Honkai: Star Rail raised a few eyebrows when Pela Sergeyevna’s backstory was expanded on a month ago, revealing the Silvermane Guards’ Intelligence Officer was only 16 years of age. This makes an older conversation where Pela is evidently drunk controversial, and the Honkai developer has since modified it in the face of fan backlash.
The content sparking scrutiny is woven into the companion quest “Father Than The Snow Plains,” which was introduced in the second half of Version 1.3, and a story primarily focusing on Lynx Landau. We’re shown how Lynx and Pela are close friends, and their awkwardness around other people only strengthens their bond. On a camping trip together, they come across a Trotter who drops a flash drive containing messages from Pela’s deceased mother.
It’s here we learn Pela was born on the day of her mother’s death, confirming her age as far lower than anybody had previously expected. This discovery immediately called into question a text conversation the Trailblazer has with Pela where she asks for advice on how to get sober.
Thanks to Reddit user Laevialili, we now know miHoYo has attempted to cover its tracks on what has become something of a rare misstep. Emphasis on the attempt. As shared in their Reddit thread created two days ago, the message now reads “Hey, do you know how any way to stave off sleepiness?”
Yes, that is indeed a typo but not by yours truly.
It gets even more baffling. Checking their message archive, another Reddit user myussi confirmed the Trailblazer’s responses remained exactly the same. This means the mention of Pela getting sober remains in the game’s active files and rounds off a very messy patch-up job. “Really lazy change to only fix the sober part and not anything else,” Laevialili wrote. “I guess when you write yourself into a corner it’s to be expected.”
Here lies the crux of the issue for many fans. This entire debacle was entirely avoidable by simply making Pela able to consume alcohol legally. The drinking age in China, miHoYo’s country of origin, is 18 years old—much like that of the United Kingdom.
Even making her 21, to cover the legal barrier of the United States, would have been a better solution it seems. “Honestly, it’s like short adults can’t actually exist,” another Reddit user Spectre_Hayate wrote. Their complaints are justified as even the diminutive Fu Xuan and Qingque of the Luofu are explained away as long-life species.
Whether this necessitates more extensive scripting surgery, we shall have to wait and see.
