Arknights: Endfield Version 1.4, Homecoming brings Endmin and their allies to seal the Very Large Rift for good, encountering ghosts of the past and obstacles along the way.
Overview
What is Arknights: Endfield?
Arknights: Endfield is a 3D RPG with strategic and factory-building elements by Hypergryph and published by Gryphline, the same team behind the 2019/2020 tower defense and tactical RPG Arknights. Now set in the hostile and mysterious planet of Talos-II, a planet lightyears away from the original setting, players assume the role of the Endministrator, an enigmatic individual entrusted with great authority over Endfield Industries. As Endfield Industries’ head and trump card, their mission is to journey through the treacherous, hostile regions of the planet while setting up outposts to expand the organization’s area of operations.
It introduces a real-time action RPG experience enriched with base-building and strategic management elements. Gameplay emphasizes tactical party combat with up to four characters engaging enemies simultaneously, each with unique skills and abilities. Seamless character switching and precise skill targeting amplify the action's intensity.
| Digital Storefronts | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Official Website |
|||||||
 Google Play Store |
 App Store |
||||||
 PS |
 Epic Games |
||||||
| Free-to-Play | |||||||
Arknights: Endfield 1.4 Homecoming Review: More Questions Than Answers
The Wuling Chapter’s Conclusion
Arknights: Endfield has reached its first half-anniversary, and after a long six months, we’re finally here at the cusp of the Wuling chapter’s finale. Version 1.4, or as it's officially called, Homecoming, brings the Endministrator and their Wuling allies to the North Wuling Exclusion Zone, where the largest Rift in the Civilization Band, aptly called the Very Large Rift (very original) stands.
It is also the site of the great disaster that had fallen upon Wuling, taking thousands of Wulingers' lives and causing an entire city to crumble to ashes. This MSQ (main story quest), "Ruins in the Miasma," tells the story of these people—descendants and survivors alike who have kept it in their hearts for years—who banded together to finally take back what was once theirs ten years ago. Wuling, welcome home.
WARNING: heavy spoilers for Version 1.4 main story quest, Ruins in the Miasma. Proceed with caution.
An Interrogation Gone Wrong
1.4 continues right after the Zhuang Fangyi-centered MSQ, where she and the Endmin joined forces to seal an unstable Rift underneath Wuling and to test out the capabilities of the Xiranite Nexus, an important device in fully containing Rifts. After confirming that it is in working order (and reaffirming their close partnership, of course) and with Arcane’s recovery, it’s finally time to take on the biggest challenge—to seal the Very Large Rift in the North Wuling Exclusion Zone once and for all.
But first, they must go through the Yinglung Pass and have the Xiranite Nexus augmented by the Feranmut Proxy, Si, to properly seal the rift. The team is also given the opportunity to interrogate the captured Ardashir, the other half of the antagonist pair with Nefarith. In contrast to his more hands-on, Landbreaker-commanding partner, Ardashir appears to prefer a more calm and negotiable approach by speaking directly to the Endmin, constantly trying to get them to "see the truth" before it’s too late and referring to them as their lord, their master.
And here, even on the cusp of the Wuling chapter, he still, perhaps intentionally, continues to be vague about what is truly going on behind the scenes. He says he’s cooperative and vows to present anything "on a platter of truth," but what he says just fuels more questions rather than straightforward answers. They wish, under the command of the "Lady," to crack open wide the Rifts to create a path to the Ætherside. Once that goal has been attained, Ardashir claims that with the Endmin at the throne, "only then will conflicts lose meaning and mindless violence be gone from sight." He’s also incredibly confident that in time, the Endmin will trust him.
The interrogation feels pretty much like a bust, with nothing answered and instead being a weight in both the Endfield team and the player’s mind; what exactly is Ardashir getting at? It’s nothing new—he’s been vagueposting since the beginning, anyway—but it does keep you on the edge of your seat.
A Dip In Momentum
Unfortunately, the momentum is kind of broken when Ardashir’s interrogation is followed by a rather daunting platforming segment where you’d need to restore the Balepyre Towers in order for the augmentation ritual to commence. After restoring each tower, you get a bit of lore about Yinglung Pass and the towers’ importance to the history of Wuling from Arcane and Perlica.
Very visually appealing as usual, especially with the Ink Bridge portions, and it has brought us the lovely Lady Si into the picture, but it felt like a rollercoaster just going downwards. While clearly needed for the narrative (to power up the Xiranite Nexus), it broke the upwards momentum of finally getting to where the meat of the story is at. Instead, you have to take on this little detour that didn’t feel as compelling as the rest of the story.
But after you clear that tedious little portion, you’re finally in the clear—finally—to march towards the North Wuling Exclusion Zone and take the last few steps in this grand homecoming.
Onwards, To Home
Of course, the road to the Very Large Rift is not easy. The Endmin Crisis Team along with Arcane must carve out a path to the Rift by taking down Blightshades and obstacles. Fitting for a subquest called "Thus Begins the Homeward March."
