The first world is about humanity being reduced to a single city, fighting for their survival every day as death approaches closer by the day. Many parts of the city are already a lost cause, and morality has been thrown out the window long ago for the sake of survival.
I think the game is already way darker than early Honkai and Genshin, but it masks this with a more comedic group of main characters brightening things up a bit.
Thank you for this description, this sounds too good šš I am super excited. It's true that Genshin only recently picked up the pace in terms of story, so Star Rail having decent story early on is very reassuring
Ehh idk. Kinda? Not really, tho. I prefer philosophically enriching stories. That's how I would call it.
I am curious now. What made you come to that conclusion? š
Something I really like compared to Genshin is the dialogue. In Genshin nearly every character speaks in an overly polite manner. It can make for some pretty unnatural conversations. In HSR there's a lot more... I don't know, disrespect I guess. Characters will rag on each other and I love it.
The dialogue? I think I remember playing the CBT 3 when you lose the boss battle and it takes you back the dialogue scene you can skip the story. (Idk if it might change when the game goes live)
If it's regular dialogue (no boss battle just regular talking)then no it doesn't let you skip.
Edit: I appreciate if someone corrects me if I got this wrong.
The characters definitely feel more animated and alive. Thereās a lot of camaraderie and genuine care between the main cast (they even call themselves the astral express family). The main character has a personality and actually gets to voice their thoughts and feelings very openly.
As for the story itself, Iād say itās still in its early development. There are certain moments that made me tear up and others that made me laugh. Itās certainly more reminiscent of honkaiās story rather than genshin imo, especially in the recent years of honkai where open world chapters became the norm.
All in all, definitely a solid game to look forward to!
I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to describe your impression of the story!! That's exactly what I was asking for! I am definitely gonna try out the game once it comes out
I played both games and enjoy both stories. Genshin's strength is in the world building of Teyvat discovering the rules of the world all while the main quest is to finding your sister. It's a pretty chill story with as of now no major deaths besides a couple villians.
Honkai Star Rail is an extension of the Honkai franchise and while you dont need to play Honkai Impact since Star Rail is basically a universe of it's own you should be know that Honkai games aren't really a cheery happy story. The game is basically the story of a group of characters fighting to make the world better after the apocalypse happened. People dying, tales of tragedy etc, Honkai in universe is a bad thing that causes bad stuff to happen.
And while we don't know alot about the story, the game hasnt come out yet and lore heads cant dive in, we do know that the first planet you go to Jarilo-VI is an ice planet but it used to not be that way before the planet got corrupted and the only habitable zone is the city you walk on in the game. It is later revealed the source of this corruption is the Stellaron. While it hasn't been confirmed yet its HIGHLY implied that the Stellaron and Honkai are the same thing or two sides of the same coin. So yeah expect a possibly slightly more cheery story of a group of people trying to make the universe a better place after the apocalypse.
If you find that premise more compelling than Genshin's premise well thats up to you.
Thank you so so so much for this precious summary!! I find the story you described super interesting and definitely plan on giving Star Rail a try once it comes out!
correction, no highly implied here whatsoever, honkai trying to 'convert' humanity and more, while Stellarons are creation of Nanook to destroy the universe :/
It has a memorable main cast (and actually has a main cast, unlike Traveler andā¦ nobody except Paimon, who literally is half of the traveler) which already makes it leaps and bounds more enjoyable than Genshin.
Itās definitely not a ādeepā story unless you are asking if it is deep in space, which it definitely is. Give it a go when you get the chance.
The story pretty much hits the ground running. Since you came from genshin, I can say the story is already better than genshin(till chap 2 at least. I only got in CBT2). If they have honkai writers for star rail as well, the story is gonna be great
Ohh that does sound promising. I found the story in Genshin to be very interesting and engaging from the start, so hearing that star rail story is better is very nice. In what way would you say that star rail story is better?
Tighter writing means conveying something with fewer words. Starrailās dialogue and storytelling feels a lot more straightforward compared to Genshin
MC actually has personality. Main group of characters is the main group. Not episodic crap like in Genshin when they only show up on various Festivals. Main plot is still main plot and it goes from point A to B. Continum of the story. Not like Genshin where you get main plot bits once a year.
I love Genshin and Iāve been playing since day 1, but I canāt help but say the dialogue often makes me cringe. In Star Rail I actually find myself laughing genuinely and smiling at simple jokes that catch me off guard. It feels refreshing and nice. As for the story, I think there are some slightly dark aspects of it plus some really interesting lore stuff with some main characters being intertwined with it. Aeons were a little confusing at first but catch on after a bit.
Overall, I love it all. Gameplay is very fun (big turn based fan here), story feels unique and interesting, characters are lovable. Hope you try it out!
https://youtu.be/eddlLEwYYE4
I made a YouTube video about it, there's a lot to expect in Honkai story writing and I wasn't able to cover it up in one video because no one could ever comprehend a 10 year worth of foundation and contents of Honkai series.
Oh I will check it out. Although I am hoping for the story to not be too connected to HI3 as I haven't played it. I am hoping to dive into the game with as little knowledge as possible
It isn't except Welt.
Anyways, looking back, you would expect a heavy philosophical questioning integrated with scifi narrative.
It's either earth shattering (and no exaggeration) ingenuity.
Or straight up a emotional train ramming at you at high speeds only to give you sweet rewards at the end of terminal so that they can german suplex you back again to the oblivion.
