Honkai: Star Rail (Chinese: 崩坏：星穹铁道; pinyin: Bēnghuài: Xīngqióng Tiědào; lit. 'Honkai: Star Dome Railway') is a role-playinggacha 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,[2] 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.[3] 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.
A battle in Honkai: Star Rail, showcasing its turn-based combat system
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.[6][7] 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.[8][9]
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.[6]
Story and setting
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 time.
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 followers 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.
Story
Location
Chapter
Herta Space Station
Today Is Yesterday's Tomorrow
A space station is seen being attacked by intergalactic monsters from the Antimatter Legion, followers of the Path of Destruction. Amidst the chaos, two Stellaron Hunters, Kafka and Silver Wolf, infiltrate the station and steal the Stellaron that was being safely held within it. Kafka takes hold of the Stellaron and inserts it into the body of an empty vessel generated by Silver Wolf (whose gender and name are chosen by the player). The vessel (known as the Trailblazer in English and various other names in other translations of the game) awakens, after which Kafka erases their memory, informs them of the future that lies ahead and leaves. They then fall unconscious.
A now-amnesic Trailblazer wakes up and meets March 7th and Dan Heng. Both are traveling on the Astral Express, a large cosmic train that travels the universe along the eponymous "Star Rail". After eliminating the remaining threats from the Antimatter Legion, the Trailblazer meets Himeko, the Astral Express's navigator, and Welt, an interstellar traveler originating from the world of Honkai Impact 3rd. In an attempt to discover their origins and eliminate the threats of the remaining Stellarons, the Trailblazer departs with the Astral Express crew.
Jarilo-VI
In the Withering Wintry Night and In The Sweltering Morning Sun
The Trailblazer, March, and Dan Heng arrive at Jarilo-VI, a planet that has been mostly ravaged by the Eternal Freeze, an uninhabitable winter caused by the power of a Stellaron, and the Fragmentum, a phenomenon that creates powerful monsters that work to injure or kill humans and destroy human-made creations. As the crew nears the capital city of Belobog to resolve the Stellaron affair, they are declared fugitives by Supreme Guardian Cocolia, after the Stellaron tells her to accuse them of attempting to overthrow Belobog's government. They escape the Belobog police and move to the Underworld below the planet, where they learn of the peacekeeping Wildfire and their ongoing conflict with Svarog, the leader of the robots, who has repeatedly rejected peace talks. After battling Svarog and learning new intelligence about the Stellaron, the crew returns to the surface to face Cocolia, who merges herself with the Stellaron and attempts to kill the Astral Express crew. The crew defeats her, and Bronya, Cocolia’s adopted daughter, takes her place as the new Supreme Guardian while announcing plans to bridge the Underworld and Belobog together.
The Xianzhou Luofu
Windswept Wanderlust, Topclouded Towerthrust, and Obsequies Performed, A Long Road Ahead
The crew receives a signal from Kafka, who wants the crew to settle a Stellaron incident on the Xianzhou Luofu (Chinese: 仙舟：罗浮; pinyin: Xiānzhōu: Luófú; lit. 'Fairy Boat: Luofu'[10]), a planet following the Path of The Hunt. When Welt, the Trailblazer, and March 7th arrive, they are not permitted to assist in Stellaron affairs, but are instead tasked by Cloud Knight general Jing Yuan to weed out Kafka and her Stellaron Hunter cohort Blade, as the presence of the Stellaron Hunters on the ship is deemed a threat. The crew finds and defeats Kafka in battle, after which she reveals she was sent to lure the Astral Express crew to the Luofu to fulfill the prophecy laid out by the Stellaron Hunters' leader, Elio.
The Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, a faction following the Path of Abundance, a rival Path to The Hunt, attack the Luofu in a conflict manipulated by Lord Ravager Phantylia, a leader of the Antimatter Legion. Dan Heng reveals that he is the reincarnation of a powerful exiled Vidyadhara criminal named Dan Feng during a battle with Blade, and assists Jing Yuan and the rest of the Astral Express in fighting the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus and Lord Ravager Phantylia, resulting in the temporary retreat of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus and Antimatter Legion. Jing Yuan formally creates an alliance between the Xianzhou and Astral Express and annuls the exile of Dan Heng's previous incarnation, granting him freedom onboard the Luofu.
After the Trailblazer and March return to the Express, Himeko tells the Trailblazer that their next stop is Penacony, the Planet of Festivities. Formerly a prison planet used by the Interastral Peace Corporation (IPC) to exile criminals, it had fallen under the control of Xipe, the Aeon of Harmony, some time ago, radically transforming the planet. Himeko explains that the Family at Penacony issued formal invitations to many galactic factions for the first time in history and among the invited factions were the IPC and the Astral Express.
