The next Arknights Endfield beta has made huge changes, but the photo mode has me more excited than its new region

In what is due to be a rather large departure for the Arknights franchise, which started life  as a 2D, chibi-style tactics title, and one of the best gacha games, Arknights Endfield, sees it become a flashy action game akin to the best anime games like Genshin Impact, Wuthering Waves, and Duet Night Abyss - if the latter manages to recover from its launch day quirks, anyway. And presumably in an effort to avoid just that with this risky reimagining, Gryphline is hosting a second Arknights Endfield beta that's right around the corner. Get lucky enough to mosey your way in and you'll have an undisclosed amount of time to play before your account is scrubbed clear for the full release.

Responding to the extensive feedback from its previous beta test, Arknights Endfield Best Test 2 focuses on a "fully reworked storyline" with changes to "narrative pacing and character development." This includes new cutscenes (that's good), dialogue animations (those are important), and a new region called Wuling "that blends Eastern aesthetics with futuristic elements," which sounds like a neon-lit look at the far east. The cyberpunk vibes are alive and well this decade. A detailed blog post highlights an effort to refine "sentence structures and expressions to better match the reading preferences of local players," too, so that's nice.

The latest beta, and the first new hands-on experience since January, also drops a whopping nine new characters (sorry, Operators) for you to presumably scout, upgrade with new combos and "refined abilities" as part of a combat overhaul, and launch into new boss battles. Ardelia, Late Rite, and Pog… ran… ich… nik? Pogranichnik. Those are the three new super-rare six-stars to aim for, we're told.

The new trailer, which has managed close to three million views already, focuses on characterization and some big boss battles. What the trailer doesn't feature is a major part of what made Arknights, well… Arknights-the simulator-style Factory System, or Automatic Industry Complex. Could this free 3D anime action game somehow sneak its way onto our list of the best management games? We'll have to wait and see.

Thankfully, it's alive and well in this otherwise reimagined sequel of sorts, alongside Teammate Guidance and Crate Detection, which sounds simple but is probably very important in a glorified box factory, you'll have some methodical management to see to between those big boss battles in its fancy brand-new zone. There's also cross-platform play on all supported machines, and controller support on PC. And with Photo Mode with filters, team formation options, fun stickers, and focal length/aperture control in for the beta, we know what most players will actually end up spending their days doing. That factory can run itself.

The Arknights: Endfield beta is set to kick off on November 28. There's no word on when it will end, so it could very well carry right through to launch early next year. There will be a server wipe, though. You're not bringing those maxed-out units (sorry, Operators) into the full release early next year and making the rest of us chase the mega-factory fumes you leave behind. You'll have to convince publisher Gryphline of why it should let you loose in the new game ahead of the Arknights Endfield release date. But when you've been waiting close to a whole year for another chance to play, what's spending five minutes making your case in a survey?

Think you recognize one or two of the voices in the new trailer? Check out our Arknights Endfield voice actors and cast list to see if you know your stuff. And if you're already foaming at the thought of freebies, we have a list of Arknights Endfield codes you might want to keep open in another tab.

Excited to share your pulls and strategies? Assuming there's no bewildering NDA on the Arknights: Endfield beta test 2, consider sharing the non-secrets in the PCGamesN Discord. That's if you haven't maxed out your server limit by joining a channel for every single character in the dozen-plus gacha games springing up every couple of months. It happens, we know.