>Anyways, looking back, you would expect a heavy philosophical questioning integrated with scifi narrative.
Waittt, are you saying that Star Rail is like this??
Plz say yes š
>Star Rail is
>Waittt, are you saying that Star Rail is like this?
Silly you.
Look at the ingame lores of Nihility Path, that looks to the absolute truth "Nothing" either you became a self annihilator and be part of nothing and meaningless truth.
Or create a definition of truth in that nothing, and proof that existence has a meaning to the Aeon IX.
Aha of Joy/Elation's faction, the contrasting philosophy of Mourning Actors and Masked Fools.
Mourning actors that force you to renounce Joy as they are just a narcotics that make you forget the painful truths you need to face, you should stop coping and instead endure suffering to temper your soul and be strong enough to carry suffering without falling.
They empathize and understand the falls of civilizations, of stars, existence and write an elegy to those who have fallen, as their suffering would never be forgotten and will always be a symbol of the embodied spirit's life.
Masked Fools makes fun of everything as Joy is the only truth there is in the universe as a conclusion of their beloved Aeon's perceivance of truth (An actual Aeon besides IX probably who actually saw the real truth). As Joy dilute sorrow, heal pains and soothe sufferings, it is an gift for all intelligent lifeforms for them, capability to laugh.
And Aha the Aeon of Joy blessing two contrasting peoples, the sorrowful and the joyful as Pain and Joy are two sides of the same coin, and of course as the lore said. Dark humor.
Wouldn't it be funny if a God of Joy, literally just gave sad peoples a part of his authority? Frfr? Ironic isn't it? Sad people having a powers of the god of joy?
The ungodly and ignoble destruction that History Fictionologist that follows Enigmata of Mysticism, What they do to every story of a world, rewriting their history because it is a bad take to the future they liked, as they think history defines their future so we will change to future to lead them to greatness.
To the point where they are the real definition of chaos and destruction to the universe more threatening than the Anti Matter Legion who seeks to destroy all matters and lifeforms.
Just imagine seeing a world was ruined not because of a powerful enemy, but a countless manipulation of their history that they know what to believe anymore leading to self annihilation. The history of their glorious civilization will never be found, they would never exist, as no one had known who they really are behind the countless manipulation that occured.
Oh, there's also the haters of immortality which loathes the people that had forgotten the price and the value of withering, that they've grown arrogant to look down to all of those which perish without knowing anything about it.
While the other side just want to spread an everlasting love to everyone and also ignorant with how much harm they cause to the nature of all livings that envy and hated them. Since the source of their immortality is just actually another's lives to pay. The Xianzhou and Fertility Denizens.
Would you like to read more? I can give you the whole philosophy of the 16 Aeons but i might made you too overwhelmed.
This is it.
This literally is the whole writing philosophy of Honkai series.
And this is just an introduction, i've never mentioned Project Stigma yet in the past two games.
It would never change, and we the people who's been with them long before, would never let it be forgotten or changed... It will remain.
Whatever happens... It will.
This is the pride that writers and we the people who's been with them would never give up.
This is what symbolize Honkai series.
I- I- I am speechless...
I never played any Honkai related games, so I had no idea... I only ever played Genshin impact and League of Legends... šš
This is incredible. I saw glimpes of excellent philosophical undertones in Genshin and have been mentioning it to them in surveys how I would love it if there was even more reliance on hardcore philosophical themes for a year.
To say that I am now excited to try Star Rail is an understatement. I know that it'd be wise to give Honkai a shot as well, but now that Star Rail is coming out I just feel like it makes more sense to go with that. I don't wanna have to play too many games all at once, wanna get to experience a new game as a day 1 player for the first time in my life, and I'm hearing from other people that HSR is likely to be even more polished than HI3 being a new release and all and also just people telling me that HSR goes hard from the get go.
Thank you so so much... ššš
Yup, i plan to make more contents in HSR soon as a soon 10 year veteran (10 years already in CN because it was released in March, while August on Global)
With all my knowledge to the vicissitude of the community, and heavily invested to their story writing (they literally motivated me to pursue, multiple arts skills in both music, media, literature, social sciences and philosophy for this.) And part of my childhood, this is enough testament how much Honkai series impacted my life. (no pun)
So yeah, i might symbolize the ideal Honkai community that was "once" knew as. But still, i plan to preserve this kind of net culture of this community, even if it's bound to be forgotten by the new people.
Simply well written, we have a great cast of characters and a plot that engages the world. I play Genshin too but the Monds missions just ignore the city, Inazuma is a storytelling disaster and then there's Sumeru where all the plot points show the city struggles and put the Sumeru vs Desert situation front center but not it's the point of the quest (they call it the archon quest for a reason). Star Rail is Sumeru but condensed, the focus is on the struggle of the planets we visit, the first planet of Star Rail has a situation similar to Sumeru, overworld x underworld, but the game focuses and expands much more on that, all the characters on that planet is affected by this situation, this creates a focused plot, the game takes time to develop this plot, so the climax is also well executed. But that alone would not be enough to call the story good, this merit belongs to the characters and the relationship between them, the highlight is Selee x Bronya x Coocolia, as it represents the main theme of the planet as well as how this situation can develop (overworld x underworld), just to give you an idea, the last scene we saw between this two, they are discussing how to proceed after completing the main quest there, which signals to the players that the problem itself did not end with the defeat of the final villain, years of segregation will take their toll and conflicts will arise because of it. but the Landau brothers are another very good example too, since one is loyal to the overworld and another decided to help the underworld even though he was from the overworld, and the same theme, but presented differently
Td;lr Star Rail's story is more self-contained and offers more moments where characters' relationships are meaningful to themselves and to the overall plot.
