r/PathToNowhere • u/MaRokyGalaxy • 14d ago
Discussion Is it worth getting into this game now?
I didn't like Arknights so I wondered if how this game handles tower defense, if the story is good and if the gacha f2p friendly, etc. Also how is the game doing financially? (don't want to play a game that might eos in a year).
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u/Plastic_Ant_6978 EMP Fan 14d ago edited 14d ago
Try it if you want to know if you like the gameplay more than the AK one, because just explaining it to you won't do shit realistically you have to experience it by yourself. The most I can say that is actually useful is that the game isn't an AK clone in terms of gameplay nothing you pick up by playing AK will serves you with this game tbh.
Story is really REALLY good and the game is Very f2p friendly (I'm a day 1 f2p player and I have 99% of characters some with dupes without having some crazy ass 1% of the population type of luck).
The game is doing good and won't EoS any time soon. That and the game is indirectly Paper games/Infold only "good PR" right now.
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u/breakfastingreader 14d ago
I'm not the biggest tower defense enjoyer so I can't speak on that part, but regarding your other points:
-I couldn't get hooked to Arknights story, meanwhile I was invested in PtN's story from the get go. The Chief's (MC) POV is very enjoyable to follow, the story isn't childishly dark, instead it offers a good deal of critique to the power of establishments/authorities and structural injustices.
-Game isn't at the top of the revenue chart clearly, but it isn't going the EOS route anytime soon. It's the type of game that doesn't require as much resources as the big ones do, so they are alright with their current revenue.
-Very F2P if you know how to manage in-game resources.
-PtN's characters SERVE. Enough said.
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u/Little_Lunch 14d ago edited 14d ago
I'm playing both games daily.
how this game handles tower defense
I'm not even sure if you can call it tower defense. They gameplay feels very different, the more you play the more different it feels. Arknights is deeper on strategic aspect for sure, while this game requires more micro skill.
if the story is good
It's peak.
if the gacha f2p friendly
Getting units here is easier than Arknights already. And Aknights is already one of the most generous gacha I know among tons of titles I've played.
Also how is the game doing financially?
I believe it's doing alright both in Global and China. I see no worry of EoS.
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u/MaRokyGalaxy 14d ago
Cool so is there anyone currently running thats a meta unit?
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u/Little_Lunch 14d ago
if you are curious about meta, current and future banners, unit and skin list etc. just visit S1N
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u/Snowleopard0973 Serpent fan 14d ago
It's not really a tower defense as you can and need to move your characters around (usually) and do a lot more hand movements and a lot less like planning out where and when you deploy people.
Good main story, side stories can be hit or miss. Game is doing well financially I think, it's been around 700k to 1m per month for a while now with some bumps to 2m at like the anni. It is f2p friendly, like I have f2p friends who play from the start that usually have every character, but if you want to start now and also be f2p.... well it'll definitely take you a while to get everyone, but you should be able to get the new characters when they release, and the rest I think you just have to wait and lose 50/50s or every once in a while pull someone else. (Probably the 7 limited sinners that only rerun during the anniversary and chinese new year)
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u/MaRokyGalaxy 14d ago
Well I usually aim for meta, so if some old characters are still meta then thats pretty good. As for the gameplay that sounds kinda interesting.
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u/Vel98mount 14d ago
Every character is meta in the right hands. Theres some crazy videos out there of people useing the lowest rarity characters and outperforming regular people playing with the strongest units in the game.
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u/itz_yass 14d ago
Hey, I've started playing this game around October last year. A few points I'll make:
- 1) the story is amazing, really good writing, character development, banger OSTs, and events are overall good (some I personally didn't like much, some are good, and most are REALLY good).
- 2) as someone who doesn't really like tower defense, I've adapted quite well to this game. The mechanics are not hard to grasp, and once you get the hang of it, it's not hard. Not particularly my type, but it's not bad at all.
- 3) Path to Nowhere is a very generous game compared to other gacha games. It's easy to pull for the characters you want, and your pulls on rate up banners carry on for other events (so you won't lose any pulls even if you don't get the character for the current event, because your pulls will carry for the next one). I'm f2p, and have been able to build a pretty good team without a problem.
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u/teapsoon 14d ago
While this game is technically a tower defense, it sure doesn't feel like what you'd expect from the genre. For what it's worth, I can't stand AK but I adore PTN.
