How did Star Rail completely upend my expectations? A Genshin player's first impressions & review.
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- Опубліковано 19 чер 2024
- Honkai: Star Rail is the latest game published by Hoyoverse, and when I first saw it I thought I would not enjoy it.
On the surface it has a lot of similarities to Genshin Impact, but it does not include some key parts that made Genshin one of my favourite games of all time.
What first got me hooked on Genshin was the stunning open world exploration, and a large part of what kept me going back was the intricate and satisfying third-person real-time combat system. Star Rail does not have an open world, and exploration is not a major part of the game. Worse, it has a turn-based combat system, which is something I have never enjoyed in any games previously.
I gave it a chance anyway, fully expecting to put it down after a couple of hours and write it off as “not for me”. Instead, I loved it from day one and have played every day since launch.
Let’s talk about how it completely upended my expectations!
00:00 Intro
00:52 First Impressions
02:40 Battle System
06:57 Endgame Content
08:42 Time-Limited Events
09:41 Similarity to Genshin
10:32 Verdict
Honkai Star Rail is a science-fantasy JRPG, available on PC, PS5, and mobile devices (iOS & Android).
I'm always happy to talk Star Rail and other games, streams 3pm UK every Wed/Fri/Sat/Sun
/ saurusness
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Twitter: / saurusness
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#starrail #honkaistarrail #review - Ігри
I feel like the reason why most GI players feels like they're 'unattached' to characters is because of the worldbuilding/lore instead. In Genshin, the story and actions mainly revolves around the traveler- meaning the 'traveler' is more connected to whatever the heck is happening and even when we go to different nations, it felt like we had no choice but to be roped in the shenanigans that were happening (hello, we literally got treated as criminals several times). Meanwhile, it is the opposite for HSR- or up till now at least- cause I feel like we'll get more background story about the past identity of Stelle/Caelus as time goes by. In HSR, we definitely feel like an 'outsider' or even the more realistic version of a 'traveler' wherein it was more like 'go with the flow' type of yhing, we ARE travelers who are total strangers to a world, merely visiting- we can help but also not too much to the point they have to constantly depend on us. In short, in GI it feels like we have this sense of duty since most of the shenanigans are actually caused by the abyss twin or sumn, while in HSR we have more freedom and can even choose to outright refuse to do things and it will actually reflect on your world (like in Kafka's story quest, if you refuse to help her you can actually do so- but I'm a simp so I helped her, just saw the vid from other players).
However, I also feel like that's one of the main strengths of HSR compared to Genshin, especially how we literally have the freedom to choose a different route depending on the choices we made. I don't know if others realized it yet (I really suggest you don't skip dialogues for side quests, even daily quests have separate stories linking them), but in side stories and character stories, certain choices in dialogues can permanently affect your world (like in Clara's story quest, those side stories in Herta space station etc.). I even discovered recently that Hook's story quest have THREE (or maybe even more) routes thanks to having main and side accs; first route - choosing to save enough for the bidding amount, second route - failing to reach the bidding amount, third route - shortcut aka not going through the bidding at all LMAO. I really like how OUR choices can actually affect the world, unlike in genshin where no matter what 'answer' you choose, the most you can get is a different 1-2 lines and THAT'S IT.
You're right 🤔. There's no Nahida or Furina type character that I'm emotionally invested in. I didn't realize until you mentioned it. Maybe in the future.
Coming back to this after 2.0. a few of the criticisms have been thoroughly dealt with in Penacony. The story is much stronger for both the main quests, side quests, and events, the maps are absolutely massive (there's 28 chests, two trotters, and two trash can trials in one map lord help me), buuut... you still can't jump. At least the game jokes at you and with you about it. There's also a new type of endgame-mode added which rotates in updates with simulated universe and memory of chaos, keeping it fresh without feeling too overwhelming.
Very true! Penacony is literally the first time the story has caught my eye/ear, and towards the climax I actually started paying attention :D
The map is also large and so full of puzzles that it felt almost like proper exploration - definitely my favourite area yet and I hope future areas have similar elements!
I've also really enjoyed PF and look forward to the MoC and PF resets, and I agree it's a nice periodic challenge that doesn't get too overhelming, especially since they extended the duration and made them overlap!
Nice video. I think the battle system's main strength is it feeling so fast and dynamic despite being turn-based. It isn't especially deep in terms of mechanics, so it can probably feel a bit lackluster if you've played a lot of turn-based games in the past, but it more than compensates with how smooth it feels which was a winning strategy by Hoyo in my opinion.
