HomeReviewsHonkai: Star Rail
Honkai: Star Rail review: a slick, anime-infused RPG bursting with potentialStar Ocean, but if everyone was hotter and you could gamble
Star Ocean, but if everyone was hotter and you could gamble
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun
It’s an incredibly cool opening, the kind of thing that John Wick would watch to get pumped up before, well, John Wick-ing all over the place. It’s pretty clear that Kafka isn’t a hero, but they’ve woken you up, and since you’ve got no memories, you must be one of the good guys. This setup feels familiar, but there are enough changes to make it feel new and get the blood thoroughly pumping.
Honkai: Star Rail - How Does It Compare To Genshin Impact?Rebecca chatted to Liam about how Honkai: Star Rail stacks up against Genshin Impact.Watch on YouTube
Honkai: Star Rail - How Does It Compare To Genshin Impact?
Actually, that’s basically what Honkai: Star Rail does really well. It’s full of tropes that we’ve all seen before, but it tweaks them just enough to make them feel revitalised and interesting. While the story is still in its early stages at the moment, it’s likely something that’s going to be worth investing in. Plus, Star Rail is free, which makes the initial hurdle a little easier to jump – but it’s also a gacha, which brings with it some baggage.
Now, Genshin is free-to-play friendly-ish, but it mostly serves low-level spenders who don’t mind splashing out on the battle pass, along with whales who get everything they want and keep the lights on at miHoYo. From what I’ve played of Honkai Star Rail so far, I’m assuming the same is true here too, which is good news for low-spenders.
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun
Outside of that is the actual gameplay, which I’m happy to report is also incredible. Honkai: Star Rail is a turn-based RPG, not an action one, and while I was a little nervous about that, they’ve done a stellar (hur hur) job of making it interesting, despite also being incredibly simple on the face of things.
Each character has a normal attack, a special skill, and an ultimate to use. Normal attacks generate skill points, special skills use those skill points, and ultimates charge up as characters take their actions. It’s all simple enough, but beneath that simplicity lies so much depth to explore, if you want to. This is partially due to the speed of the characters. You see, there’s a turn order here, but there are characters and abilities that can allow you to take multiple turns before the enemy does anything.
On top of that, each ultimate can actually be activated at any time. This allows you to mess around with turn orders and sequences, lets you hit enemies while they’re vulnerable, or make sure you heal or shield before a big boss attacks. Each character is from one of seven different elements, and hitting an enemy with an elemental weakness allows you to break them, which will push them further back in the turn order and usually do a little bit more damage.
Most characters have their own mechanics of some sort to manage, whether that’s stacking game tiles to pull off huge damage or the ability to counterattack if a character is shielded. The depth comes from manipulating the turn order, but also building your teams to work together seamlessly and play off of each other.
You can build several teams, and because different situations generally require different elements it’s a good idea to have multiple teams with different focuses. Obviously, that’s a ploy to make sure you try and get more characters, which then makes miHoYo money, but you’ll also be glad to hear that the free characters that Honkai: Star Rail gives you aren’t just useable, but actually quite strong.
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun
All of the content that’s in the game at the moment can be beaten with the free characters - and a little bit of strategy - which is very reassuring. There are also a lot of ways to earn free and premium in-game currencies, like completing daily tasks, specific achievements, and during events that will come further down the line.
There’s a roguelike mode too, where you fight through a simulated universe in order to talk with Aeons, and as you do so, you pick up different buffs that can work together to help you clear it. It’s a fun way to test out new teams, test your luck, and earn premium currency all at the same time. On top of that, there are bosses to fight, little dungeons to stumble across, chests to find, side quests to indulge in, and login bonuses as well. Oh, and one more thing, there’s both a speed-up and an auto-battle function, which makes grinding a lot more enjoyable. There’s a lot of game in Honkai: Star Rail – even as a Genshin Impact fan and all the similarities between the two, it’s a lot to take in.
Honkai: Star Rail is still in its early stages but it’s incredibly good fun to play. With the promise of more planets to come, more characters to fall in love with, and more twists and turns than anyone can see coming, this is one train that’s worth riding.
