One of the success stories in the live service gaming market where the big names have been shut down is implementing microtransactions in hopes of unlocking new characters to use, despite the high quality. It’s Genshin Impact, an open-world action game with constant additions and updates. Irumoto Kai: It looks like they’re doubling down on Genshin’s success with Star Rail. Closed After spending a lot of time in his beta, Honkai: Star Rail seems to be shaping up for his newfound HoYoverse success.
Honkai: Star Rail is technically a follow-up to the previous game called Honkai Impact 3rd, but you don’t need to know what happened before to understand the story here. , you’ll come across some familiar faces along the way. Similar to Genshin, Honkai stars a prismatic cast of anime-style characters. It’s the product of Stellarone, best defined as a species.
It later serves as your home base after waking up in a desolate spaceship. You are recruited as a pioneer, a band of adventurers who travel to different planets in need of help in a fantastical train called the Astral Express. I was still early in the story, but there was a surprising amount of depth to the characters in the party. Part of the reason is that by casting strong voices across the board, we can give everyone more distinct personalities. I learned about their origins, goals, and the reasons behind their outlook on life.
These party members can be unlocked simply by progressing through the main story, but can also be summoned using a Rail Pass. Your chances are slim, and the developers have detailed the possibility of unlocking a four- or five-star character, but they don’t deny the dopamine that comes when that happens. Even if the gacha system happens to give you a bad taste in your mouth, it’s not a requirement for progressing the story, so you shouldn’t turn your back on it completely.
Each playable character is assigned a dedicated “path” that excels in a particular ability. On top of that, light cones are basically cards that can be equipped on characters following their path, increasing health, attack, defense, and their own passive abilities.
“
Unlike Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail has a more world level based system rather than one huge open world map complemented by turn-based combat. Straightforward but effective, each party member is equipped with three different attack options. Basic, Skill, Ultimate. Hitting an enemy with a basic attack gives you skill points to use skill attacks. Ultimates can be activated after enough attacks have been made. Each party member has a dedicated damage type, and all enemies have several weaknesses. Hitting an enemy’s weak point lowers the Break Bar, and when empty, it slows down your actions. Streamlining the combat makes the gameplay more approachable for those unfamiliar with the genre, but it comes at some cost. Healing items can only be used outside of combat and cannot be replaced by party members, whether alive or dead. If you get caught in a fight that’s tougher than normal, you won’t be able to run away from it either. It’s not the end of the world, as it spawns right before the previous encounter, but it doesn’t seem like there’s any need for these mechanics to be missing either.
As you explore each location, you’ll come across portals that heal your party and teleport you to places you’ve been before, as well as treasure chests that provide materials that allow you to progress to a myriad of different things. I can’t stress enough how many different ingredients there are. Leveling up characters, unlocking stat nodes, synthesizing items, to name a few. These materials aren’t thrown at you all at once, but as they’re introduced bit by bit, you’ll be overwhelmed, and it’s definitely going to take some time to remember what they’re all used for specifically. , can prove beneficial in swapping out party members, as everyone has unique abilities that give them an edge in the next battle, such as freezing enemies before the battle begins.
After playing Honkai: Star Rail, it’s easy to see why games like Genshin Impact are so popular. There may be microtransactions and gacha features expected of major games that will also be available on mobile in 2023, but the truth of the matter is they are optional and necessary to get the full experience on offer. Honkai is becoming a well-made game with a sufficiently interesting universe, story, and characters that I’d love to come back and see it evolve over time.