Through various conversations, you see just how the Wulingers, both known characters and the Tianshi and Watchguards alike, are determined to make this mission a success. Da Pan’s reminiscing of being the one to seal the rift, Lifeng’s parents who gave their all as scientists, and even Mi Fu and Tangtang, as well as the minor characters who want to take it all back. It sparks a bit of something more in you as you go through the chapter, a bit more of a motivation to finally bring them—both the living and the dead—the peace they deserve. The team moves onward, and are determined to see it through.
However, the first conflict arises just at the first area, the Tanjian Hall. To Chen and especially Arcane, Tanjian Hall was their home, where they honed their craft together under their mentor, Instructor Zhu, thus holding much deeper meaning to them. And to make matters worse, the once-lush school is also the resting place of many a Yinglung Task Force member, having been taken down by the Blightshades of their fellow comrades. The lingering thoughts and feelings of their souls prodding at Arcane’s mind cause her to have a meltdown, almost injuring her right-hand man, Summit, in the process if she wasn’t stopped by the Endmin.
Luckily, Chen stands up to her and tells her to slow down, managing to snap her out of it. Despite the rocky relationship they share, she and Arcane’s connection is an important factor in this MSQ, and is one of the things that tie Arcane down from her stubbornness. It’s pretty well-explored in the chapter, and culminates through one last swordfight—together—with the Pale Blightshade (non-hostile Blightshade) version of Instructor Zhu, exactly mirroring a match the three of them partook in back in the earlier days of the Yinglung Special Task Force. Players are even treated to a insanely quick (too quick, I’d say) montage of Chen and Arcane’s moments together as comrades. It’s heartwarming, and the duel itself was immensely satisfying to watch.
The Pale Blightshade Instructor Zhu is defeated, and he disappears into the ether after bidding his former students one last time—"You’ve done pretty well." A sweet ending, and a gentle reminder for Arcane—what exactly was she fighting for all this time? Why was she risking her life for so long? Along the way, she admits to herself that she may have forgotten her true mission.
Arcane’s Redemption Story
Arcane is first presented to us earlier on as the duty-bound, no-frills Task Leader of the Yinglung Special Task Force, who wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice herself in the name of a successful mission—heck, that’s what got her trapped in the scroll with Ardashir in the first place. Noble of an ambition, it is, but it does take a toll on everyone else around her, especially Chen. And she knows that. She knows that when push comes to shove, when things become unforgiving and desperate, someone needs to make the "cruel decision." And for her, she’d be willing to do that, even if that means her eventually perishing.
Her and Chen Qianyu’s storyline during the Tanjian Hall portion of the story was definitely one of her wake-up calls, and effectively marks the start of Arcane’s shift. However, the most heartwarming (or heartwrenching, or both) and most impactful change was when Arcane finally came to terms with her existence and reason for living after falling into the trenches caused by the Rift and found herself where she used to grow up. For years, she had counted herself as nothing but a disposable life, seeking the betterment of the majority. Survivor’s guilt weighed heavily on her, the hateful voices in her head mixing with the loving ones, clouding her mind and judgement.
The Pale Blightshades in the ruins of her childhood neighborhood, especially the one in the form of a young Li Zhiyan (Arcane before she was…Arcane), lead her to the truth. With the help of Endmin, who dove into the abyss to save her, she has finally seen the light. While Blightshades are made of malice, despair, and fear, Pale Blightshades are born from hope. To her family and to all the people that ensured her survival, she is their hope.
"It is truly wonderful to know you have survived," they said.
And she’s finally, finally, Arcane cracks and even sheds a few tears, allowing herself to make peace with all that has transpired, and even managed to say goodbye to her parents. Ack, that scene makes me cry every time I see it. It’s heartwrenching and gutting in all the good ways. Arcane as a central character in the MSQ is rather fitting, with her past and present directly tied to the Wuling incident, making her a captivating presence.
An Accident, or An Ambush
While that concludes Arcane’s redemption chapter on a good note, the latter third of the MSQ’s narrative suddenly introduces more questions that need to be answered. The duo discover a giant sword, clearly a large, usable weapon, emitting Æther energy, the same tremors that broke the Xiranite Bridge and caused them to fall into the trenches in the first place. It was quickly dealt with—in a touching cutscene of the two joining forces and slashing the thing in half, no less—but the question remains:
Was the Very Large Rift disaster truly just a random, nature-dictated incident? Or was it a planned attack by forces unseen? Namely…The Exiles? The Foundation?
This piece of information is important to the storyline, as it definitely sheds some light about the incident from ten years ago, and is surely a plot device that will be explored much later on. But before that, the Rift must be sealed, for good.
Everything Leads to More Mysteries
Homecoming is nearing its final stretch, but first, the big baddie must be taken down. This MSQ’s final boss is a large hunk of stone and metal, a "soldier" named Alleikhreos, the Chilliarch. He retrieves the sword—the same sword Arcane and the Endmin removed the Æther energy from—from the depths and it returns to him in an instant. Now, we have our culprit, but to who does he answer to? Later on after his crushing defeat, M3 clarifies that Alleikhreos is not one of The Foundation, but rather just a warden.
