Honkai Star Rail

About

"Honkai: Star Rail" is a space fantasy RPG developed by miHoYo, where players embark on an adventure aboard the Astral Express, exploring diverse worlds and encountering new companions, as they uncover the mysteries of the Stellaron. The game is set for release in October 2023 and will be available on web browsers.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

+18

70%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,060 reviews

story263 positive mentions

grinding65 negative mentions

Stunning graphics and character designs that enhance the overall experience.
Engaging storyline with well-developed characters that keep players invested.
Generous rewards and free pulls make it accessible for free-to-play players.

Severe power creep makes older characters obsolete quickly, leading to frustration.
Lack of a skip button for lengthy dialogues and cutscenes can make gameplay tedious.
Frequent bugs and crashes, especially during cutscenes, hinder the gaming experience.

story
733 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
56%
8%
The story of the game is widely praised for its engaging narrative, rich character development, and impressive world-building, with many players finding it captivating and immersive. However, there are significant criticisms regarding the presentation, particularly the excessive dialogue and lack of a skip feature, which some players find tedious and time-consuming. While the storyline has its peaks, recent updates have led to concerns about bloated storytelling and a decline in quality, prompting requests for improvements in pacing and animation.
- “The story is truly mesmerizing, with every patch we get new story quests that make me feel even more satisfied with the lore.”
- “The story is engaging, the characters are well written, and the graphics are beautiful as well.”
- “The story, the dialogue, the events, the characters, the combat, the voice acting, and the incredible scenery all come together to create a captivating experience.”
- “The story is too long and stretched out, often repeating the same points over and over.”
- “Boring unskippable story.”
- “The storytelling has degraded a lot since launch (black screens, bland animation, poor dialogues) and it ruins the immersion of the game.”
gameplay
182 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
42%
54%
4%
The gameplay is generally praised for its engaging turn-based mechanics, beautiful graphics, and character designs, making it accessible and enjoyable for both casual and competitive players. However, some players express concerns about repetitive mechanics, power creep, and the impact of gacha systems on character viability and progression. Overall, while the gameplay is fun and rewarding, it can become tedious over time, especially with the reliance on RNG for character upgrades and the extensive dialogue that can hinder the experience.
- “The gameplay is pretty fun with incredible visuals, and the events are always something new and fun to do!”
- “It's a great balance between casual and competitive gameplay with clearing endgame content and events that you get to play against other players.”
- “The gameplay is turn-based mixed with some world exploration as well as fun minigames and sidequests.”
- “I still love the character design and gameplay, but not enough to want to sit through literal hours of text that I'm forced to endure in order to do the things in the game I truly enjoy.”
- “The mechanics are repetitive and building the characters is a pain, especially considering the RNG in the artifacts.”
- “It's really irritating that it also has to be way too tedious just to upgrade a single character, requiring weeks or months of gameplay.”
graphics
154 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
68%
30%
2%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their stunning visuals, beautiful character designs, and captivating art style, often described as top-notch and comparable to high-end titles. However, some players experience performance issues, such as lag and low resolution on mobile devices, even at maximum settings. Overall, while the graphics are a highlight, optimization for various devices remains a concern for many users.
- “The graphics and story are amazing, but the power creep is so fast, and some new characters you pull lose their value in a few patches.”
- “The game is cool, the graphics and the stylized anime art style are truly captivating.”
- “The graphics, characters, and storyline are so good!”
- “I use higher-end Android devices like Galaxy S and Pixel, but the game still renders at 540p even on max graphics settings.”
- “Even at the lowest graphical settings, my game still lags and struggles to just move around in the world.”
- “My cutscenes are lagging even though my graphics settings are all just medium; my device is also new, which shouldn't be a problem.”
character development
80 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
61%
35%
4%
Character development in the game is widely praised for its stunning character designs, engaging backstories, and high-quality animations, which contribute significantly to the overall experience. Players appreciate the depth of the lore and the variety of characters, although some express concerns about repetitive designs and the need for more unique traits. Overall, the combination of captivating visuals, compelling narratives, and enjoyable gameplay mechanics makes character development a standout feature of the game.
- “The character designs, writing, and animations are utterly beautiful, and as someone who never enjoyed turn-based combat before, it has captivated me. I love building my characters to their absolute max. Highly recommend it if you want to get lost in a work of art!”
- “The character designs are amazing, and the early lack of difficulty problem has been solved later in the game.”
- “The story and character design of this game are great and lovable.”
- “I still love the character design and gameplay, but not enough to want to sit through literal hours of text that I'm forced to endure in order to do the things in the game I truly enjoy.”
- “Still worth 4 stars for the story, world building, character design (for Penacony characters specifically, most of the other character designs are boring at best and psychic damage at worst, as in they don't convey the job of the character nor their personality at all) and lore though.”
- “The character designs on this game are either recycled or recolored from the old ones.”
grinding
67 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
3%
97%
The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it tedious and time-consuming, especially when farming relics and materials. While some appreciate the strategic element of character building and enjoy the grinding process, others express frustration over the RNG mechanics and the high investment required for progression. Overall, players suggest improvements to the farming system, such as better rewards and options to skip repetitive content, to enhance the experience.
- “Not too grindy and not too easy.”
- “Superb story, eye-catching art, flawless animation, very generous in freebies, not tedious events as it lasts a month, easy daily tasks, and most of all, more female than male characters.”
- “Farming takes a very long time (at least without spending money, I tend not to).”
- “The whole system is just annoyingly and unnecessarily tedious.”
