Honkai: Star Rail

About

Honkai: Star Rail (Chinese: 崩坏：星穹铁道; pinyin: Bēnghuài: Xīngqióng Tiědào; lit. 'Honkai: Star Dome Railway') is a role-playing gacha video game developed by miHoYo, published by miHoYo in mainland China and worldwide by Cognosphere, d/b/a HoYoverse. It features the main character, referred to as the "Trailblazer", traveling across worlds resolving disasters caused by the "Stellaron". The first closed beta test was launched on October 27, 2021. It was publicly released internationally on April 26, 2023,[3] for Windows and mobile devices; with the PlayStation 5 port released on October 11, 2023. The PlayStation 4 version is still yet to be announced, as revealed at the latest Summer Game Fest with a trailer.[4] It is the fourth installment in the Honkai series, drawing on characters from Honkai Impact 3rd and gameplay elements from Genshin Impact (although with significant adjustments to the characters' background and personality and changes to the gameplay elements). It is miHoYo's first turn-based game.

Partially due to the popularity of miHoYo's previous game, Genshin Impact, the game received widespread expectations before its launch. It was nominated for the Most Wanted Game Award at the Golden Joystick Awards in 2022[5] and won the Best Popularity Award of World Science Fiction Game Annual Awards in 2023.[6]

Gameplay

Honkai: Star Rail follows the gameplay style of classic Japanese role-playing games: players build up a lineup of characters, and control a team of four in turn-based combat.[7][8] In addition to various stats that affect characters' strength, each character has an elemental affinity that affects their ability to deal damage to certain targets, a character class referred to as a "path" that defines their role in combat, and set of unique abilities used in combat.[9][10]

Elements of open-world and dungeon exploration are present, with multiple mechanics, including the gacha system, carried over from HoYoverse's previous action RPG Genshin Impact.[7]

Setting

The game is set in a science-fantasy universe in which humanity and non-human sentient beings follow the Paths of deity-like beings known as Aeons. Those who follow Paths are known as Pathstriders. The Paths are based on an ideal. For example, the Abundance is based on the view that immortality is a blessing and that healing and altruism should be valued as a top priority. The Destruction believes that civilization is cancerous to the universe, and seeks to eradicate all of civilization through the spreading of various disasters, such as the Stellaron, also known as the Cancer of All Worlds, which brings destruction to any planet it is placed on. The Path of Remembrance, run by the Aeon Fuli, is associated with ice, and has an obsession with memories that are either forbidden or memorable.

Some Paths were led by deceased Aeons, but the Paths continue to exist without the influence of the Aeons. The main characters in the game follow the Path of the Trailblaze, a Path created by the deceased Akivili. The Path of the Trailblaze seeks to "explore, establish, and connect" among different worlds.

Some Paths are seen as antagonistic, protagonistic, or neutral. The primary antagonist of the game is Nanook, who controls the Path of Destruction, along with the emanators of the Path of Destruction. Other paths, such as the Path of Abundance, are not necessarily seen as antagonistic, but are at rival with The Hunt and other Paths, who view the immortality granted by the Path of Abundance as a curse.

Aside from the Path of Destruction, the Stellaron Hunters are a major antagonistic group throughout the game, who search for and collect Stellarons across the universe, and claim to be able to see the future. The main characters are often at conflict with the Stellaron Hunters.

Development

Honkai: Star Rail was revealed in October 2021 at the end of the Honkai Impact 3rd online concert, Starfire Sonorant, then later on the game's official YouTube channel.[12]

The game entered its first closed beta testing later that month.[13] A second closed beta test was held between May and June 2022.[14] A final closed beta test was held in February 2023 and prior to the release of the game.[15] In April 2023, HoYoverse announced having 10 million pre-registered users.[16]

Distribution and Development

The game was revealed in October 2021 at the end of the Honkai Impact 3rd online concert, Starfire Sonorant, then later on the game's official YouTube channel.[12] On October 27, the game launched its first closed test[13] and its second closed beta test on May 25, 2022.[14] On August 15 of the same year, the game received support from the "Special Fund for Cultural Development" issued by the Culture and Tourism Bureau of Xuhui District, Shanghai, where the developer is located.[17] On August 23 of 2022, a game story trailer was unveiled on the opening night of Gamescom 2022.[18]

On January 17, 2023, the mobile version of the game received the game version number approved by the National Press and Publication Administration, and the game was approved for distribution in mainland China[19][20] On February 10, 2023, the game conducted its third closed test[21] On the same day, the Apple App Store page revealed that the official launch date of the game was April 26.[22] In the international market, miHoYo launched more than 2,000 sets of ads on Google Play one month before the public beta of the game. The main advertising channel was Google AdMob[23] and the main advertising areas were Japan, Hong Kong, the United States, Vietnam, and Thailand.[24]

On April 25, miHoYo released the game's opening theme animation "Star Travel".[25] The game was officially launched globally on April 26.[3] On April 28, miHoYo held its first theme exhibition "Galaxy Gathering" in Xujiahui.[26] From April 29 to May 13, miHoYo undertook train advertisements on Xiamen Rail Transit Line 1 and jointly issued NFTs to promote the game.[27] On July 13, miHoYo launched a high-speed train named "Star Dome Railway High-speed Railway Brand Special Train" with an uncertain route, used to promote the game.[28]

Reception

Honkai: Star Rail received "generally favorable reviews" according to review aggregator Metacritic.[29]

Eurogamer recommended the game for its "delightfully goofy humour, charismatic voice cast, and truly magnificent combat", despite the writers' tendency to "give one sentence explanations for important details, yet spend eight paragraphs overexplaining the simplest plot twist".[36] Rock Paper Shotgun called the game "still in its early stages but (...) incredibly good fun to play", comparing it to "Star Ocean, but if everyone was hotter and you could gamble". The reviewer praised the combat system for being deep yet approachable, and noted that, like in Genshin, spending money was not necessary to progress, as all content in the game could be cleared with the characters players receive for free.[37] PC Gamer appreciated Star Rail's "impeccable visual style and strategic depth" and its "elastic tone, which fluctuates from the heroic optimism of a space opera, to the dark comedy of a Nier game, with a lot of Final Fantasy 14's soap opera storytelling mixed in". To the reviewer, the game's main draw was its "sheer creativity" and that it "distills what's most satisfying about turn-based RPGs: tactical, team-based decisions."[38]

However, some people have critcised the character designs, saying that they lack creativity, especially those of female characters, saying the outfits worn by females in Genshin Impact had more variety. [39]