Honkai: Star Rail version 2.1 is out now:

Keeping up with Star Rail — Acheron: Another Fall of Rain

Alrik spotted the next special program for Honkai: Star Rail:

Version 2.1 Special Program

Hi, Trailblazers! The Honkai: Star Rail Version 2.1 "Into the Yawning Chasm" Special Program will be released officially on March 16 at 19:30 (UTC+8).

YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC2PeMPA8PAOp-bynLoCeMLA
Twitch: https://twitch.tv/honkaistarrail

This live stream will feature introductions to the characters Acheron and Aventurine, as well as previews of the new main storyline, events, and rewards.

Follow our official channels to keep up with the news on the latest version!

Version 2.0 of Honkai: Star Rail has been released. The Astral Express Crew go to the planet Penacony, a hedonistic paradise filled with new characters to meet and intrigue to unravel:

Black Swan Trailer: "Lullaby"

Here's the Special Program for Honkai: Star Rail 2.0 - this version will be released on February 6:

Honkai: Star Rail Version 2.0 "If One Dreams At Midnight" Special Program

A new trailer shows the upcoming villains of Honkai: Star Rail:

Myriad Celestia Trailer — "A Night of Ever-Flame: Scene 33"

Version 1.6 of Honkai: Star Rail has been released - Ruan Mei is a new five-star character:

Keeping up with Star Rail — Ruan Mei: 2000 Cosmic Fragments, or all Blessing?

Version 1.6 of Honkai: Star Rail will be released this week:

Version 1.6 Trailer - "Crown of the Mundane and Divine" 

The version 1.6 "Crown of the Mundane and Divine" special program starts tomorrow:

The Honkai: Star Rail Version 1.6 "Crown of the Mundane and Divine" Special Program will be released officially on December 15 at 19:30 (UTC+8).

Hi, Trailblazers!

The Honkai: Star Rail Version 1.6 "Crown of the Mundane and Divine" Special Program will be released officially on December 15 at 19:30 (UTC+8).

Follow our official channels to keep up with the latest news about Version 1.6!

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/3TkHmjV0hf8

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/honkaistarrail

Thanks Alrik!

The sci-fi RPG Honkai: Star Rail won the Google Play’s Best of 2023 award - Best Game:

Google Play’s best apps and games of 2023

We’re announcing the winners of Google Play’s Best of 2023 awards, highlighting this year's most outstanding apps, games and books across various categories.

[...]

Best Game: Honkai: Star Rail

This sci-fi extravaganza takes the title of our best game of the year thanks to its excellent depth of content, stunning visuals and thoughtful design. By sprinkling lore and character backstories throughout the game, Honkai: Star Rail delivers lasting entertainment for role-playing game enthusiasts and newcomers alike.

[...]

Thanks Couchpotato!

Version 1.5 of Honkai: Star Rail is now live:

Huohuo Trailer — "Night of Thrills" | Honkai: Star Rail

Gamespace reports that Honkai: Star Rail will get more end game content in version 1.5:

HONKAI: STAR RAIL DETAILED IMPROVEMENTS FOR VERSION 1.5 & BEYOND

Honkai Star Rail Detailed Version 1.5 Improvements

Developer HoYoverse shared a new volume of the Voice of the Galaxy, the special developer radio for Honkai: Star Rail. In the latest issue the team tackled gameplay improvements that will be added in HSR Version 1.5 and beyond. Players are in for a new permanent game mode, Forgotten Hall optimization, additional rewards, and more!

First things first, the new permanent game mode: Pure Fiction. It will kick off in Version 1.6 and introduce more diverse gaming experience. Unlike the Forgotten Hall or the Simulated Universe, Pure Fiction features continuously respawning enemies. The more enemies you defeat and the higher damage you deal within a limited number of cycles, the higher your score will be. Each phase of the game mode offers up to 720 Stellar Jades.

FORGOTTEN HALL AND MEMORY OF CHAOS WILL RECEIVE A NUMBER OF ADJUSTMENTS:

New Memory of Chaos Stages 11 & 12. Getting 3 stars in each will reward you additional 120 Jades, bringing the total for 720 Stellar Jades per phase of the Memory of Chaos.

Forgotten Hall Auto-Clear function. If a Trailblazer achieves a 3-star victory in Stage 7 or higher, they will subsequently begin challenging future period from Stage 7. Upon achieving a 4-star victory in Stage 7, they will receive all the rewards from Stages 1-6.

Team Setup Memory will launch in Version 1.5. Whether Trailblazers succeeded or failed in a challenge, they will no longer need to re-select their team when attempting the same Stage again.

Forgotten Hall availability adjusted. Starting with Version 1.6, Memory of Chaos will no longer refresh every two weeks. Instead, it will alternate with Pure Fiction.

Additional rewards. Starting with Version 1.6, Trailblazers that successfully challenge Forgotten Hall or Pure Fiction will be able to acquire Self-Modeling Resins and additional items as new rewards.

[...]