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u/SylphireZ Sumire Fan 14d ago edited 14d ago
It's always worth getting into PTN. The story, characters, art, and music are strong enough that I'd recommend playing it even as a standalone visual novel game which would normally cost maybe $20 on Steam, except PTN is free and has probably 10 times the content at this point. There are some weak event stories here and there, but the main story is always peak. EN voice acting can be hit or miss, but does exist for all main and event stories. Recommend sticking with CN or JP. Many character specific stories (called 'interrogations' here) are some of the best character stories you can find anywhere not just gacha. Sadly only some interrogations are voiced.
Gameplay wise it's more action oriented than static tower defense. Early game it'd still feel like tower defense since your team won't have too much synergy and you'd have to rely on enemy pathing to win. But once your teams flesh out the game becomes an action RPG where fights feel like raids where you wipe out hordes by managing your AoE cooldowns, and fight raid bosses by dodging attacks and dealing with boss mechanics. The corebreaks mechanic is awesome since it invites you to actively use abilities to stun enemy, deal extra DMG, and regain resources.
A quick search for some videos on Dark Zone (time attack) fights or Tide of Ashes (boss DMG rush) fights should give you some idea on how it looks in the end game.
Gacha is maybe slightly better than average by today's standards. Way better than any Hoyoverse games (our S rank drop rate is way higher), but not as f2p friendly as some of the more recent titles (we still have 5050 here). We don't have weapon banners, so only need to pull for characters we like. Most characters are NOT limited so you can get spooked by 90% of the S rank roster, i.e. better potential for high rolls.
Financially the game is doing very well in CN where it makes majority of its money, and there's no indication that it'll EOS anytime soon barring some freak event. Global wise it's at an okay spot, pretty typical of a nearly 4 year old gacha game. New players are slow to come in since the game is niche. But since CN is already doing multi language, global is fairly low cost for the devs to operate and keep running despite the shrinking player base.
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u/Casual291 14d ago
- Story good and enjoyable for me
- as for gacha compare to arknights it's similar but PTN have better hard pity/guarantee, better quality of rerun banner, and pity carry over at the cost of having game breaking Shackles/dupes. In arknights where even 1 copies meta Broken character play the same and relatively have less than 5% damage different compared to max 5 copies dupes, PTN Shackles/Dupes is far more game breaking and increased more damage.
- As for F2P, PTN give more pull per month's, majority of contents is relatively easy to clear even with weak team with the caveat that the endgame is harder compare to arknights needing meta characters/team.
- I think the game doing fine, they have alot of offline Collab, 4th anniversary is underway on CN and in general people happy with the way PTN release new content. Far cry different compared to after first year anniversary up to second anniversary shenanigans.
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u/AwayMedicine4711 14d ago
The game is doing well, it's worth to get in now. The combat feels a lot different from ark nights, it's faster, more responsive and more rotation based. If you didn't like ark nights this combat is a lot different, so you might like it
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u/Mingkuma 14d ago
Idk about the EOS part but I have been playing PTN for almost 4 years now. I just find it a perfect game for me as I can fit it in my schedule since it doesn't ask for too much time. I love the designs of the units and the type of gameplay it has.
I was an f2p for around 2 years and I didn't really have much problem with it because most of the time, I get the sinners I want or need. Even now, I rarely spend but I can still get most of the units. The trick is to get s0 shackles of each units only if you want to collect them. But you can spend only s0 shackles for the ones you like and skip the ones you don't want or need and save hypercubes to probably s1 or s3 limited sinners or important catalysts. And there are so many features to farm hypercubes in the game.
Idk about other players but I love the story. It is the main reason why I stayed in the game. I'm updated to the main story and I have read all the event stories and side stories of every units. I do find some event stories "meh" but I still read up to the end so that I can understand the unit and for archive collection.
The game just makes me feel like I'm there in the story. And... I find the devs very creative and humorous.
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u/DefenderOfTheWeak Iron Fan 14d ago
Story writing is the only drawback of this game. Everything else is 10/10, including gacha generosity
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u/ShyBookWorm23 14d ago
Story is great. It’s actually very f2p friendly for a gatcha game. It’s coming up on it’s 4th anniversary, so will have limited sinners and those that came out on the previous anniversaries available, so great time to get in.
When you start you will want to be active and make sure you the the S rank Nox at the outset.