May This Journey Lead Us Starward - Honkai Star Rail Review

miHoYos’ latest turn-based Gacha title has become the new talk of the town for RPG lovers and for very good reasons. It’s only been a few weeks since the game’s release, it has already amassed a huge fanbase across the globe with its fast-paced combat, epic anime-inspired battles, and stunningly gorgeous characters. Honkai Star Rail strives to take this already thrilling genre to new heights with innovative new gameplay mechanics and a much deeper storyline.

And while the gaming industry is filled to the brim with Gacha games and RPGs, there’s something about Honkai Star Rails that makes it stand out from the crowd. The game is still in its infancy but there’s already a lot to talk about, especially since Honkai Star Rail has received a ton of overwhelmingly positive reviews from both players and critics alike.

A fast-paced RPG with stellar storytelling

As soon as you step into the world of Honkai, you are caught up in an absolute thriller of an entry that I haven’t experienced in a very long time. An explosively epic start that sets the tone for the rest of your adventure in this massive and gorgeous world of Honkai that puts you in the shoes of an amnesiac protagonist just awakened from a deep slumber with no memory of the past. Now that might sound familiar, which makes sense because every other title uses the same “thrown into a world” concept.

But don’t let this shocking resemblance and seemingly non-innovative approach fool you into thinking “It’s just another Gacha RPG”, because it’s definitely much more than that. Honkai takes the familiar concept and turns it into something super exciting and fresh with its highly-engaging combat, gorgeous characters, and most importantly, stellar storytelling that runs deeper than other titles in the genre including Genshin Impact.

Familiar yet revitalized gameplay

One of the things that were on my mind well before I stepped into this unknown world was that Honkai is going to be a Genhin Impact spin-off, or at the very least, offer a similar gameplay experience. But a few hours into the game, Honkai proved me wrong and I am glad it did. It wasn’t something I’d never seen or experienced before but it certainly had this freshness to it that revitalized the gameplay enough for me to stand out.

One of the first things that made Honkai feel different from Genshin Impact was the lack of an open world. Instead, you play as a trailblazer, traveling through different planets on Astral Express, a space-ship train-thingy. Of course, you are not alone in this, you meet other trailblazers, who join you in this epic adventure, each with their own backstories, personalities, and powers that you will learn about as you progress through the quest.

And just as you’d expect to see in an RPG, there are different story quests, each taking you to different places, having you meet new people, and fight intense battles to grind for experience. Speaking of which, experience is quite important in this game as it helps you unlock new content and upgrade your character stats before exhausting your efforts on high-level enemies for nothing.

Generous Gacha system

Gacha games can be quite expensive in the long run, often pushing players to spend aggresively in order to progress faster. However, that’s not really the case with Honkai Star Rail, at least, not in my experience. Of course, you still have to grind a lot in order to reach a certain level and unlock new content but you don’t feel forced to spend real money. You can take on side quests, complete daily tasks, and join events to earn experience.

It’s kinda similar to Genshin Impact in many ways but a little less “limited”. Players get to replenish their Trailblaze Power every three hours to be able to farm new items. Speaking of items, the drop rates are also compartively less insane compared to other Gacha games in the genre. But they are still low for impatient players (like me) to spend instead of grinding for hours to get my hands on rare items. So, I really admire the balance that Hoyoverse has got going in here.

You start with more than enough free content, including characters, and quests that keep you hooked and away from the game’s smart monetization system. Long enough to let you get comfy with the game and enjoy its epic combat, that is some of the best I’ve experienced so far. Despite the fact that its turn-based, it doesn’t feel like it thanks to its fast-paced and snappy sequences of moves that your characters pull off in synergy with each other.

How to play Honkai Star Rail on PC

Honkai Star Rail players are having an absolute blast playing this game on their mobile phones. But if you are looking to get the best possible experience and make fast progress, you need to play this game on PC. And luckily, it’s super to do so. With the Gameloop emulator, you can play Honkay Star Rail right on your PC. Not only do you get to enjoy more vibrant and detailed visuals, you also get more convenient controls for efficient gameplay.

The first thing you need to play this game on a PC is to download and install the Gameloop emulator. You can do so for free from the official Gameloop site. Once Gameloop is installed, boot it up and search for Honkai Star Rail from the search bar. Inside of Star Rail download page, simply click on the Install button. Once the installation process is finished, you can find Star Rail on your desktop to get playing!

The best thing about playing this game on a PC instead of mobile is that you get more control over the gameplay and improve your playstyle to get an upper hand on your enemies. Gameloop even lets you customize each and every keyboard key however you like it, which makes you feel right at home with any Android game.

So, if you are still sitting on the fence about this game, I think you should definitely give it a shot. Especially since it’s free and doesn’t cost you a single penny to get started. And you can always change your mind later about it.