Honkai: Star Railis a role-playing gacha game for PC, Android and iOS, with a PlayStation version to come. Based around the adventures of the crew of the Astral Express, a train that travels through space. It’s a spin-off fromHonkai Impact 3rd, and also takes inspiration from Hoyoverse’s other popular gacha game,Genshin Impact.
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You’ll explore different planets, as well as the Herta Space Station, in a storyline that is packed with lore. Along the way you’ll encounter enemies that you’ll have to defeat using a turn-based combat system. There are also side quests to discover, dailies to do, materials to grind, and of course a gacha system to beat to grow your party of characters. So, is Honkai: Star Rail worth your time and money?
Review
Honkai: Star Rail feels like a familiar experience for fans of Genshin Impact or Honkai Impact 3rd, yet also marks itself out as entirely different.It’s a mix of features from these previous games combined with changes that help it feel like anew and engaging experience.
The two largest changes are the addition of aturn-based combat system,something which I am hugely in favour of, and thechange from an open world to large but limited areas, a change praised byEvergreen EditorSanti Leguiza,who reviewed the game.
“Ditching the open world of Genshin Impact was an inspired choice, as the planets you will visit are far more fleshed out and immensely detailed than the sprawling regions of Mondstadt and Liyue.”
The overall experience is enjoyable, but yourprogress is limited at times by the Trailblaze Level,an equivalent of Genshin’s Adventure Rank. Certain aspects of the main storyline require you tohit a specific Trailblaze Level,due to the difficulty of the battles. While this isn’t too difficult, it does mean thatyou’ll need to engage with the side quests, domain runs, and dailies in order to progress.
Over time, it will be interesting to see where the story goes. For a new release,Star Rail contains a solid amount of content with lore that makes you want to continue playing.Thanks to the introduction of a regular update schedule, just as other Hoyoverse titles have, this will only increase.
Time Expenditure
Honkai: Star Rail is currently showing as16 hours for the Main Story and 46 hours for the Main Story and SidesonHow Long To Beat.This just includes the launch content. However, due to the gating of some main quest content, it’sprobably closer to around 20 hours to complete the primary narrative, if you include the amount of extra content you’ll need to keep your Trailblaze Level up.
As with most games of this type though there are always things to do. Every day there arenew daily tasks, although these are quite limited currently. Each area also has arange of side questsand there areseveral different types of domainto tackle in order to grind materials for leveling characters and items. Although it should be noted thatmost of these domains are limited by Trailblaze Powder,a regenerating currency traded for rewards.
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Cost
The primary currency in Honkai: Star Rail isStellar Jade.This is primarilyearned through quests, events, and domains. It’s used to trade forWarp Ticketsthat allow you toWarp(often referred to as rolling, pulling, or wishing) on banners forboth limited-time and permanent characters and light cones, the equivalent of weapons in Star Rail.
Especially at the beginning of the game, there appears to bean abundance of ways to earn Stellar Jade.You will also receive abonus five-star standard character once you’ve made 300 warps on the regular warp banner.
Of course, there is also thereal money option - Oneiric Pouch, a currency that can be exchanged for different rewards.
Oneiric Shards convertto Stellar Jade at a1:1 ratioand eachWarp Ticketcosts160 Stellar Jade.
Express Supply Pass
Costs $4.99 / - Rewards300 Oneiric Shardsand90 Stellar Jade each day for 30 daysfor a total of2700 Stellar Jade, assuming you log in each day to claim it. Assuming you also convert the Shards, this equates to 18.75 wishes. The best value by far.
Oneiric Shards x 60
60
120
$0.99
0.70
Oneiric Shards x 300
300
600
$4.99
3.75
Oneiric Shards x 980
980
1960
$14.99
12.25
Oneiric Shards x 1980
1980
3960
$29.99
24.75
Oneiric Shards x 3280
3280
6560
$49.00
41
Oneiric Shards x 6480
6480
12960
$99.99
81
The double bonus is usually only available once and reduces after your first purchase.
Nameless Honor
There aretwo options to upgrade your battle pass. Here are the extra rewards uponleveling up fully:
Costs $9.99 and rewards:
Costs $19.99 and rewards:
Pity System
The pity system means that you areguaranteed at least one four-star character or light cone every 10 warpson all banners.
When you first begin there is aStarter Warp, which awards afive-star character after a maximum of 50 warps. However, this is increased toalmost double on the other banners.
TheCharacter Event Warponly awards characters and hasa pity level of 90. You will also have to contend with a50 percent chance to get the featured five-star character.
TheLight Cone Event Warpis slightly more merciful, with apity rate of 80and a75 percent chance to get the featured five-star light cone.
TheRegular Warphas apity level of 90 for five-starsand is also the only banner that awardsboth five-star weapons and five-star characters.
Toguarantee pulling the featured five-star characteryou’ll need to make a whopping180 warps,costing28,800 Stellar Jade.
What Players Are Saying
Get Onboard The Astral Express Early - Helen Ashcroft
I was skeptical about Honkai: Star Rail, but it’s lured me in hook, line, and sinker. The storyline is engaging, deep, and entertaining. There are also many different types of challenges to conquer, and some amusing side quests to explore. Turn-based combat is enjoyable, and the addition of auto-battle helps remove a lot of the grind.
As part of an initial push for the game, Stellar Jade also appears to be practically thrown at you. I’ve not even explored all the available planets and I have every four-star character and a couple of five-stars, making a team that’s solid enough to tackle the current content, without spending a single cent. What more could you ask for?
Worth It In Every Single Way - Sanyam Jain
There was a lot of hype around Honkai: Star Rail’s release and it lived up to all the expectations. The game is great for RPG, Gacha, open-world, and character design lovers all at the same time.
There’s endgame content for both casual and hardcore players, and you’ll easily sink many hours into it. It’ll also pleasantly surprise you with the level of detail in the story and character lore.
A Must-Play For JRPG Fans - Seth Parmer
Honkai: Star Rail delivers a solid, quirky, and surprisingly deep turn-based JRPG experience from start to finish. Everything from its robust and unique character designs to its mysterious world and story will keep you engaged every second of your journey.
Whether you choose to spend money on its gacha-focused aspects or go purely free-to-play, the experience will always be rewarding and well worth your time investment, making it a must-play for those who love the genre or just want to collect their husbandos and waifus while going through a solid story.
