Honkai Star Rail is a free, turn-based RPG game in a space travel fantasy world released on April 26, 2023. The game is rated 12+ due to fantasy violence and mildly suggestive clothing on some female characters. It was developed by MiHoYo and published by HoYoverse, known for other titles such as Genshin Impact, Honkai Impact 3rd, and Zenless Zone Zero. Honkai Star Rail is available on PC, iOS/Android mobile platforms, and PS5, according to the Honkai Star Rail website. As of March 2025, Hoyoverse is still updating Honkai Star Rail. The story is not completed. In this way, it’s similar to other games in the same genre, allowing the player to come on the journey while it is being developed.
The storyline follows the main playable character, the Trailblazer. The player can pick either Stelle (voiced by Rachel Chau), the female Trailblazer, or Caelus (voiced by Caleb Yen), the male Trailblazer, depending on which gender they want to play. The characters are essentially the same person, so the storyline does not change with either selection. The Trailblazer is an artificial human containing a destructive, semi-sentient object holding immense power known as a Stellaron. The Trailblazer joins the Astral Express, a group traveling on a space traversing train to eliminate threats from other Stellarons on other worlds.
So far, the Astral Express crew has visited The Herta Space Station, Jarilo VI, Penacony, and Amphoreus. The Herta Space Station first introduced the main character and the storyline. After solving the problems in the space station, the crew moves on to Jarilo VI, a planet stuck in an eternal freeze because of the Stellaron harboring there. Penacony is a Las Vegas-esque magic world inside a dream where everything isn’t truly as spotless and happy as it seems. Amphoreus, the most recent stop on their journey, is seemingly stuck in the past with its ancient Greek aesthetic and lack of connection to the rest of the universe.
Honkai Star Rail’s complex plot line isn’t its only fun aspect. The game also involves obtaining and building characters who must be leveled up to make them stronger. They need Light Cones, which boost their stats and give them special skills. They also need six relics, which increase stats and give set bonuses. When the player pulls a character more than once, the player can upgrade their eidolons to strengthen the character further. Their skills can also be leveled up. This includes their basic attack, special skill, and charged burst, along with other buffs that benefit both the character and the team.
Honkai Star Rail is a gacha game, meaning the player can obtain characters by pulling for them, or warping. Many things, such as missions and opening chests, give a currency called Stellar Jade. The player can trade one hundred sixty Jades for a Star Rail Special Pass for limited banners or a regular Star Rail Pass for the standard banner. Star Rail Passes are train tickets that can be used to pull for characters and Light Cones.
There are 66 playable characters; the player is given three for free. The Trailblazer they chose and two of their longest, closest companions they met before joining the Astral Express. They are both 4-star characters. Dan Heng (voiced by Nicholas Leung) is a stoic wind attacker on the path of The Hunt. His 5-star dragon form is available on his limited banner, Epochal Spectrum, called Dan Heng Imbibator Lunae, in which he follows the path of Destruction and is Imaginary. The other character is March 7th (voiced by Skyler Davenport), a bubbly character with a changeable type and path. She is an ice type following the path of preservation by default, but she can change to an Imaginary type following The Hunt.
There are eight “paths” the characters can follow. Each path corresponds to an Aeon, Honkai Star Rail’s equivalent to Gods. The paths are Abundance, Nihility, Destruction, Erudition, The Hunt, Preservation, Harmony, and Remembrance. Abundance characters focus on restoring HP and healing the team. Typically, Nihility characters are best for applying debuffs, clearing adverse effects dealt by enemies, and dealing damage. Characters following Destruction do large amounts of damage. Erudition characters do decent damage and focus on dealing damage to entire groups rather than single enemies. The Hunt is similar to destruction with the amount of damage dealt, but it focuses on one enemy. Preservation focuses on shielding and protecting the team. Harmony characters are supporters, applying buffs and restoring energy. Remembrance is a new path, with only two playable characters following so far. Remembrance characters create summons of various species called memosprites, which have different specialties to help in battle. There are also seven elements: Physical, Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Quantum, and Imaginary. The types cause different elemental reactions, and all enemies are weak to certain types.
The battles in Honkai Star Rail are based on turns. Each character and enemy performs their action in turns. When an enemy spots the player, the player can either attack first or wait for the enemy to ambush. Or the player can choose to run away, but oftentimes, the enemy will hit them with a ranged attack and pull them into combat. The turns in the upper left corner tell the player which character or enemy is going next. The player can speed up the battle, which makes the attacks faster, and combat takes less time. There is also an autoplay feature, where the game will make moves and attacks for the player. The characters can perform basic attacks, skills, and ultimates. The basic attack deals with the elemental type as damage and grants the player one skill point. The characters’ skills consume these skill points to deal damage. The amount depends on the skill, but oftentimes, it only takes one. The maximum number of skill points at a time is five. Ultimates take time to charge. Taking damage, attacking, and other actions will fill it up. It can be used at any time, bypassing the turn lineup.
The voice actors did an excellent job capturing the personalities and emotions of the characters. The graphics are beautiful, and it is evident that the developers put a lot of time and effort into the game. The attention to detail and the visuals are pleasing, and the writers did a fantastic job on the story.
Many people don’t like the closed battle style, and others claim that the game isn’t free-to-play friendly. Building characters can be a little challenging if you have not unlocked the necessary bosses to level them up. However, the game is exciting and worth checking out.
Honkai Star Rail is very beginner-friendly. It doesn’t require as much skill as other RPG battle games with a more open world and open battle mechanics. The closed, turn-based gameplay is entertaining and easy to get used to. The character designs and graphics are beautiful. There are many more worlds to come; there are many adventures to go on with the Trailblazer and the friends they make along the way. This game receives a 5/5 for how enjoyable and entertaining it is.