Meanwhile, Luocha confronts Jing Yuan at the Shackling Prison alongside his former mentor Jingliu, proclaiming that they will put the Abundance in their grave.
Jarilo-VI
Jolted Awake From a Winter Dream
While waiting for the journey to Penacony to start, March 7th and the Trailblazer receive a message from Bronya inviting them to a festival in Belobog. Upon arriving, they learn that Topaz, an agent of the IPC, is attempting to collect an expensive debt from hundreds of years ago that was created prior to the planting and later elimination of the Stellaron on Belobog. March 7th and the Trailblazer attempt to negotiate the debt but fail to do so. IPC workers then invade the Underworld, but are defeated by the Trailblazer and March 7th. Topaz then tells the workers to stop the invasion. Bronya then considers accepting a proposal from Topaz to allow the IPC to take over Belobog but changes her mind once Himeko comes down from the Astral Express to inform Bronya that the IPC has been unsuccessful in managing the planets that accept the proposal approximately 20% of the time. The Trailblazer and March 7th start to fight with Topaz but stop after an intervention from Bronya. After being shown the progress of Belobog's citizens in reconstructing their planet, Topaz decides to leave the planet for the time being and receives a demotion from the IPC for failing to do her job.
The Xianzhou Luofu
A Foxian Tale of the Haunted
After the events of Future Market, the Trailblazer receives a message from Guinafen, and heads back to the Xianzhou Luofu to meet up with her. Upon arrival, Guinafen informs the Trailblazer about encountering "ghosts" with Sushang on the Xianzhou Luofu. The pair head over to Fyxestroll Garden, where they meet Hanya, Xueyi, and Huohuo, members of the Ten-Lords Commission, as well as "Tail", a being known as a "heliobus" sealed as Huohuo's tail. They inform the duo that what Guinafen and Sushang saw are also heliobi, ancient enemies of the Xianzhou Alliance, and warn the duo that staying in the garden is dangerous. Huohuo begins to escort Guinafen and the Trailblazer from the Fyxestroll Garden, but Guinafen is spooked by a heliobus sighting and runs away. The Trailblazer searches for Guinafen, but ends up getting trapped in a mirror, where they meet Cirrus, one of the many heliobi. They help the Trailblazer out of the illusion, only to be met with a new heliobus, Furynox. However, defeating Furynox led to Cirrus absorbing the remaining heliobi. The Trailblazer and their companions band together to fight Cirrus, which ends with Tail's sacrifice to seal Cirrus, who ends up possessing another Ten-Lords Commission member.
The remainder of the story focuses on Guinafen, Sushang, Huohuo and the Trailblazer gathering the heliobi who escaped from Fyxestroll Garden and returning them to the garden, while searching for traces of Tail through posts on a website called Ghostly Grove. After reaching 400,000 subscribers on Ghostly Grove, Guinafen, Sushang, and the Trailblazer end up finding a possessed Huohuo, who had gone out on her own to search for Tail. It turns out that Xueyi was holding on to Tail after Cirrus was defeated, and after releasing Tail to help the team rescue Huohuo, they head back to fight Cirrus one last time.
Development
.mw-parser-output .hidden-begin{box-sizing:border-box;width:100%;padding:5px;border:none;font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .hidden-title{font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .hidden-content{text-align:left}You can help expand this section with text translated from the corresponding article in Chinese. (December 2023) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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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.[11]
The game entered its first closed beta testing later that month.[12] A second closed beta test was held between May and June 2022.[13] A final closed beta test was held in February 2023 and prior to the release of the game.[14] In April 2023, HoYoverse announced having 10 million pre-registered users.[15]
Distribution and promotion
Star Rail Train model in Xujiahui, Shanghai (left), Xiamen Rail Transit themed train in-car advertisement (right)
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.[11] On October 27, the game launched its first closed test[12] and its second closed beta test on May 25, 2022.[13] 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.[16] On August 23 of 2022, a game story trailer was unveiled on the opening night of Gamescom 2022.[17]
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[18][19] On February 10, 2023, the game conducted its third closed test[20] On the same day, the Apple App Store page revealed that the official launch date of the game was April 26.[21] 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[22] and the main advertising areas were Japan, Hong Kong, the United States, Vietnam, and Thailand.[23]
On April 25, miHoYo released the game's opening theme animation "Star Travel".[24] The game was officially launched globally on April 26.[2] On April 28, miHoYo held its first theme exhibition "Galaxy Gathering" in Xujiahui.[25] From April 29 to May 13, miHoYo undertook train advertisements on Xiamen Rail Transit Line 1 and jointly issued NFTs to promote the game.[26] 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.[27]
Reception
You can help expand this section with text translated from the corresponding article in Chinese. (December 2023) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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Honkai: Star Rail received "generally favorable reviews" according to review aggregator Metacritic.[28]
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".[35]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.[36]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."[37]
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. [38]