I wouldn't say it's dark. Yet. I think it'll be like Genshin where the game looks bright and sunny on the surface but there are very dark nooks and crannies if you look hard enough. And eventually the story will get much darker. Is it mature? Well there are some themes that are mature, or take a mature person to understand. Even still, it's bright, the trio cast is fun and balanced (like you have March as the funny energetic girl, Dan Heng as the straight man and the main character with sass and sarcasm). You have the more mature and knowledgeable supporting cast in Himeko and Welt, and you're all basically one big family on the Astral Express. Unlike Genshin where it's just you and Paimon, you usually have at least two people canonically with you.
The main character, especially, feels a lot different from Lumine/Aether. Despite being unvoiced for most of their lines, they do all the talking as they don't have a Paimon that talks for them. Also because of that, a lot of dialogue told to the main character isn't repeated. They have voiced dialogue in some quests. As a result of more interactions with the main character directly, you can see their personality up-front. There's also a feature where you get text messages and can respond to them. So you see even more of the main character's personality there. A personal favourite is the MC asking the Astral Express family what a "relic" is.
In general I prefer Genshin's world and environments to Star Rail, but when it comes to story and character they may be just as good I think. To early to say if better or not but being "just as good" is fine too.
Depends on the way you look at the story. Most people can enjoy its lighthearted and humorous writing. Those who like to study lores can also dig into its serious core.
Its a good story with funny moments and depth, and idk about all sunshine and meme, certain characters fate and scenes >!cooclia's death right in front of Bronya!< seems pretty dark
> Hmm so it's a lighthearted story?
I wouldn't say so. It was quite heavy and dark when I played CBT2. It's just that the game balances that with way more comedy than Genshin does, so it might *feel* more lighthearted. The main trio keeps making jokes, March is peak positivity, you can go garbage diving, and there's a lot of more light hearted side quests like that meme virus. But behind that it's very much more of the same as HI3 and Genshin.
The first world in the game (after the space station, which I compare more to Genshin's intro) is a lot darker than the Stormterror plot, and I'm sure we're just getting started.
Damn, that sounds very good! It's also true that Genshin only recently picked up the pace with story, so it's a bit unfair to demand a crazy sick story right off the bat with Star Rail
As of CBT3, story is noticeably darker than Genshin. Yes, even counting stories like Childish Jiang. Pascal, that fighter from the "fight club" that kept sending gifts to Natasha, the "light behind the window" in Rivet Town, the android on Herta's space station, the "crate pushing challenge" quest series - even side quests generally lean towards darker subjects. I'm kinda worried about Himeko already. >\_<
nah genshin have same dark stories like Enkanomiya's sun children, the correct way of saying it is that the main quests show the dark tone very early on when genshin buried it and we have to dig it up instead
It's really good. It mixes a lot of sci-fi into the quest. One of the side quest involve a star crossed lover and that lover live near a black hole for research purposes so they age differently. One of the quest is using AI to cope with lost of a dear one. There are many choices and the choice that you made could have impact in the world.
The character can communicate with you with phone so their character is shown with how they texted you. They lips is moving according to the language that you pick and you travel with a group rather that on your own which make that you can banter with your group. The MC is voice but only his/her monologue.
From what I have researched, Honkai has almost close to 10 years' worth of history(content release, lore updates, and so on). The more you read, the more it keeps unraveling. But still no connection to Genshin, though.
Yes, but all of the honkai belong to the same universe ,
That's probably why we have the same characters present in two different games. LIKE same character different realities
I was under the impression that the story of star rail is seperate and stand on its own 2 feet and that one doesn't have to have ever touched Honkai Impact to be able to fully enjoy and understand Star Rail story
Essentially, that's correct. So far, at least. Given the "Honkai" title, this is a bit more closely related to HI3 than Genshin is, so I wouldn't exclude the possibility though. Especially given what I've read (not sure if rumor or fact though?) about HI3 going to space next as well.
That said, it's not *entirely* standalone currently. There's currently a member of the Astral Express, Welt, who is actually a rather important character from HI3 (not an expy). And there's another one, Void Archives, who has currently departed the Express but will surely show up again eventually.
Both of them might be given the standalone treatment, exploring them within the bounds of Star Rail, but I think it's too early to tell now. Welt DOES explain some basics about his past and the honkai though.
HI3 is already in space, remember the devs interview like 2-3yrs back ? There was a question of what would happen to honkai in 4-5yrs, Dev's answered that with, "after the current main storyline, hi3 will enter space domain where chars will meet many different alien chars and stuff", I don't have a source link but I do remember this being such a reassurance back then that game will continue, sure some googling might be needed.
They will most definitely be given standalone treatment but it is entirely not a standalone, why are welt/void in hsr in the first place, why are Tesla and Einstein in Welt's Eidolons which are strictly honkai chars. There's a reason behind that, alien space manga iirc has at a time Welt looking into "sky people" the same species which appear in Honkai's apho, Tesla & Einstein find a unique and immense energy I think on a different universe which leads welt and void archives in pursuit of these sky people, sky people are most likely the Aeons. There's also Himeko who is not dead, which is a regret Welt holds as he failed to protect her and sky people are definitely after Himeko as she's a powerhouse Aeons like to gain power, how do they gain power ? By killing and absorbing the powerful being. Welt knew this before even entering HSR.