The worst part of the game to me is the grind. The artifact system is worse than Genshin's due to how it forces you to farm 6 pieces with no off-piece, and the structure with all the traces in general just feels harsher grind wise imo
Don't entirely agree on the characters, give me some more King Yuan please
King yuan 🥰 He and Sushang are probably my favourites both personality and playstyle wise.. There are a few others I feel connected to, but vast majority just sort of *exist* 🧍♀
@@saurusness I get your point, definitely don't vibe with chars like Silverwolf for example. In general in gachas they're gonna try to cather to different types of players in terms of characters personalities to get them all to spend, so I think it's natural not to like every character in a subjective sense, but yeah some are definitely more fleshed out than others.
For example the first planet just seemed more thought out in general in terms of story, and its whole cast benefitted from it in terms of personality imo
me watching your team decimate the deer: :nervous: LMAO
overall excellent video though!! im glad you ended up enjoying HSR!! i often use your advice to adjust my teams and they're all the better for it 💜
Thank you so much 🥺💜 also rip undying moose 😎
It looks so good, thank you for giving us a glimpse into the game and the honest and balanced review!!
Thank you! 💜
Another w video ❤..i didn't have problem with the turn based as Pokemon,ffx and persona 5 are some of my all time fav. Hsr also came out at the time where I was having sem holidays so it was a great time to pick it up. I still remember how i was just sitting there engrossed in the gameplay the first few hours. I seriously loved it so much
Im one of the few who picked up genshin after star rail lol. I had played a bit of the 1st nation almost a yr ago but i dropped it cause i didn't like the combat at all 😅. But because of hsr i picked it up again and im loving it so far. I think it is also because the ui is similar and i understand the hoyo universe better.
I ageee with u that i am not as emotionally invested in the characters enough. I feel im more connected to kazuha than kafka lmao. I seriously don't know why. Lets see if if this changes in the upcoming patches .
Since im in uni i don't have much time to play both every day but that's ok for me. I'll just play it in my own pace 😁
Also pls hoyo make the characters jump.
Another fabulous video Saurus. Really enjoyed hearing your opinion and it kept me curious. More excited than ever to try Starrail now!
tyy 🥰I'm excited to finally install it on my playstation haha 😁
For me a a big factor for why I stopped playing Genshin and started playing Star Rail instead is bc of timing. I started Genshin last year and it took me nearly 8 months to catch up to the main story. Since I pretty much speedran the content I didn't feel that connected to the story or characters. I only had 12 decently built characters in that time but I still had 30 more sitting at lvl 1 bc I pulled on way too many banners. Just the thought of spending many more months building characters I regretted pulling for burned me out real quick, and the Sumeru desert didn't help.
With HSR it felt like a redo, I could follow along with the story as it came out and I liked that I was experiencing it at the same time as other players instead of constantly playing catch up. I feel more connected to the characters bc I wasn't introduced to so many in such a short amount of time and I can be more mindful about which banners I pull on. Now I have 10 characters built with 12 others at varying levels and I'm much happier with my account's progression than in Genshin. I also like that I can actually think and strategize during HSR combat instead of mostly button smashing like in Genshin lol.
I don't blame others for not being as invested in the story though bc the pacing really ground to a halt after Belobog. Which is a shame bc I vastly prefer the Belobog arc to the first Mondstadt arc. The Luofu arc had a lot of potential but the story content in subsequent patches were way too short and the lack of exploration made this even more glaring. I mostly blame the gacha system, you can tell the Belobog arc was so strong bc all the characters were already available. The parts of Luofu lore I'm mostly interested in are the High Cloud Quintet and Ten Lords Commission, but we have to wait until their banners (Jingliu, HuoHuo, Hanya) before the story can delve into them.
I still enjoy playing HSR and I'm hoping the story writing will become stronger like it did in Genshin, as I'm actually invested in the characters. Especially the main trio - I'm proud of Dan Heng for finally facing his past and trying to make amends even though he has to deal with his clan's hatred, I'm curious about March's past and why she seemingly erased her own memories, and I wonder what Stelle/Caelus were like when they were with the Stellaron Hunters. I also want to learn more about the Stellaron Hunters, the other Xianzhou High Elders, the Masked Fools, Aeons, Penacony, etc.
If there's one thing I wish was added to HSR it would be the ability to jump and climb. It doesn't have to be open world like Genshin, but at least let me interact more with the environment. The missions where we flew cycranes around the Luofu felt like such a tease, please let me run around rooftops with my characters! Imagine a mechanic where we can dumpster dive in Belobog and get transported to a higher location, letting us see the city from above. Bonus points if we run into Sampo at some point bc that's how he gets around so quickly.
I did start playing Genshin again bc Fontaine looked amazing and I wanted to explore, so far I've been having a blast. Playing Genshin has become much less stressful now that I've let go of the compulsion to pull on banners or build all my characters, the 12 characters I've built are enough to beat most enemies. And after realizing that my favorite part of Genshin is exploration, I've actually decided not to do any more story or archon quests. I went back to how I enjoyed video games before Genshin, by watching other people play them (even to this day my sister and I quote lines from funny game reactions we watched years ago and we crack up every time). Despite the unnecessary long dialogue I now find the quests more enjoyable with other players' commentary, and this way I can manage my time between the two games. Sorry for writing out such a long essay, but I'm glad to finally get all my thoughts out lol.