And…that’s just one another mystery we have yet to solve. Not just from Ardashir’s vague answers, but also from Alleikhreos’ lines directly referring to them meeting Endmin at a time long past. It was said that years ago, the Endmin and the other heroes of Terra managed to banish The Foundation and all in the Ætherside, ushering in an era of peace and rebuilding after the First Aggeloi War.
But Alleikhreos says, "Why deny us, the right of survival?"; "Why disown us, the hearth of your own?"; "My Maker is only deceived by her."". And throughout the battle, it is caught murmuring whispers such as "The torch guiding us home shall never die." Where is home? Is Talos-II home? Or is Terra (setting of the original Arknights) home?
Everything still feels vague, with plenty of characters and entities behind the scenes—who is that new character in Endmin’s dream? What is Ardashir talking about when Endmin needs to face the "truth"? Why was Endmin called The Maker by Alleikhreos and why did Endmin not deny it? Was it an innate memory or power within them that suddenly made them remember at the cusp that "Yes, I am your Maker"? And who are the Precursors? Was Endmin…one of them and they forgot? And who is this &her"? Is Endmin really making the good decisions around here?
Everyone Loves Endmin (Except Nefarith): The Game
One of the largest qualms I have with Endfield’s story so far is that everyone really loves Endmin, and because of that, it does get pretty predictable in how it would be playing out. Everyone and their mother loves Endmin—and I get it, they’re the hero of Talos-II, the savior of all. I get it. But the story is playing out exactly how you’d think it would. Come to a new region, solve all its problems with ever perfect Endmin in the center of it all, and happily ever after! The end, move on to the next region.
And thus, the contrast between the goal-oriented and ambitious Nefarith (surprise, of course she’s not dead!) and the more laid-back, "still yearning for his lord" Ardashir is actually refreshing in a way that Endmin and their team is facing off against two drastically different villains who treat him in completely opposite ways. Finally, one person who actually has real beef with them and won’t bend over backwards!
Also, perhaps I was hoping to see the main character with some kind of striking character flaw, something that makes them feel more human. Endmin’s only real weakness is that they’re an amnesiac, and that too much use of Originium Arts are evidently taking a toll on their still new body, but even at their so-called weakest (as referenced by M3 at the conclusion, that the Endmin now will simply not hold on his own against their more powerful enemies), they still seem so…perfect. Everything magically sorts itself out with them there, and Endmin themselves is still such a mystery, even to us the players. But hey, with the implication of their direct connection to The Foundation through Ardashir and Alleikhreos’ musings…conflict might just be on the horizon. Eventually.
Audio Goes Hard
Before I wrap up the story, I would really just like to praise the audio of the game this time around, as I felt it definitely made the final boss battle much more compelling. The OG Arknights always had a banger of a soundtrack, and Endfield’s surely does not disappoint. Say what you want about anything else about Endfield’s other aspects, but its audio will always be something that’s hard to find flaws on.
One of the video game soundtracks I love the most is from a little (?) franchise called Ar tonelico, a game series about songstresses who are able to wield magic through their songs, which are written in a fictional language called Hymmnos. The mystical language, coupled with the otherworldly sounding choir, sent me up into the heavens. Other video game OSTs have yet to overpower Ar tonelico’s in my heart, but Endfield might just be running towards that direction.
The background music that played throughout the trek through the Yinglung Pass and the North Wuling Exclusion Zone and especially the music during the boss fight with Alleikhreos…it brought me back to my days of just sitting there listening to Ar tonelico soundtracks for days on end because it was just so beautiful and magical. It gave me that exact same feeling of chills and goosebumps because it was that impactful. Turn up your volume a bit when you go against Alleikhreos. You’ll thank me later. I was strangely more hyped for it than I was over Nefarith’s (and I loved Nefarith’s too.)
To Snowy Woodlands and Revelations
The answers are few, the queries are many. It’s the end of yet another regional chapter in Endfield’s history, but the deeper story—of Endmin’s missing memories, the truth of their existence—still have a long way to go before we get anything substantial.
Right now, it feels like a big setup to some insanely shocking revelation coming up in the next patches and regions, and I’m all for it. It’s taking a while, for sure, but after a pretty lackluster first few chapters in Valley IV and the beginning of Wuling, things seem to be finally looking up for Endfield. Good things take time, after all.
I’m surely excited for what’s to come in the later patches as we enter the Yuanyuan Manor in the mist-covered, snow-topped lands of the mountains beyond Wuling, as per the Homecoming livestream.
Game8 Reviews
You may also like...
Arknights: Endfield Product Information
 |
|
| Title | Arknights: Endfield |
|---|---|
| Release Date | January 22, 2026 |
| Developer | Hypergryph |
| Publisher | Gryphline |
| Supported Platforms | PC (Dedicated Client), Epic Games, PlayStation 5, Android, iOS |
| Genre | Adventure, Action, Sci-Fi, RPG |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | T |
| Official Website | Arknights: Endfield Official Website |