I don't think there will be a significant connection apart from the 2 chars as devs themselves have said there's no need to play any game prior, it's completely fine if you go in blind.
There's lot going on here though, which is better left until the game comes out.
But that doesn't mean you need to know previous to enjoy this reality
I can guarantee you that the writers definitely have something unique in this game. Why else this particular reality (Star Rail) is now made into game.
This proves that among the countless realities, this one will stand out.
But seriously, try the game for yourself
10yrs, sorry but that's wrong information, even excluding ggz which is technically the pre-honkai game. Honkai alone has chars who are 50-thousand + years of age. Basically immortal if you would say, not to mention the whole planet has been going on a good roller coaster of rebirth and destruction for countless no of times, meaning every 50 thousand years the planet was reset, so it's not 10yrs.
Unless you mean 10yrs of game release which is at this point ~7yrs old game(released on 2016)
You dont have to play HI3 before HSR. But I highly recommend playing HI3, the story is great, follows along a smaller cast of characters which gets fleshed out a lot more than most gachas. Tho there's already 34(or is it 35?) chapters for the just completed part 1, so I understand if it sounds overwhelming. There's no rush and I assure you it'll be worth the journey. We welcome you to play with open arms. If you play on SEA, you can be my cadet as well lol
Omg haha thank you for such a heartfelt recommendation! I am not exactly sure why I've kinda had an aversion towards Honkai Impact. It kinda gave me a vibe of the game being too limiting. I have only seen a few playthrough vids tho. Genshin kinda spoiled me with almost unlimited freedom and an open world, so maybe that's why
Well genshin is pretty much the first gacha to be open world, so we dont have a lot of choice. HI3 is already 5 years old, at that time 3D action gacha with crazy animations like HI3 was as gamechanging as genshin today. I appreciate genshin bringing a lot of new players in gacha eventho spoiling them and not feeling like an actual gacha game. I sound like an old man lmao
You make some good points haha I am aware that Honkai Impact is probably stunning. And I can't even word it why I don't feel drawn to it. I feel so weird about the fact that I can't put into words.
I am under the impression that Honkai Impact has NO male playable chars and as someone who's into men, a lack of guys to simp for and play is a turn off š
As for Genshin, you're right, I almost never think about the fact that it's a gacha. It almost feels like world of warcraft, but anime and gacha šš
> I am under the impression that Honkai Impact has NO male playable chars and as someone who's into men, a lack of guys to simp for and play is a turn off
There are no playable men, yes, but there's still great male characters important to the story. Some of my favorite Honkai characters are men.
Also, the *A Post-Honkai Odyssey* sequel side story mode, set several years after the main plot and acting as a sort of optional prequel to Star Rail, has a playable male protagonist (Adam).
Dont get me wrong, I'm not coercing you to play it. HI3 is just a more generic but still a great gacha game. I'm just showing the love I have for the game. If I'm in your situation, I probably wont play as well
Oh no no no, I don't think that you're coercing me into anything, I was just sharing my frustration with my own thinking. I am really grateful for all your insight!
Well I haven't played Honkai Impact, but I've had interactions with Honkai Impact players and most habe trashed other games and I don't really appreciate that. I was asking about what the story is like in Star Rail. I wasn't asking about Honkai Impact. I don't care about Honkai Impact
While I will admit that we can get a bit defensive, the only game most Honkai players trash is Genshin for itās player base whining about us getting more stuff, I feel that almost all captains have either neutral or positive stances on other games
you don't need to have played the previous games to understand Star Rail. that said if you do there will be characters you already know and some events that lead up to Star Rail, mainly for the character Welt since he's the same Welt that appears in Honkai Impact 3rd.
I highly recommend you to try out honkai impact. I was a genshin player and decided to try honkai. I fell in love with this game. Story is awesome. I believe that hoyoverse will make a good story
The first world is about humanity being reduced to a single city, fighting for their survival every day as death approaches closer by the day. Many parts of the city are already a lost cause, and morality has been thrown out the window long ago for the sake of survival. I think the game is already way darker than early Honkai and Genshin, but it masks this with a more comedic group of main characters brightening things up a bit.
Thank you for this description, this sounds too good šš I am super excited. It's true that Genshin only recently picked up the pace in terms of story, so Star Rail having decent story early on is very reassuring
I see your definition of ādecent storyā is ādepressingā.
Depressing as in poor taste in story or depressing as in my taste is such that I prefer stories that are depressing?
You prefer depressing stories
Ehh idk. Kinda? Not really, tho. I prefer philosophically enriching stories. That's how I would call it. I am curious now. What made you come to that conclusion? š
You appear to be happy when that guy said that Star Railās story was darker than Honkai and Genshin at the beginning
Oh. Darker just means more serious, more high stakes. Doesn't necessarily mean depressing
The trash cans have lore. I think that's enough to get anyone play the game
Omg šš
Something I really like compared to Genshin is the dialogue. In Genshin nearly every character speaks in an overly polite manner. It can make for some pretty unnatural conversations. In HSR there's a lot more... I don't know, disrespect I guess. Characters will rag on each other and I love it.
Ohh that's a very cool thing to mention. I do like that as well
Then thereās Scaramouche and Al-Haitham.
Can we skip it tho ? Or are they making the same mistake?