No sorry! Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Thy were a pleasure to read 🥰
I always love a new upload from you, not matter the content. Thank you! 💜
thank yOU!💜
I love the auto mode, i can still feel like i'm playing while being productive cause I can just have my phone by my side with the the battle going on it's own. I took feel less attached to the characters in Star Rail than the ones in Genshin, I noticed I get less mad about missing a character in Star Rail than in Genshin. I still feel like the relics are on a game level as Genshin, the number of good pieces I get are rare.
Although they have added some good things to Star Rail that I truly wish can be passed to Genshin, they are truly game quality improvements.
Also, as always, an amazing video!! Thank you for the hard work! ♥
YEah very much this; relics are pretty much just as painful to farm for as artefacts, though they do have a couple of helpful tools that make it less painful (mainly the HSR version of "strong box" since it allows you to choose the exact pieces, even if not the stats).
thank you so much! 💜
Thanks so much for making this video! As someone who doesn't (currently 😉) play Star Rail, I've been hoping you'd make some videos on Star Rail so that I can learn more and see if it would be a good game for me! 💖
I'm glad you enjoyed it 🥰
I like seeing your genshin brain unleashed onto other Hoyo projects 😂 and from what I’ve heard from you and others about genshin wishlist items being implemented here, I most definitely want to try this!!
nows a good time to try my wife's on the banner 👀👀
But also it's an excellent point: i think it speaks very highly of genshin that I compare almost every RPG game I play to it! (and also RDR2, and horizon, my other favourites)
I don’t play star rail but this was so fun to watch to get a sense of the game ❤
Thanks for your honest and balanced review. The way you described the combat system reminds me of an older game "Exos Heroes". I think turn based combat has evolved a lot and new innovations make it more interesting than before. But ultimately, it does not have the satisfaction of getting the dodge or parry timed perfectly or skilfully aiming and hitting a charged arrow at a weak point, which is what I lobe about genshin. (Although I wish there were more characters that parry)
Me too! Nothing quite as satisfying as a perfect parry~
The main (and most frutsrating) difference is that in real time combat you can always get better with practise; there's very little "chance" involved in whether an enemy attack hits you or whether you hit the weak point, whereas in turn based it's all about those chances. You can stack 80% effect resistance on a character, but since you can't dodge the enemy attack, there's still a 20% chance whatever effect they threw at you sticks after all, and in a tougher fight that might just cost you the whole battle 💀
I totally agree. Turn based seems more reliant on number crunching and optimising with RNG luck. It is defo frustrating when that RNG goes against you and ruin your whole team. To be fair... as much as I like real-time combat to dodge
/parry, one needs a competitive ping (or none at all) esp for PVP. I'm thankful Genshin is PVE at heart.
Character wise i'm more attached in HSR because most of them have similar origin story like bronya got adopted by cocolia just like honkai impact 3 and in honkai impact 3 himeko dream was studying about ufo and star but after her father died in some accident she quit on study and became a Valkyrie but HSR version of himeko she became what she always wanted to become
ahh yess perhaps also a part of my lack of attachment is because I've never played HI3, so my only exposure to the characters is via this game! I know there's huge cross over and so far almost all the major characters in HSR have also featured in HI3. My favourite are Jing Yuan, sushang, and probably Blade, both in terms of character and their playstyle 🤔
@@saurusness only sushang in hi3 there is no Jing yuan and blade in hi3
@@saurusness u don't have to know about character in hi3 to enjoy hsr because hi3 and hsr character personality and story is different except one character welt yang bcuz he is from hi3
@@himalkanwar77 I know! I haven't played HI3, and I'm saying the characters *I* (as a non-HI3 player) feel most connected to are those 3!
(vs many of my friends who for example love Bronya, Seele, Himeko, Kafka, etc, and who dislike/distrust Luocha because of who he supposedly represents in HI3-apparently someone called Otto or smth)
Now I understand why it's called star rail!!! Space train!
Also, so funny that I got a star rail ad on your star rail video. I was on the fence about playing, since I didn't think I'd like the turn based battles, but you've helped that seem like less of an issue. AND it does seem like less of a time commitment compared to Genshin. Which I know was a concern of mine and others.
Yes it's definitely less of a time commitment which is a huge plus! Most days I just log in, spend my "resin" and do dailies (most dailies will be easily completed just by spending your resin in fact), and I do the Simulated universe twice every week for max points, and the Memory of Chaos once every 2 weeks! When I have some time I let the story missions play while I'm doing other stuff mostly :D
Sadly I can't add any more games into my schedule so when HSR came out I had to decide if I want to keep the game I play for more than two years or if I want to start a new one which, being new, promised more polished experience. And I chose Genshin. I still want to know where the story would eventually lead us.
