Honkai: Star Rail has been receiving praise from players of other titles in the Hoyoverse—primarily Genshin Impact.
The approval, at least in a Reddit thread created yesterday by user headpathutao, centers around how well Honkai fits into a daily schedule—particularly how daily challenges can be completed swiftly.
Certainly for this writer, Genshin is a game that gets very overwhelming. Having been released back in September 2020, there are 72 characters to obtain at time of writing. With most of those limited to timely banner appearances, my collector’s brain would never be fully satisfied. Leveling these warriors up is the main source of headpathutao’s ire. “To extract 100% of the rewards, I needed to grind and explore the entire map,” they said. “This takes a considerable amount of time; time that I don’t have.”
It’s no wonder why plenty of Genshin players can find solace and comfort in the pacing of Star Rail. The locations visited by the Astral Express and her crew are all segmented into smaller areas, as opposed to an open-world approach. For those starting the story from scratch, this choice already offers many natural jumping-off points for a daily session.
Then, when it comes to resource farming, every single Calyx, Stagnant Shadow, Cavern of Corrosion, and Echo of War can be found in the Survival Index section of the Interastral Peace Guide. This one-stop shop for daily challenges, tutorials, and more is just one click away on the player’s user interface.
Star Rail’s turn-based combat also assists in ease of play. Unlike Genshin’s and Honkai Impact 3rd’s real-time combat, one can simply put the game on autopilot and let the AI do the rest for you. This will remain unique to Star Rail even once Zenless Zone Zero is released. “I can read a book or a manga at the same time while the autoplay grinds for the relics,” Reddit user Mietin said. “It just feels so right.”
Developer miHoYo has been anything but conservative in its support of Star Rail. Every major version since its debut has heralded a slew of bountiful events and free, premium Star Rail Special Passes. Even recently, the Trailblaze Power limit has been increased from 180 to 240—much to the delight of practically everyone. What’s important to keep in mind is that this barely impacts the time spent on the game. Another six rounds of the AI demolishing Fragmentum creatures for Traveler’s Guides will only last two minutes.
For the optimum Hoyoverse experience that doesn’t destroy your social life, Honkai: Star Rail leads the way.