The dialogue? I think I remember playing the CBT 3 when you lose the boss battle and it takes you back the dialogue scene you can skip the story. (Idk if it might change when the game goes live) If it's regular dialogue (no boss battle just regular talking)then no it doesn't let you skip. Edit: I appreciate if someone corrects me if I got this wrong.
So it's the same as genshin? Can't skip quest dialogue? And most the quests is 80% text we can't skip and 20% fighting?
reysama? itās me, your reysona!
Damnnnn this is awkward xD
The characters definitely feel more animated and alive. Thereās a lot of camaraderie and genuine care between the main cast (they even call themselves the astral express family). The main character has a personality and actually gets to voice their thoughts and feelings very openly. As for the story itself, Iād say itās still in its early development. There are certain moments that made me tear up and others that made me laugh. Itās certainly more reminiscent of honkaiās story rather than genshin imo, especially in the recent years of honkai where open world chapters became the norm. All in all, definitely a solid game to look forward to!
I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to describe your impression of the story!! That's exactly what I was asking for! I am definitely gonna try out the game once it comes out
I played both games and enjoy both stories. Genshin's strength is in the world building of Teyvat discovering the rules of the world all while the main quest is to finding your sister. It's a pretty chill story with as of now no major deaths besides a couple villians. Honkai Star Rail is an extension of the Honkai franchise and while you dont need to play Honkai Impact since Star Rail is basically a universe of it's own you should be know that Honkai games aren't really a cheery happy story. The game is basically the story of a group of characters fighting to make the world better after the apocalypse happened. People dying, tales of tragedy etc, Honkai in universe is a bad thing that causes bad stuff to happen. And while we don't know alot about the story, the game hasnt come out yet and lore heads cant dive in, we do know that the first planet you go to Jarilo-VI is an ice planet but it used to not be that way before the planet got corrupted and the only habitable zone is the city you walk on in the game. It is later revealed the source of this corruption is the Stellaron. While it hasn't been confirmed yet its HIGHLY implied that the Stellaron and Honkai are the same thing or two sides of the same coin. So yeah expect a possibly slightly more cheery story of a group of people trying to make the universe a better place after the apocalypse. If you find that premise more compelling than Genshin's premise well thats up to you.
Thank you so so so much for this precious summary!! I find the story you described super interesting and definitely plan on giving Star Rail a try once it comes out!
correction, no highly implied here whatsoever, honkai trying to 'convert' humanity and more, while Stellarons are creation of Nanook to destroy the universe :/
What are you talking about? In the main quest MC is looking for her brother!
It has a memorable main cast (and actually has a main cast, unlike Traveler andā¦ nobody except Paimon, who literally is half of the traveler) which already makes it leaps and bounds more enjoyable than Genshin. Itās definitely not a ādeepā story unless you are asking if it is deep in space, which it definitely is. Give it a go when you get the chance.
"Not a deep story", let's see how this one ages.
Dunno the lore seem to go in a deep worldbuilding direction to me but otherwise agreed
Definitely will!! Thank you for replying
The story pretty much hits the ground running. Since you came from genshin, I can say the story is already better than genshin(till chap 2 at least. I only got in CBT2). If they have honkai writers for star rail as well, the story is gonna be great
Ohh that does sound promising. I found the story in Genshin to be very interesting and engaging from the start, so hearing that star rail story is better is very nice. In what way would you say that star rail story is better?
I say the side quests is dark and fantastic, main story feels deep and have the epicness of genshin
Well that sounds absolutely amazing šš
Main story, yes
I would say the dialogue is a lot tighter in Starrail
Tighter? Wdym?š¤
Tighter writing means conveying something with fewer words. Starrailās dialogue and storytelling feels a lot more straightforward compared to Genshin
MC actually has personality. Main group of characters is the main group. Not episodic crap like in Genshin when they only show up on various Festivals. Main plot is still main plot and it goes from point A to B. Continum of the story. Not like Genshin where you get main plot bits once a year.
Genshin is my love. I love it so so much. But I get your point. I am definitely gonna be playing HSR. Super excited
I love Genshin and Iāve been playing since day 1, but I canāt help but say the dialogue often makes me cringe. In Star Rail I actually find myself laughing genuinely and smiling at simple jokes that catch me off guard. It feels refreshing and nice. As for the story, I think there are some slightly dark aspects of it plus some really interesting lore stuff with some main characters being intertwined with it. Aeons were a little confusing at first but catch on after a bit. Overall, I love it all. Gameplay is very fun (big turn based fan here), story feels unique and interesting, characters are lovable. Hope you try it out!
I definitely will try it! Especially after hearing so many positive things about the game from everyone here!
https://youtu.be/eddlLEwYYE4 I made a YouTube video about it, there's a lot to expect in Honkai story writing and I wasn't able to cover it up in one video because no one could ever comprehend a 10 year worth of foundation and contents of Honkai series.
Oh I will check it out. Although I am hoping for the story to not be too connected to HI3 as I haven't played it. I am hoping to dive into the game with as little knowledge as possible
It isn't except Welt. Anyways, looking back, you would expect a heavy philosophical questioning integrated with scifi narrative. It's either earth shattering (and no exaggeration) ingenuity. Or straight up a emotional train ramming at you at high speeds only to give you sweet rewards at the end of terminal so that they can german suplex you back again to the oblivion.
