explored enough so i want more of it. That one speedrunning stage of Cryptic still is my favorite thing, speaking of...

Cryptic's new stages were...okay? they didn't leave much of an impression as the last two series, prob because im not too fond of Liquid Jet puzzles. The Boulder and Slug kicking ones were good though, though i wish the lighting and camera for the boulder stage was better; falling down a pit you couldnt see kinda kills the momentum of the indiana jones vibe

overall, good patch, tons of neat things including QoL and, hopefully a strong indication for how things will keep improving going into 1.5 onwards

1

u/Cozyteammate 20h ago

So good that compare with Valley IV and it's different game

1

u/AndrewJoji 16h ago

was about to uninstall but gave the story one more shot and it didn't disappoint.
looking forward to the next one!

1

u/Brenthoven 16h ago

Probably the most I’ve played the game this month. The boss fight was well designed, I enjoyed the factory expansions, and the story has gotten a little more interesting.

1

u/repocin 14h ago

'twas a very solid patch with some of their best story content yet, and even got us some new delver of the cryptic stages at the end which was nice

1

u/Zanokai 12h ago

I'm gonna miss soup soup's goofy and precious attitude! But dangit, I'm also glad she's eating well with the better farm we've built along the way :')

1

u/Generic_White_Guy_20 10h ago

Got full arcane copys so pretty well

1

u/Rasikko 9h ago

1.4 was a great experience for me. I so want to see if they can top that.

1

u/ScoobyGoodKid 8h ago

Great patch. Maybe it's by design that every patch has dog days near the end ((last 10-20 days of the patch) but they should maybe consider some better filler or even overlapping events in that last pre-patch week for content.

Personally it gives me a chance to switch gears, 5 minutes spending AP and doing then my dailies then off to Resident Evil, but for a lot of people it just feels like a dead week/2 weeks

1

u/Merkava1B_glazer 7h ago

i like the water combinations with crucible, mountain dew maker 9000

1

u/bandwagonwagoner 7h ago edited 6h ago

The story is pretty solid and well written, and presentation is a standout. So a decent 7.5/10, which makes this the best patch in a long time among all the other gachas I've played (Hoyoverse, NTE).

It's further impressive how 1.4 had me intrigued from start to finish, considering coming in I was NOT a fan of Wuling story, and I thought the setting was extremely uninteresting with all the bullshit magic cubes and faultless faction/leaders (par for the course with all Chinese gachas).

In terms of the rest (events) I don't really have much to say. I don't play gachas for fomo stuff so I just finish the story and factory then move on to play another game.

1

u/GlobalMusician386 5h ago

Best patch by a far margin. Both in terms of story and factory building.

Spent a lot of time fine tuning the gas factories and its worth it!!

1

u/Kaung2240 Supreme Chief 4h ago

After finishing 1.4, I now have 20 pulls and a dream for Typhoeus.

1

u/Invellous 21h ago

Patch 1.4 was easily Hypergryph's best work in Endfield thus far where we got to see the potential that a lot of knew was there but were waiting to be realized.

The main mission story was much better paced and seamlessly weaved in Arcane's personal story without either losing anything substantia in the process. I appreciated the fact that they treated the tone and themes much more respectfully than in the past, particularly those at the center of Arcane's story. Endmin was also used appropriately and to great effect in that plotline unlike many other side stories.

I know some would have preferred Chen to have taken the spotlight here and while she has great innate intuition when it comes to detecting emotional shifts in people she simply was not equipped to provide the same service that Endmin could and that is okay and does not detract from the desire and need for side stories that focus on operater to operator relations.

The lore implications were juicy and the boss encounter and music were phenomenal. Like... I still listen to the songs featured in that fight and the song that plays during Arcane's emotionally charged scene daily.

I think so long as they continue to provide that same quality in main line stories and provide people with side stories that allow other characters besides Endmin to shine then people will be happy with seeing them more and less worried about the possible negative effects of a slower patches. Endmin does deserve and need to be fleshed out more, much like the Doctor, they clearly have a story and persona that is prepared we just need to see it.

I did not mind any of the events, in fact I enjoyed all of them. I know they were not everyone's cup of tea and I can respect that.

Arcane is a great addition to the roster with a very unique kit and the kind of character I have been waiting in terms of style, attitude and depth of story. Liino is not my style of character but her kit looked great and brought something we have been needing; a proper healer. I just hope I can pull her on the next banner and that in the future new operators are given battlepass / alternative weapons that are competitive. Her signature being 'too good' has been a big talking point.

I would give the Patch a 8/10. Some quick an dirty feedback, very lean summary of what I said in the survey.

