Honkai Star Rail already has 8 million registered players before release. Now we know when the new online role-playing game from the makers of Genshin Impact will be playable.
Although many of you may never have heard of it: in 2023, a role-playing game from China will make headlines. Because already over eight million players are waiting for the release of Honkai: Star Rail – that’s how many people have registered in advance for the new project from Genshin-Impact developer miHoYo (on the official website)
Whoever is thinking “Well, they must all be Chinese!” is mistaken: According to Axios more than 2.5 million of the interested players come from outside the People’s Republic. No wonder given the global success of Genshin Impact, which reportedly generated (over three billion US dollars in revenue) in 2022.
In the trailer from Tokyo Games Show 2022, you can see what the title is supposed to offer:
Honkai: Star Rail is the fourth instalment in the Honkai series, the last instalment of which, Honkai Impact 3rd, was released in 2016. However, the story is set in a parallel universe and requires no prior knowledge on the part of the player.
Release.
Release announced: Honkai Star Rail launches at the end of April
Meanwhile, miHoYo has announced the launch date for Honkai: Star Rail : From 26 April 2023, it will be possible to download the game, which is emphatically different from Genshin Impact. For one thing, there is the change of scenario: Instead of a fantasy world, Honkai takes place on various planets in a science fiction look, which your group of heroes travels on board a spaceship train.
The planets are not seamlessly connected, but the individual hub levels are said to contain open-world elements and dungeons, there will be puzzles and mazes. And of course battles, where you will have to use the members of your hero party in a tactically clever way.
Unlike Genshin Impact, the battles are strictly turn-based. If you wish, you can also sit back in less important battles using the auto-battle function.
Thanks to a cross-save feature, you can seamlessly switch between the PC version and the mobile versions for Android and iOS; your game progress is carried over. Conversions for PlayStation 5 and 4 are to follow later.
How is Honkai: Star Rail financed?
In principle, Honkai: Star Rail will be playable for free. But as in every Free2Play game, there is also an ingame shop. The Chinese developers are using a very similar system to Genshin Impact, the so-called Gacha.
This means you can unlock new heroes, weapons and costumes with in-game currency, although the rarest characters require a lot of time or the use of real money.
Have you played Genshin Impact and are interested in Honkai: Star Rail? Or are you not interested in the role-playing game at all? Write us your opinion in the comments!