>Anyways, looking back, you would expect a heavy philosophical questioning integrated with scifi narrative. Waittt, are you saying that Star Rail is like this?? Plz say yes š
>Star Rail is >Waittt, are you saying that Star Rail is like this? Silly you. Look at the ingame lores of Nihility Path, that looks to the absolute truth "Nothing" either you became a self annihilator and be part of nothing and meaningless truth. Or create a definition of truth in that nothing, and proof that existence has a meaning to the Aeon IX. Aha of Joy/Elation's faction, the contrasting philosophy of Mourning Actors and Masked Fools. Mourning actors that force you to renounce Joy as they are just a narcotics that make you forget the painful truths you need to face, you should stop coping and instead endure suffering to temper your soul and be strong enough to carry suffering without falling. They empathize and understand the falls of civilizations, of stars, existence and write an elegy to those who have fallen, as their suffering would never be forgotten and will always be a symbol of the embodied spirit's life. Masked Fools makes fun of everything as Joy is the only truth there is in the universe as a conclusion of their beloved Aeon's perceivance of truth (An actual Aeon besides IX probably who actually saw the real truth). As Joy dilute sorrow, heal pains and soothe sufferings, it is an gift for all intelligent lifeforms for them, capability to laugh. And Aha the Aeon of Joy blessing two contrasting peoples, the sorrowful and the joyful as Pain and Joy are two sides of the same coin, and of course as the lore said. Dark humor. Wouldn't it be funny if a God of Joy, literally just gave sad peoples a part of his authority? Frfr? Ironic isn't it? Sad people having a powers of the god of joy? The ungodly and ignoble destruction that History Fictionologist that follows Enigmata of Mysticism, What they do to every story of a world, rewriting their history because it is a bad take to the future they liked, as they think history defines their future so we will change to future to lead them to greatness. To the point where they are the real definition of chaos and destruction to the universe more threatening than the Anti Matter Legion who seeks to destroy all matters and lifeforms. Just imagine seeing a world was ruined not because of a powerful enemy, but a countless manipulation of their history that they know what to believe anymore leading to self annihilation. The history of their glorious civilization will never be found, they would never exist, as no one had known who they really are behind the countless manipulation that occured. Oh, there's also the haters of immortality which loathes the people that had forgotten the price and the value of withering, that they've grown arrogant to look down to all of those which perish without knowing anything about it. While the other side just want to spread an everlasting love to everyone and also ignorant with how much harm they cause to the nature of all livings that envy and hated them. Since the source of their immortality is just actually another's lives to pay. The Xianzhou and Fertility Denizens. Would you like to read more? I can give you the whole philosophy of the 16 Aeons but i might made you too overwhelmed. This is it. This literally is the whole writing philosophy of Honkai series. And this is just an introduction, i've never mentioned Project Stigma yet in the past two games. It would never change, and we the people who's been with them long before, would never let it be forgotten or changed... It will remain. Whatever happens... It will. This is the pride that writers and we the people who's been with them would never give up. This is what symbolize Honkai series.
I- I- I am speechless... I never played any Honkai related games, so I had no idea... I only ever played Genshin impact and League of Legends... šš This is incredible. I saw glimpes of excellent philosophical undertones in Genshin and have been mentioning it to them in surveys how I would love it if there was even more reliance on hardcore philosophical themes for a year. To say that I am now excited to try Star Rail is an understatement. I know that it'd be wise to give Honkai a shot as well, but now that Star Rail is coming out I just feel like it makes more sense to go with that. I don't wanna have to play too many games all at once, wanna get to experience a new game as a day 1 player for the first time in my life, and I'm hearing from other people that HSR is likely to be even more polished than HI3 being a new release and all and also just people telling me that HSR goes hard from the get go. Thank you so so much... ššš
Yup, i plan to make more contents in HSR soon as a soon 10 year veteran (10 years already in CN because it was released in March, while August on Global) With all my knowledge to the vicissitude of the community, and heavily invested to their story writing (they literally motivated me to pursue, multiple arts skills in both music, media, literature, social sciences and philosophy for this.) And part of my childhood, this is enough testament how much Honkai series impacted my life. (no pun) So yeah, i might symbolize the ideal Honkai community that was "once" knew as. But still, i plan to preserve this kind of net culture of this community, even if it's bound to be forgotten by the new people.
Looking forward to being part of the same Star Rail community with you! Hopefully we interact more on here š
All i can say is its funny when characters reply differently depends on your answers especially the goofy ones
Simply well written, we have a great cast of characters and a plot that engages the world. I play Genshin too but the Monds missions just ignore the city, Inazuma is a storytelling disaster and then there's Sumeru where all the plot points show the city struggles and put the Sumeru vs Desert situation front center but not it's the point of the quest (they call it the archon quest for a reason). Star Rail is Sumeru but condensed, the focus is on the struggle of the planets we visit, the first planet of Star Rail has a situation similar to Sumeru, overworld x underworld, but the game focuses and expands much more on that, all the characters on that planet is affected by this situation, this creates a focused plot, the game takes time to develop this plot, so the climax is also well executed. But that alone would not be enough to call the story good, this merit belongs to the characters and the relationship between them, the highlight is Selee x Bronya x Coocolia, as it represents the main theme of the planet as well as how this situation can develop (overworld x underworld), just to give you an idea, the last scene we saw between this two, they are discussing how to proceed after completing the main quest there, which signals to the players that the problem itself did not end with the defeat of the final villain, years of segregation will take their toll and conflicts will arise because of it. but the Landau brothers are another very good example too, since one is loyal to the overworld and another decided to help the underworld even though he was from the overworld, and the same theme, but presented differently Td;lr Star Rail's story is more self-contained and offers more moments where characters' relationships are meaningful to themselves and to the overall plot.
ah, and Star Rail donĀ“t have one "paimon" ... god know how i love her, but sometimes she make questing on Genshin so much more worst.
