Honkai Star Rail is celebrating its one-year anniversary today, April 26, 2024. Below, we look back at the RPGs first year through the eyes of fans who are still playing–what they love, and what they’d still like to see improve.
Some see Honkai: Star Rail as just another gacha. To me, it’s an evolving free-to-play RPG with more self-awareness than the average release. Right away, it sets up the intriguing mystery behind the Trailblazer and the nuclear-level object inside their body called the Stellaron, and showcases flashy, effective turn-based combat that emphasizes elemental weaknesses to break enemy toughness bars. Long after I wrapped up my review, its strengths kept me coming back as a regular player, despite complaints like power creep from new units.
I’m not alone in this sentiment. Despite earning over an 80% score on our sister site, Metacritic, HoYoverse has continued to polish its turn-based space adventure in its regular updates. Fans who have kept up with Star Rail over the past year say it’s grown sweeter, but admit it still has a few flaws that tarnish an overall winning formula. GameSpot asked fans and community leaders about their thoughts on Star Rail over the past year, most of which centered around their enjoyment despite the drawbacks.
Storytelling and convenienceVenir de Tragamonedas Gratis Online
HoYoverse emphasizes Honkai: Star Rail’s story with its cinematic cutscenes, character development, and flashy animations. Even NPCs with non-changing facial expressions have more expressive voice acting than the typical stock character. Candy, a casual player who shares the hobby with her husband, says she was hooked from the beginning thanks to Star Rail’s killer intro.
“From the moment it began with Kafka and the classical/instrumental music, I was blown away. I still feel it has one of the best openings stylistically. I had to see where it would go and how they would top the opening and I haven’t been disappointed in pivotal moments and fights,” she told GameSpot via Twitter DM. “From little tidbits such as why [one character’s] name is March 7th to larger acts of rebellion and hope, the story has yet to bore me. In fact I struggle with not rushing through the story because I want to savor it all as it comes. It also feels dark but real and touches upon themes in a way that feels approachable without being over the top and too preachy.”
Matthew Arcilla, another player, stayed for the pretty graphics and audiovisual presentation, and praised the localization for entertaining him throughout. “There’s a lot of humor and irreverence that I’ve heard is really in the game’s original text and appears to have been preserved by strong localization,” he said, referring to the Chinese source material, “The humor and the visual flair really goes a long way with me.”
He continued: “New characters, new story beats (with new jokes) and an abundance of things to do makes it feel like one of the most generous free-to-play experiences. The gacha temptation is minimal, to boot.”