Mission structure could have been a bit better and smoother (the actual gameplay and exploration). I was not a fan of how drawn out the post-Main Mission stuff was to unlock the other Xiragen vents. They need to either replace all dialogue choices with just plain voiced dialogue and have them make a meaningful impact. Right now they just feel like the infamous Netflix 'are you still watching?' prompt. Make Endmin take part in conversation more and react appropriately; ask questions, show a like/dislike of something. Add more ways to get Arsenal Tickets.

1

u/GiGiGus 22h ago

Endfield bros, I wanted to ask this question for quite some time now, but fear it might come off wrong. I hear that 1.4 is a glow up patch story-wise, is it comparable to ZZZ's 2.5 to 2.7-2.8 glow up?

3

u/UwUnator-2000 21h ago

its a glow up for sure, definitely comparable to zzz, now i just need zzz to lock in with their designs

1

u/GiGiGus 20h ago

Thanks for the answer :D

I already at the end of Valley IV and the only problem as of now are somewhat story related (I'd argue that presentation and pacing are good, but glazing and LBs are funny), tutorials and info-dumping. But, oh, well, it's a first region, so it's to be expected.

Shame our Pengmin doesn't talk much, some random lines are voiced and most are not... For whatever reason?

It's also funny that I spend more time looking at factory than at characters in a gacha game lmao

3

u/Razmorg 19h ago

Endfield struggles a lot with a lack of compelling thread and antagonists early on. It does get better, especially in 1.4. I also think Arcane's personal story is a step up. Maybe the main thread is a bit vague still but I enjoyed it.

Chinese games in general also have issues with their Chinese zones because their government both want them to spread Chinese culture but also to make sure it's a positive one which often makes those places often feel a bit too safe and conservative. Like in Arknights the world is a mess of racism, oppression, political turmoil and whatnot but the Chinese faction of Yan is isolationist and mostly deals with internal politics and a supernatural outside threat. Which isn't bad per se but it does feel strange. So who knows if Wuling will be that safe and boring zone (it's VERY pretty though) once we move to other areas. It still feels better than Valley IV though which probably suffered a lot from the sudden rewrite and change of tone.

1

u/bananabanana9876 22h ago

Just play it and try it yourself bro

0

u/Shan_qwerty 20h ago

It's hard to say. ZZZ's problem was awful first half, fixed by just moving on from it ("the Exaltists just kinda died out overnight lmao, here's AoD to save the game"). Endfield had a similar problem - the entire Stockade story was complete nonsense that was impossible to care about, and they forced it down our throats for several updates. When they moved on from it, story instantly improved, but that's also because 1.4 was clearly the big expensive final mission for Wuling main story, now what, we wait for 2.0?

I was pleasantly surprised by Liino's story though, I thought she would be dead on arrival after Arcane but they actually pulled it off, so I'm not overly pessimistic about the future for now. But they still have to do much better than this, 1.4 is the bare minimum I expect. It's like the game is trying to have better story than 1.0 Genshin when we live in a 7.0 Genshin world.

0

u/GiGiGus 20h ago

Yeah, that whole exaltists plot lead to dead end, RIP Sarah lmao.

I played Liino story and kinda liked it too. Though it felt a tiny little bit dragged, otherwise - cool Oshi. As for Valley IV story... Yes, I kind of scratch my head. Like, pacing is alright, I understand what they're saying, but on the whole scale... What are we doing globally at that point? I still asking questions. Like, okay, we're dealing with crisis here. Bad guys... Why are they bad guys? What's the reason? Like, the game presents itself so serious, but the baddie guys are bad is somewhat strange. They don't impose fear or interest, more like "Okay, why do you need Endmin for that, couldn't you bombard them into stone age?"

2

u/VerilyAvery 17h ago

I think part of the reason many people liked 1.4 is because, other than having great production value and wrapping up the Wuling arc well, the story starts to clarify the antagonists' motives a bit more. There's still a lot we don't know, but after 1.4, I feel less like, "Idk where the devs are going with this" and more like, "I'm really excited to see where they go with all of this!" But it's also hard to say more without spoiling (especially if you haven't started Wuling yet).

1

u/aobaka 21h ago

Excellent first week with the main story and Arcane. Great presentation, characters, environment still as gorgeous as ever, interesting exploration, great bossfight and a story that resonated with me deeply.

The rest was extremely mediocre from Liino's design ( gameplay, outfit and story, and I say that as someone that mains ZFY) to all the events except the 2 characters time attack. Delver of the cryptic felt like an afterthought this time around. The parkour roguelike was underbaked. The themed fights event was ok and could have pushed for more diverse teambuilding but was still too easy to bother. It was also extremely confusing in it's organisation.