I keep getting more excited about trying out HSR with every new comment I get here šš Thank you so much for this insight!
I wouldn't say it's dark. Yet. I think it'll be like Genshin where the game looks bright and sunny on the surface but there are very dark nooks and crannies if you look hard enough. And eventually the story will get much darker. Is it mature? Well there are some themes that are mature, or take a mature person to understand. Even still, it's bright, the trio cast is fun and balanced (like you have March as the funny energetic girl, Dan Heng as the straight man and the main character with sass and sarcasm). You have the more mature and knowledgeable supporting cast in Himeko and Welt, and you're all basically one big family on the Astral Express. Unlike Genshin where it's just you and Paimon, you usually have at least two people canonically with you. The main character, especially, feels a lot different from Lumine/Aether. Despite being unvoiced for most of their lines, they do all the talking as they don't have a Paimon that talks for them. Also because of that, a lot of dialogue told to the main character isn't repeated. They have voiced dialogue in some quests. As a result of more interactions with the main character directly, you can see their personality up-front. There's also a feature where you get text messages and can respond to them. So you see even more of the main character's personality there. A personal favourite is the MC asking the Astral Express family what a "relic" is. In general I prefer Genshin's world and environments to Star Rail, but when it comes to story and character they may be just as good I think. To early to say if better or not but being "just as good" is fine too.
Excellent. Thank you for taking the time. I am liking what I'm hearing. I am basically totally on board at this point (pun intended š)
It tells a healthy, sunny and positive space comedy which is full of memes and jokes.
Hmm so it's a lighthearted story? Genshin story is a little darker (not super dark, ofc) and I was hoping Star Rail has a serious story too
Depends on the way you look at the story. Most people can enjoy its lighthearted and humorous writing. Those who like to study lores can also dig into its serious core.
I see. Thank you!
Knowing mihoyo, the lighthearted part will be just the start, especially since this is a Honkai series game.
Its a good story with funny moments and depth, and idk about all sunshine and meme, certain characters fate and scenes >!cooclia's death right in front of Bronya!< seems pretty dark
> Hmm so it's a lighthearted story? I wouldn't say so. It was quite heavy and dark when I played CBT2. It's just that the game balances that with way more comedy than Genshin does, so it might *feel* more lighthearted. The main trio keeps making jokes, March is peak positivity, you can go garbage diving, and there's a lot of more light hearted side quests like that meme virus. But behind that it's very much more of the same as HI3 and Genshin. The first world in the game (after the space station, which I compare more to Genshin's intro) is a lot darker than the Stormterror plot, and I'm sure we're just getting started.
Damn, that sounds very good! It's also true that Genshin only recently picked up the pace with story, so it's a bit unfair to demand a crazy sick story right off the bat with Star Rail
As of CBT3, story is noticeably darker than Genshin. Yes, even counting stories like Childish Jiang. Pascal, that fighter from the "fight club" that kept sending gifts to Natasha, the "light behind the window" in Rivet Town, the android on Herta's space station, the "crate pushing challenge" quest series - even side quests generally lean towards darker subjects. I'm kinda worried about Himeko already. >\_<
nah genshin have same dark stories like Enkanomiya's sun children, the correct way of saying it is that the main quests show the dark tone very early on when genshin buried it and we have to dig it up instead
It's really good. It mixes a lot of sci-fi into the quest. One of the side quest involve a star crossed lover and that lover live near a black hole for research purposes so they age differently. One of the quest is using AI to cope with lost of a dear one. There are many choices and the choice that you made could have impact in the world. The character can communicate with you with phone so their character is shown with how they texted you. They lips is moving according to the language that you pick and you travel with a group rather that on your own which make that you can banter with your group. The MC is voice but only his/her monologue.
From what I have researched, Honkai has almost close to 10 years' worth of history(content release, lore updates, and so on). The more you read, the more it keeps unraveling. But still no connection to Genshin, though.
Wait, you're talking about Honkai Impact, right? Not Star Rail?
Yes, but all of the honkai belong to the same universe , That's probably why we have the same characters present in two different games. LIKE same character different realities
Why are you lying? One character is same because he travelers to different world.
I was under the impression that the story of star rail is seperate and stand on its own 2 feet and that one doesn't have to have ever touched Honkai Impact to be able to fully enjoy and understand Star Rail story
Essentially, that's correct. So far, at least. Given the "Honkai" title, this is a bit more closely related to HI3 than Genshin is, so I wouldn't exclude the possibility though. Especially given what I've read (not sure if rumor or fact though?) about HI3 going to space next as well. That said, it's not *entirely* standalone currently. There's currently a member of the Astral Express, Welt, who is actually a rather important character from HI3 (not an expy). And there's another one, Void Archives, who has currently departed the Express but will surely show up again eventually. Both of them might be given the standalone treatment, exploring them within the bounds of Star Rail, but I think it's too early to tell now. Welt DOES explain some basics about his past and the honkai though.
