Honkai: Star Rail Reviews
In many ways, Honkai: Star Rail shows a refinement of Hoyoverse’s work up to this point. The game eschews the excesses of an ever-expanding world from Genshin, instead creating tightly designed, linear worlds and dense systems from start to finish. You’ll fight to save the world with dazzling snow bunnies and text your new friends in the meantime. Rather than restricting the developers and their vision, Star Rail’s design leaves ample room for them to build out other aspects of the game. By pairing a refined, turn-based system with a comedic, lighthearted writing style, Star Rail’s future route looks like it’ll be a smooth ride.
Honkai: Star Rail is still in its early stages, but this free-to-play turn-based gacha game is incredibly good fun. With a strong opening, heavy focus on story, and simple but deep turn-based battles, this RPG is bursting with potential.
Some subtle improvements to the grind and flexible turn-based tactics mean Honkai: Star Rail's off to a fine start.
Despite its gacha systems, Honkai: Star Rail is an impeccable turn-based RPG with a killer visual style
Those issues aren't directly related to the core of Star Rail, however, which shines as brightly as any of the celestial bodies it tasks players with visiting. The quality of content at launch is, quite simply, incredible - it really looks, feels, and plays like a live service game that has already been out for years. Its turn-based combat might, tragically, not be for everyone, even in spite of its depth of tactics and highly customizable loadouts. That should be something everyone decides for themselves, however. Honkai: Star Rail is a must-play 2023 release that could very well become the next big thing in live service games, and will, if nothing else, become one of the better RPG releases in recent memory.