AFTER THE INCREDIBLE success of Genshin Impact, the eyes of the international gaming community were all on China-based developer Hoyoverse as they recently released their newest game Honkai: Star Rail last April 26. With expectations high, Hoyoverse did not disappoint as they reached for the stars in this stylish sci-fi tactical RPG. Here are our first impressions of Honkai: Star Rail as fans of Genshin Impact.
Not Just A Sci-Fi Genshin Impact
Let’s address the obvious elephant first. There are tons of similarities between Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail in terms of mechanics and UI. Almost every element in Genshin Impact even has a direct counterpart in Honkai: Star Rail:
|
Genshin Impact |
Honkai: Star Rail |
|
Wishes |
Warps |
|
Archons |
Aeons |
|
Weapons |
Light Cones |
|
Artifacts |
Relics |
|
Spiral Abyss |
Forbidden Halls |
Even the pity system in Honkai: Star Rail is an exact carbon copy of Genshin Impact’s in which you are guaranteed to get a 5-Star Character or Light Cone once every 90 pulls. While some might find it weird that they copied so much from their own game, this can easily appeal to fans of Genshin Impact to try out Honkai Star Rail with all of the familiar comforts.
Also if you’re worried that you never played the original Honkai 3rd, this game can easily be enjoyed as a newcomer. But old fans will definitely be happy to see new versions of fan favorites such as Himeko and Bronya appearing in this game as well.
All Aboard The Astral Express
Honkai: Star Rail is a game with a lot of style. With beautiful battle animations and a great musical score, it’s very easy to be drawn into its dense and immersive world. After you boot up the game for the first time, you get a chaotic intro to the sound of classical music which is always a killer combo in my opinion.
The game does throw you a truckload…er, starship load of lore from the get-go but it can be easily digested as you play the game with the help of its story beats and glossary.
In terms of graphics, you can definitely see the improvements from the Genshin Impact models. Characters are more expressive, the background is more vivid, and the animations are crispy. With Honkai: Star Rail, Hoyoverse continues to be the trailblazer (put this in itals because trailblazer is the traveler/MC in honkai. just an easter egg. just letting you know wander-chan) in the gacha gaming industry.
Lightspeed Turn-Based Battles
Combat is where the game truly shines. With a total of seven different elements to mix and match in your party compositions on top of another seven different class types, there is an extreme amount of variety in Honkai: Star Rail’s party composition alone! While Turn-Based Combat can be a turn-off for some players, Honkai’s is a breath of fresh air in the genre.
The bread and butter of the system is its Weakness Break mechanic which awards you for targeting your enemy’s weaknesses by lowering their defense and delaying their turns.
But the interesting twist for Honkai: Star Rail is that Ultimates can be activated anytime (as long as you have the Energy) even during an enemy’s turn and even another ally’s. Proper usage of this allows a wonderful feeling of unleashing a flurry of attacks on your opponents with careful planning. The combat is beyond satisfying and fast-paced!
To The Edge of the Galaxy!
This is only the beginning of Honkai: Star Rail’s epic galactic-spanning journey. With Genshin Impact, Hoyoverse released a new patch every six weeks so we expect Honkai: Star Rail to have a similar update pattern. We’ll eventually get to explore even more planets and meet more characters in this journey that will take us starward.
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