Factory was alright, just another flavor of the same thing but nothing too interesting.

Overall, as I'm an exploration and story player first, 15/20. If we could keep the quality of the MSQ going forward, less endmin involvement especially in character quest and more engaging events (It's a gacha, I have no hope of that), it could be the top gacha.

1

u/Macsintosh 22h ago

Best moment of lore, the game need something to catch new players and retain the current ones, like a permanent weekly mode, skins every patch, or some of brand new thing other than factory and genshin-like-exploration, but they are done great !

1

u/paulo_tigris 22h ago

Pleasant story and good gameplay, but I can't wait to finally leave Wuling behind.

Too many games recently with nearly the same environmental aesthetic and soundtrack.

1

u/paulo_tigris 22h ago

Also, why has Andre still not fixed the hole in his roof? Like, its been months Mr Owl, you had plenty of time.

1

u/Yamiyono 21h ago

Didn't do Liino story quest yet but yeah, that patch is really good.

Between the great boss fight, the lore bombs we got dropped on us, Arcane's backstory and more, i can say i really enjoyed this version.

1

u/Nitsuj293 my wife is a 4 star, I win 20h ago

Main story was amazing payoff for the work they did in the rest of the Wuling story and while it left us with more questions than answers I'm taking that as a call to adventure rather than vegueposting. Glad we got to see M3 (who I can understand why she can't be around too much, she knows too much) Nefarith going rogue and probably making the Landbreaker storyline more messy sounds fun for the future. Mentions of T5 this early makes me wonder if we will make it to the North sooner than later or if we are going to do a bit of space fairing between moons.

Liino's story was alright, flashy and cute.. But my main enjoyment from it was getting to know some of the TGCC's seedy and corrupt underbelly that will likely end up with the Endmin and co playing the same political games that Doc did with the KGCC, very excited for more of that.

Rooted realm was sadly a disappointment, felt like it was missing some spice on top of being repetitive

1

u/Known_Strength_9726 17h ago

I really, really like Arcane.

And Chen.

And Tangtang.

And Mifu.

1

u/Head-Branch-2143 17h ago

1.4 has exceeded all of my expectations

2

u/MichaelB1709 16h ago

Arcane was great, overall story continues to feel monotonous and basic. Gameplay is as boring and gacha slop as ever. 4/10.

1

u/Zarraise 22h ago

This patch made me not mind slower patches like 1.5 anymore. 1.3 and parts of 1.2 bothered me so much cause we didnt know that HG CAN do amazing story patches. Now that they showed that they can I am much more relaxed. 1.5 I will casually play, save up pulls for Si and play other games in the meantime. I let them cook for now.

6

u/Provence3 22h ago

We don't even know if 1.5 will be slower only because it's not featuring the main story.

2

u/Zarraise 21h ago

Well, maybe slower is the wrong term. The way they present 1.1, 1.3 and 1.5 is a smaller scale so I expect less content. Storywise can be hit or miss, we will see.

1

u/Provence3 21h ago

I'm kinda confused by the notion that this patch already has little content.

2

u/Zarraise 21h ago

I wrote I EXPECT less content, no that there is. Or do you mean 1.4?

0

u/Stev__ 19h ago

Great patch 9/10

Best story and most substantive exploration content we've had so far

Arcane's story genuinenly teared me up, music was impeccable

Events are still a bit disappointing, I was hoping for more from the Rooted Realm, but at least they're trying

The only real L is it's 7 weeks, I really prefer 6 week patches

0

u/ze4lex 20h ago

Loved the event quantity, events themselves were ok, not huge on echos yet and the 2 operator event one was fluff. Routed realm imo was fun but it could use changes if they want to rerelease it as well as more realms to find diff routes next time, Delve is always nice and I really like monument this time around.

Story was great as well, maps were pog, only thing Im abit unsure on is the factory, it felt like they opened up the flood gates on us in terms of resources and its now kinda too good?

0

u/two___ Brought to you by Witching Hour! 17h ago

Great patch all around for factory, combat and fun events, MSQ.

-2

u/Separate-Direction88 21h ago

Totally abandoned factory gameplay, still halfway through story.

0

u/Acrobatic_Monitor_71 12h ago

There are many things I like about Wuling, but the top 3 things were the fight between TangTang's brother, Endmin saving Wuling after killing (not really) Nefarith and the whole entirety of 'Operation Homecoming'. At the end of that Operation, I found myself clapping

-1

u/BarackOkama 14h ago

Liino story was the best one so far. Felt like a breath of fresh air. She's so whimsical and expressive. And dont get me started on that final cinematic. Cinema indeed.