All aboard the Astral Express. From the makers of gacha juggernaut “Genshin Impact” comes a new spacefaring adventure.
“Honkai: Star Rail” is Chinese developer miHoYo’s latest offering. It puts players in the shoes of the Trailblazer, a powerful being with a classic case of amnesia, as they travel the cosmos with a ragtag band of colorful characters to contain world-ending disasters. This is accomplished through an intuitive turn-based combat system, stylish anime graphics and a kicking soundtrack.
It has drawn many comparisons to “Genshin Impact” since its April 25 launch but make no mistake — the games are worlds — nay, galaxies apart. Aside from the totally different combat styles, “Star Rail” is not an open-world game in the same sense as “Genshin.” While players are free to pursue the main storyline at their leisure in between grinding dungeons and exploring side quests, the game world is composed of self-contained stages. While players can freely teleport to these stages, they cannot be walked or sprinted to seamlessly like Tevyat from “Genshin.”
“Star Rail” is also a much more light-hearted game. It is legitimately hilarious at times, and players can encounter all sorts of real-world pop culture references ranging from jabs at Facebook’s Metaverse to “Breaking Bad” memes. Where else can you find a game that has players lining up to form an emotional bond with a trash can?
If you have ever wanted to try a gacha game, there is no better time than now. Getting into a gacha game can be intimidating, especially one that has been out for a while. It can be extremely difficult to catch up on years’ worth of collecting, especially if you do not want to spend real world money on in-game currency or countless hours grinding.
Luckily, “Star Rail” is a new release, so everyone is starting from square-one. An added bonus: since the game has just launched, players can look forward to tons of celebratory events and special launch gifts, which usually constitute hefty amounts of in-game currency and crafting materials.
All in all, “Honkai: Star Rail” is an excellent time-sink with beautiful graphics, fantastic writing and rewarding mechanics. It is also being offered for the low, low price of “free,” which is a plus in this economy. I look forward to seeing the game grow as new content is added.
“Honkai: Star Rail” is available on iOS and Android, as well as on Windows PC through the Epic Games launcher. Ports for Playstation 4 and Playstation 5 are coming soon.
