It’s finally here and the new sci-fi RPG from HoYoverse “Honkai: Star Rail has its release. MeinMMO editor and Genshin Impact fan Marie Friske was picked up straight away by the trailers and believes that the game studio will have their next hit with Honkai: Star Rail.
On March 24, 2023, there was a major live stream where Hoyoverse released new information about the upcoming space fantasy RPG Honkai: Star Rail.
The exact release date of the game was announced: The sci-fi adventure will start on April 26, 2023 – as a big Genshin Impact fan, I’m really looking forward to it.
In Honkai: Star Rail you explore the galaxy as a player with the Astral Express. You discover different worlds, get to know different characters on the journey and reveal secrets of the universe.
Dramatic Honkai: Star Rail Trailer Shows Off New RPG From Developers Genshin Impact
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Strongest elements taken from Genshin Impact
One of the most important aspects of Genshin Impact is the interesting and diverse characters that you meet on your journey through Teyvat. In addition to their aesthetic design, they impress me with their complex personalities and exciting background stories.
This is where Honkai: Star Rail comes in and arouses my interest. From the mysterious “Kafka” to the lively girl “March 7th” to the quiet senior member of the crew “Welt”, a wide variety of personalities have already been introduced and their stories teased.
On the left you can see Kafka, in the middle March 7th and on the right Welt, via: YouTube
March 7th is a fun-loving person who always jumps around with a camera and spreads a good mood among the crew members. What is mysterious, however, is how she became part of the crew.
The girl was found frozen in a massive block of ice floating through space. She was freed and taken to the Astral Express, where she started a new life with no memories of the past events. The name March 7th is the date she woke up on the Express.
Exactly such background stories and the exploration of what is behind them appeal to games like Genshin Impact. I want to get to know different personalities, only to be surprised the next moment when another facet is revealed.
The Honkai: Star Rail Special Program keeps throwing little hints at me as to who the characters appear to be – but the rest is for the player to figure out for myself, and I’m looking forward to that.
In addition to the interesting characters, the new sci-fi game promises an exciting plot that immediately reminds me of the archons, the deities in Genshin Impact, with the eons.
In addition, many secrets, puzzles and exploration opportunities await the players. All of these are aspects that make the multiplayer title Genshin Impact so good for me:
That’s how I discovered my love for Genshin Impact
New setting for Genshin Impact fans
However, Honkai: Star Rail is different enough not to be simply a Genshin Impact clone. So I could well imagine playing the new RPG as a supplement to my previous evening program.
The sci-fi setting is located in the already known universe of “Honkai Impact 3rd”. But as a Genshin Impact player, it’s a whole new world for me. It should offer different locations, such as the ice planet Jarilo-VI or the Herta Space Station, where the journey begins.
Differences in gameplay to Genshin Impact
One of the biggest differences lies in the game mechanics. Because Honkai: Star Rail relies on a turn-based combat system. In a confrontation you control a troop consisting of 4 characters who carry out their actions one after the other – just like the opponents.
The faster a character acts, the more actions can be performed within a certain period of time. In addition, certain skills allow multiple attacks in a row.
Like in Genshin Impact, the characters in Honkai: Star Rail also have special abilities. In addition, they belong to one of seven “paths” that bring certain properties with them:
For example, Jing Yuan is a character of the “Path of Erudtion” and thus does a lot of AoE damage. In his Ultimate, he summons a “Golden Spirit” named “Lightning-Lord” that attacks multiple attackers at once.
Welt, on the other hand, belongs to the “Path of Nihility”. Characters of this type weaken the enemies. With his abilities, Welt can trap enemies and reduce their speed.
This is how turn-based combat looks like in Honkai: Star Rail, via: YouTube
While the mechanics of the character’s special abilities will be familiar to Genshin Impact players, Honkai Star: Rail delivers a completely different way of playing through the turn-based combat system.
In Genshin Impact, I frantically pound away and switch through characters at lightning speed to invoke elemental effects. Honkai: Star Rail, in contrast, places an even greater focus on strategy and planning. It’s less about reacting quickly and more about getting the most out of a round and playing effectively.
I see the game principle in combination with the orientation as a single player title as a welcome change from Genshin Impact, which could pick up strategically focused players in particular.
Honkai Star Rail is already eagerly awaited
On the one hand, Honkai: Star Rail seems to build on well-known and popular games like Genshin Impact and Honkai Impact 3rd by relying on well-tried elements and an established setting. Above all, it could pick up the existing HoYoverse players – that is already apparent before the release.
International interest in the sci-fi game is already huge. As Axios reports, there have already been more than 10 million pre-registrations for Honkai: Star Rail – 2.5 million of them outside of China:
New game from Genshin Impact creators has already reached 10 million registrations – This is Honkai: Star Rail
At the same time, players can also start the sci-fi adventure without any previous knowledge, which could also attract new interested parties. On top of that, the game, like its predecessors, can be played completely free of charge.
The only thing that might put some people off here would be the gacha system. However, if Honkai: Star Rail becomes playable as well as Genshin Impact at no cost, I don’t see a problem with that.
Especially the sci-fi setting in the role-playing area could work particularly well to attract new players. The genre-typical fantasy theme, as known from Genshin Impact, is already used by numerous other games.
In relation to this, there are far fewer role-playing games that are located in a futuristic world. As a result, Honkai: Star Rail could perhaps assert itself more easily on the market and appeal to other players than, for example, a successor to Genshin Impact could.
The new role-playing game will be available on April 26th for PC, Android and iOS. A Playstation version will follow later.
I’m definitely already looking forward to Honkai: Star Rail and I can’t wait to start my journey with the Astral Express.
Until April 26th, I will shorten my waiting time with Genshin Impact. Here comes the next update with Baizhu finally one of my absolute favorite characters as a playable character:
Genshin Impact 3.6 Banner: The new characters Baizhu and Kaveh and their abilities