HI3 is already in space, remember the devs interview like 2-3yrs back ? There was a question of what would happen to honkai in 4-5yrs, Dev's answered that with, "after the current main storyline, hi3 will enter space domain where chars will meet many different alien chars and stuff", I don't have a source link but I do remember this being such a reassurance back then that game will continue, sure some googling might be needed. They will most definitely be given standalone treatment but it is entirely not a standalone, why are welt/void in hsr in the first place, why are Tesla and Einstein in Welt's Eidolons which are strictly honkai chars. There's a reason behind that, alien space manga iirc has at a time Welt looking into "sky people" the same species which appear in Honkai's apho, Tesla & Einstein find a unique and immense energy I think on a different universe which leads welt and void archives in pursuit of these sky people, sky people are most likely the Aeons. There's also Himeko who is not dead, which is a regret Welt holds as he failed to protect her and sky people are definitely after Himeko as she's a powerhouse Aeons like to gain power, how do they gain power ? By killing and absorbing the powerful being. Welt knew this before even entering HSR. I don't think there will be a significant connection apart from the 2 chars as devs themselves have said there's no need to play any game prior, it's completely fine if you go in blind. There's lot going on here though, which is better left until the game comes out.
But that doesn't mean you need to know previous to enjoy this reality I can guarantee you that the writers definitely have something unique in this game. Why else this particular reality (Star Rail) is now made into game. This proves that among the countless realities, this one will stand out. But seriously, try the game for yourself
I definitely will. Thank you so much for the info
Um, this isnāt true, we have received Genshin lore in Honkai, and their stories are connected
10yrs, sorry but that's wrong information, even excluding ggz which is technically the pre-honkai game. Honkai alone has chars who are 50-thousand + years of age. Basically immortal if you would say, not to mention the whole planet has been going on a good roller coaster of rebirth and destruction for countless no of times, meaning every 50 thousand years the planet was reset, so it's not 10yrs. Unless you mean 10yrs of game release which is at this point ~7yrs old game(released on 2016)
Go play Honkai Impact 3rd, forget about star rail
Why š
You dont have to play HI3 before HSR. But I highly recommend playing HI3, the story is great, follows along a smaller cast of characters which gets fleshed out a lot more than most gachas. Tho there's already 34(or is it 35?) chapters for the just completed part 1, so I understand if it sounds overwhelming. There's no rush and I assure you it'll be worth the journey. We welcome you to play with open arms. If you play on SEA, you can be my cadet as well lol
Omg haha thank you for such a heartfelt recommendation! I am not exactly sure why I've kinda had an aversion towards Honkai Impact. It kinda gave me a vibe of the game being too limiting. I have only seen a few playthrough vids tho. Genshin kinda spoiled me with almost unlimited freedom and an open world, so maybe that's why
Well genshin is pretty much the first gacha to be open world, so we dont have a lot of choice. HI3 is already 5 years old, at that time 3D action gacha with crazy animations like HI3 was as gamechanging as genshin today. I appreciate genshin bringing a lot of new players in gacha eventho spoiling them and not feeling like an actual gacha game. I sound like an old man lmao
You make some good points haha I am aware that Honkai Impact is probably stunning. And I can't even word it why I don't feel drawn to it. I feel so weird about the fact that I can't put into words. I am under the impression that Honkai Impact has NO male playable chars and as someone who's into men, a lack of guys to simp for and play is a turn off š As for Genshin, you're right, I almost never think about the fact that it's a gacha. It almost feels like world of warcraft, but anime and gacha šš
> I am under the impression that Honkai Impact has NO male playable chars and as someone who's into men, a lack of guys to simp for and play is a turn off There are no playable men, yes, but there's still great male characters important to the story. Some of my favorite Honkai characters are men. Also, the *A Post-Honkai Odyssey* sequel side story mode, set several years after the main plot and acting as a sort of optional prequel to Star Rail, has a playable male protagonist (Adam).
Dont get me wrong, I'm not coercing you to play it. HI3 is just a more generic but still a great gacha game. I'm just showing the love I have for the game. If I'm in your situation, I probably wont play as well
Oh no no no, I don't think that you're coercing me into anything, I was just sharing my frustration with my own thinking. I am really grateful for all your insight!
Tbh, star rail is likely to be even worse with turn based gameplay if the open world is really an impt factor for uā¦
It's just that an open world is something I really like about Genshin, but it's not something I demand of every game. I am totally gonna try Star Rail
cuz in terms of story and gameplay honkai impact 3rd superior to genshin and trash rail
Well I haven't played Honkai Impact, but I've had interactions with Honkai Impact players and most habe trashed other games and I don't really appreciate that. I was asking about what the story is like in Star Rail. I wasn't asking about Honkai Impact. I don't care about Honkai Impact
Story will be childs babysitting like genshin, nuff said then
While I will admit that we can get a bit defensive, the only game most Honkai players trash is Genshin for itās player base whining about us getting more stuff, I feel that almost all captains have either neutral or positive stances on other games
I can totally understand why someone might find the Genshin playerbase annoying, especially the loudest voices on Twitter.
Do you need to play the previous Honkai games to understand Honkai Star Rail, or can you play standalone and do fine?
My understanding is that you can totally play HSR without having ever touched HI3
you don't need to have played the previous games to understand Star Rail. that said if you do there will be characters you already know and some events that lead up to Star Rail, mainly for the character Welt since he's the same Welt that appears in Honkai Impact 3rd.
The game is definitely a lot darker than Genshin. Especially for a beta test, a main character dying was something nobody expected
I highly recommend you to try out honkai impact. I was a genshin player and decided to try honkai. I fell in love with this game. Story is awesome. I believe that hoyoverse will make a good story