Version 1.4 of Honkai: Star Rail has been released:

Jingliu: Great Teachers Beget Great Pupils

PCGamesN thinks Honkai: Star Rail is the best RPG of 2023:

Sorry but 2023’s best RPG isn’t Starfield or Baldur’s Gate 3

While Bethesda’s Starfield and Larian’s Baldur’s Gate 3 are being heralded as 2023’s best RPGs, I disagree - it’s Hoyoverse’s anime adventure, Honkai Star Rail.

[Picture:  An anime woman with navy blue hair and red eyes wearing a white robe aims a huge cannon at the camera facing upwards with the Baldur's Gate 3 and Starfield box arts in it]

If there’s one game that I didn’t expect to top my 2023 ‘must play’ list, it’s Honkai Star Rail. As someone who never really got on with Genshin Impact and isn’t typically a fan of the whole ‘gacha’ thing, Hoyoverse’s games have always felt a little out of reach for me despite their absolutely stunning open worlds and expansive casts of colorful characters. However, having been confronted with a seven-and-a-half hour flight to Boston with only a book and dodgy plane WiFi to keep me company, I picked up Honkai Star Rail and have been hooked ever since.

That’s not something I can say of either Starfield or Baldur’s Gate 3, though. While the former failed to grab me from the jump, the latter feels like an RPG game that I should be sinking my entire life into. I love Dragon Age, but there’s one thing about Baldur’s Gate 3 that makes the entire experience a bit of a grind – something that Honkai Star Rail just does better.

[...]

Alrik Fassbauer spotted the Honkai: Star Rail "Jolted Awake From a Winter Dream" special program:

Honkai: Star Rail Version 1.4 "Jolted Awake From a Winter Dream" Special Program

Honkai: Star Rail 1.3 has been released:

Animated Short: Ichor of Two Dragons | Honkai: Star Rail

The playable Honkai: Star Rail character Dan Heng has a history:

Dan Heng - Imbibitor Lunae Trailer - "The Prodigal's Return" 

Here's the Honkai: Star Rail "Celestial Eyes Above Mortal Ruins" special program:

Honkai: Star Rail Version 1.3 "Celestial Eyes Above Mortal Ruins" Special Program

Codes:

LANPVGET8HFT
BA7NCHFA9HWX
ASN6CHXBRHW3

The newest playable Honkai: Star Rail character - Kafka - has a wild history:

Myriad Celestia Trailer: The Jepella Rebellion — Scene 47

Learn more of the upcoming Honkai: Star Rail character Kafka:

Kafka Trailer — "A Dramatic Irony" | Honkai: Star Rail

Here comes Blade:

Blade Trailer — "Death Approaches" | Honkai: Star Rail

Listen. The dead are speaking.

Learn more of the upcoming Honkai: Star Rail character Luocha:

Luocha Trailer - "The Traveler And His Oath"

Version 1.1 of Honkai: Star Rail will be released on June 7:

Version 1.1 Trailer - "Galactic Roaming" | Honkai: Star Rail

MistahFeet checked out Honkai: Star Rail:

What is a Honkai Star Rail? | A Review (kinda)

Game Crate reviewed the Scifi-RPG Honkai: Star Rail:

Honkai Star Rail Review

Satisfying combat and a vibrant world make Honkai Star Rail even better than Genshin Impact.

Gacha games have long been a staple of the mobile gaming scene, enticing players to part with their paychecks little by little with slot-machine mechanics for acquiring new characters. In 2020, the genre broke through to the mainstream like never before with developer miHoYo’s Genshin Impact, which melded a gacha system with a big-budget open-world action RPG. Now, miHoYo may be on track for an even bigger hit with the turn-based Honkai Star Rail.

The popularity of Genshin Impact alone is likely to bring a lot of attention to Honkai Star Rail, and players will find a lot of commonality between the two games, despite their different genres. From its character designs to anime-inspired graphical style, Honkai Star Rail looks a lot like Genshin Impact (which itself inherited its style from the larger Honkai mobile series); even the game’s menus are nearly identical in both form and function. If you’ve spent any time running through Genshin Impact’s checklist of daily tasks or hoping desperately to pull the new featured character, you’ll feel right at home in Honkai Star Rail.

[...]

The simple fact that Honkai Star Rail is a gacha game is also a potential pitfall. While it’s free to play, Honkai Star Rail intends to make its money by charging you to roll the dice on the chance to acquire new characters. For some people, it can be frustrating having no definite way to recruit their favorite characters. For others, it can be an outright predatory business model that exploits a propensity toward gambling addiction. If you think there’s any chance Honkai Star Rail’s gambling mechanics could be a problem for you, you should absolutely avoid playing it, period.

That major caveat aside, Honkai Star Rail is already one of the most exciting RPGs in years even before its first major content update. While the grind may eventually chase you away, its excellent writing and original combat system make Honkai Star Rail well worth diving into, especially with no upfront cost.