Yep 100% same here! It's nice to experience it a little second-hand from Saurus though 😁
Yeah it being yet another game added to my ever growing list is the one reason I kiiind of wish I hadn't tried it hahah 😅 I just fully didn't expect to enjoy it at all!
I agree with the fact that we're less attached emotionaly with the characters 😭 certainly bc we have less control in combat and there is litteraly an auto mode.. i call myself a dan heng main however i don't feel like i'm maining my eula in genshin
Yeah i feel like not being able to run around with them around the world *properly* also makes it harder to connect with them. I guess I'd call myself Sushang/Jing Yuan/Blade main as they are some of my faves both personality and playstyle wise 🤔
I looked forward to HSR, and I gave it a few months. But the story and characters are just not as interesting to me as in Genshin. My other friends who enjoy turn based (or auto battling) stuck around, but the game ended up feeling like a chore (albeit an easy to do one) so I gave up on it.
Based on the comments I suspect some of us genshiners are having a harder time connecting with the characters because their personality isn't shown as well via story (and I haven't bothered reading up on back stories), whereas those who played HI3 don't struggle with that as many of the characters are already well known in HI3 👀
Also I feel like when you spend a lot of time running around the open world with characters you connect with them better as well, and that's another aspect that's mostly missing form HSR
Yay saurus star rail content in the future maybe?
If that's something people would be interested in, there could be 👀👀
I had NO IDEA about like 80-85% of this information. I super duper feel better prepared, should I make a move to start playing this game.
Just after I made this video I had several community members give it a go and so far they've been enjoying it greatly! 😁
Omg same, even for me as someone who likes Persona, HSR at first didn't interest me at all. But then I try it and goddamn everything is just beyond my expectations. This game is honestly my favorite right now.
Ah! Another < 3
Pretty sure I'd enjoy Star Rail, but there are only so many hours in the day 😅
THIS is the real issue 😅
i havent touched it in two days 😎
Thisssssss, as much as I would like to explore star rail to see if I like it, I just don’t have the time 😂
I hope this can happen to me aswel. I always found turn based combat system boring but now im not playing anything and its been years since i dont get amazed by a game 😢 maybe im getting old
Who is the girl from thumbnail? She remember me so much of fu Hua
Topaz!! Her banner is coming next 😁😁
@saurusness If you love honkai, Please play Final Fantasy IX, you will love it.
📝👀
@@saurusness also Final Fantasy X, You dont need to play any of the FF series in order, they are their own story unless its something like FFX-2 etc.
@@MKMMXfable OOh someone else recommended FFX to me as well!
Star Rail focuses more on story than Genshin? What??? 😂😂😂 Star Rail's main focus is combat. The story just unlocks more combat, unlike in Genshin where it unlocks more lore and exploration.
Although at the time of me writing this we just got Penacony, which is already looking like a huge upgrade story-wise, before the 2.0 patch, when comparing HSR's story from 1.0 to 1.6 and Genshin's within the same patches, I personally found Genshin's to be way better. Genshin's story had me hooked from the start, and by the time I finished Mondstadt's story, I had a clear objective as the Traveler, clear next steps, while also having a lot of unanswered questions that kept me intrigued and that seemed to promise to get answers gradually as I progressed in the game. In Star Rail, on the other hand, I feel like the Trailblazer is a ragdoll. We do what we do because people drag us to, not because it's what we truly want. I mean, yeah, we want to help, but we didn't happen to be anywhere because we were doing something for ourselves, we're only following someone else's plan and that plan is not even revealed to us. 😂 There are too many mysteries and it's kind of irritating.
I agree that the battles themselves get quite repetitive with the animations and audio. And since combat is basically the only thing for you to do when there's no story, it can get quite boring. That's why it's funny to me when people praise HSR for the endgame, because it's all more of the same thing: battles. 😂 But tbf, combat is the focus of the game so, it makes sense.
Just started playing 2 days ago. I dont really like it because its slow for new players and its hard to use the map, also getting artifacts also slow in early game😭
Yeah it'll take a while before you start getting good artefacts (or relics heh) - I'd say just do the story quests and "explore" what little you can, because you get pretty decent place holder artefacts just from the chests etc!
Honestly for me the character part is the opposite. Because of good writing I feel almost every character in HSR, I see them as complicated, unique individuals with their own conflicts and dramas, while I just can’t feel anything towards another “I love to dance” character in Genshin. I feel like in terms of character development HSR is just sooooo much better. But I agree about the exploration part, I also love coop in Genshin, and the lack of it in HSR is a little sad
I hated this game very much but i just love it now best game to play while eating popcorn