Pros:

• Turn-based combat rewards strategy and team synergy
• Expressive art style makes characters and locations unique
• Full of vivid, charming writing

Cons:

• Gacha mechanics can be predatory
• May be repetitive in the long-term

Score: 9/10

IGN reviewed Honkai: Star Rail:

Honkai: Star Rail Review

Score: 9/10

The Sacred Spear reviewed Honkai: Star Rail:

Should You Ride the Honkai Hype Train? | Honkai: Star Rail Launch Review

ESTNN reviewed the J-RPG Honkai: Star Rail:

Honkai Star Rail review – My Favourite Rpg in 2023 (So Far)

Honkai: Star Rail has been out for a quick minute. But we don't think anyone had it penciled in as one of the best releases in such a stacked year. Here are our extended thoughts!

At this point, it is almost unfair how effortlessly miHoYo manages to capture the conversation whenever their new release rolls around the corner.

The new free-to-play titles managed to crack 20 million downloads within days of their release and that is before they even hit the major consoles.

That's almost double the downloads the studio's previous release, Genshin Impact reached within the same timeframe. And it is quickly on the way to being the biggest release of the year.

And to anyone who followed Genshin Impact's success story, this comes as little surprise. But did miHoYo do it again?

Short answer? Yes. If you have any love for character-based RPGs and can put up with its free-2-play constraints, you might have a new addiction on your hand.

But read all about it here in our Honkai Star Rail review.

[...]

Honkai Star Rail review – 8.5/10
Honkai: Star Rail is one of those games I picked up, not really having any expectations. I knew from playing Genshin that I'd at least get a very polished, fun game with lots of mechanics to mess around with.

I didn't expect the amount of heart and soul I found here. But I should've because Genshin also had a lot of playful detail and love put into it. But all of it hits differently in a more curated, linear experience.

While the way progression is set up will eventually be really grindy, it hasn't worn off yet. That is thanks to a simple but really functional and fun combat system. Even after 30ish hours, it didn't get old.

The challenge for miHoYo going forward is now delivering content at a steady pace.

It took a while for Genshin Impact to get the ball rolling, but I hope the smaller, more compact format of Star Rail allows them to push out new chapters at a steady pace.

There really is not much I want to complain about here, at worst some of the game's more grindy aspects are inoffensive.

If you're just looking for something to play idly on the side or an RPG to be obsessed with, Honkai: Star Rail is probably your best choice.

Honkai Star Rail is available for free on PC and Android and iOS, you can register a new account here.

Rock Paper Shotgun reviewed the J-RPG Honkai: Star Rail:

Honkai: Star Rail review: a slick, anime-infused RPG bursting with potential

Star Ocean, but if everyone was hotter and you could gamble

Honkai: Star Rail throws you into the body of an amnesiac protagonist with unknowable hidden powers who has been awakened from a deep slumber by someone called Kafka. This woman is something of a mystery and seems to have a flair for the dramatic as she kicks off the whole game by playing an invisible violin along to the classic Baroque epic Pachelbel’s Canon as massive, intergalactic monsters invade a spaceship.

It’s an incredibly cool opening, the kind of thing that John Wick would watch to get pumped up before, well, John Wick-ing all over the place. It’s pretty clear that Kafka isn’t a hero, but they’ve woken you up, and since you’ve got no memories, you must be one of the good guys. This setup feels familiar, but there are enough changes to make it feel new and get the blood thoroughly pumping.

[...]

Now, Genshin is free-to-play friendly-ish, but it mostly serves low-level spenders who don’t mind splashing out on the battle pass, along with whales who get everything they want and keep the lights on at miHoYo. From what I’ve played of Honkai Star Rail so far, I’m assuming the same is true here too, which is good news for low-spenders.

[...]

Honkai: Star Rail is still in its early stages but it’s incredibly good fun to play. With the promise of more planets to come, more characters to fall in love with, and more twists and turns than anyone can see coming, this is one train that’s worth riding.

Fextralife checked out Honkai: Star Rail:

Honkai Star Rail Gameplay Overview - Is it Worth It? Should You Play it?

Thanks Couchpotato!

The sci-fi J-RPG Honkai: Star Rail has been released:

Official Release Trailer - "Interstellar Journey" | Honkai: Star Rail

Honkai: Star Rail is an all-new strategy RPG title in the Honkai series that takes players on a cosmic adventure across the stars. Hop aboard the Astral Express and experience the galaxy’s infinite wonders on this journey filled with adventure and thrill.

Key Features

• A New Title in the Honkai Series – Embark on a new astral adventure.
• Turn-Based RPG – Engage in thrilling, strategic combat.
• Dungeon Exploration – Uncover the Fragmentum’s secretes with your team.
• Superb Graphics and Sound – Dive into an immersive experience.

Moon explains the game mechanics of the upcoming Gacha J-RPG Honkai: Star Trail:

Everything You Need to Know About Honkai Star Rail!

A new trailer for Honkai: Star Rail has been published on the Gamescom 2022:

Honkai: Star Rail Nightmare Trailer

miHoYo announced a new strategy RPG - Honkai: Star Trail:

Reveal Trailer - "Next Stop, the Stars!" | Honkai: Star Rail

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