- “It's really irritating that it also has to be way too tedious just to upgrade a single character, requiring weeks or months of gameplay.”
music
63 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
28%
5%
The music in the game is widely praised for its quality, variety, and ability to enhance the overall experience, with many reviewers describing it as "amazing," "top tier," and "eargasmic." Players appreciate the engaging soundtracks that complement the story and character designs, contributing to an immersive atmosphere. However, some users have noted technical issues affecting audio clarity during certain scenes, which detracts from the otherwise stellar musical experience.
- “The music, art, characters, and gameplay are amazing!”
- “Impeccably designed characters, an OST that borders on masterpiece status, and a storyline that kept me hooked from start to finish.”
- “The music is great.”
- “Latest update has bricked the game to only be a black screen with background music on my phone.”
- “The music also really stood out to me because it's very fun to listen to and enjoy.”
- “I love almost all aspects of it: the soundtrack, the easter eggs, the character design, etc. however, when it comes to storage usage, it's too big for a semi-open world with turn-based combat compared to Genshin Impact, which has a huge open world.”
humor
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
96%
12%
The humor in the game is widely praised, with players highlighting the funny characters, clever dialogue, and numerous silly references that enhance the overall experience. Many reviews note the engaging storyline and entertaining interactions, which are complemented by humorous easter eggs and quirky character personalities. Overall, the blend of humor with a rich narrative and enjoyable gameplay makes for a delightful experience, despite some critiques regarding execution and pacing.
- “The characters are funny and have lots of silly references.”
- “Absolutely love this game, the trailblazers are funny as hell and the game is unhinged while still following the storyline.”
- “The story's great, the dialogues are funny, and I especially like to find the treasures.”
- “The humor tries too hard to be funny, often falling flat and feeling forced.”
- “While some jokes land, many feel outdated and lack originality.”
- “The attempts at humor often distract from the gameplay rather than enhance it.”
optimization
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
39%
17%
Overall, the game's optimization receives mixed reviews. While many players appreciate its performance on mobile devices and commend its graphics and character design, there are significant concerns regarding stuttering cutscenes and poor optimization for low-end devices. Additionally, some players feel that the game's balance and power creep negatively impact the experience, particularly for free-to-play users.
- “The game itself is well optimized for quality of life and enjoyment.”
- “Good story so far, no complaints graphic-wise; it's definitely looking good but could be better on PC. However, it's very well optimized so far on mobile. Overall great, will see how the updates go, especially balance-wise for low spending and free-to-play players.”
- “And with this, I want to highlight the fairly good optimization of the game!”
- “Cutscenes have been stuttering ever since Penacony started.”
- “Bad optimization on low-end phones.”
- “The cutscenes are always stuttering, regardless of display settings.”
monetization
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
7%
57%
The monetization of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players expressing frustration over excessive ads and a gacha system that feels exploitative. While some appreciate the absence of ads and a free-to-play model, others feel misled by promotional offers and find the monetization practices to be a significant drawback. Overall, the game is seen as enjoyable but marred by its cash grab tendencies and a lack of effective customer support.
- “No ads and no energy system for the main part of the game.”
- “Unlike Mihoyo's other games, this is a genuinely great game underneath the monetization; to be precise, a great turn-based RPG with good writing and simple-yet-deep gameplay.”
- “Fully free to play, no ads, immersive storyline.”
- “I feel really scammed when the ads say 'get 7x play points on every purchase' and I got only +8 play points from buying the express supply pass (610 yen) instead of around +42 play points for every 100 yen purchased.”
- “Cons: it's a gacha game meaning its monetization is core to the game, but at the same time they don't have to have ads or similar.”
- “If you are thinking about starting this one: save your time and the hustle, the game is mediocre, the monetization abysmal.”
stability
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
91%
The stability of the game has received mixed reviews, with many users reporting frequent freezes, crashes, and glitches that significantly hinder gameplay, particularly during cutscenes and battles. While some players enjoy a smooth experience without issues, others find the game unplayable due to persistent technical problems, suggesting a need for substantial fixes and optimizations. Overall, the game's stability appears to be inconsistent, heavily influenced by individual device performance and recent updates.
- “This game runs great on my phone!”
- “The performance is consistently smooth, with no crashes or lag.”
- “I've played for hours without any issues; the stability is impressive.”
- “Whenever I try to play, I can enjoy the game for a good 2 minutes before the game freezes and starts loading.”
- “Sometimes after loading during the end of a cutscene or battle, the game freezes or crashes to a black screen, resulting in having to restart the game.”
- “Games great and all, don't get me wrong, but I'm not sure if it's just my device. In the most recent update, when the POV switches to Feixiao to take out all the Borisin in the Luofu, the game glitches and keeps playing back the most recent seconds over and over again, making the game literally unplayable no matter what I do now.”
emotional
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is praised for its wholesome story, character design, and gameplay, evoking strong emotional connections. However, some players criticize the use of black screens with text during key emotional moments, viewing it as a lazy storytelling choice that detracts from the overall experience.
- “Wholesome story, character design, and gameplay; everything is incredibly amazing.”
- “It's a wholesome game.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The game's replayability is mixed; while some players appreciate the engaging lore and the ability to revisit past content, others criticize it for lacking replay value and content in the late game. Overall, the turn-based mechanics enhance playability, but significant issues may deter long-term engagement.
- “Pros: high quality turn-based RPG, great 3D graphics, replayable past content, and has an interesting lore to look forward to.”
- “Great game, decent rewards, good story, music, atmosphere, but it really has a lot of problems in the late game. It has literally zero replayability and content.”
- “Turn-based is a big upgrade for me on mobile, making it so much more playable on the phone than Genshin.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of the game is often described as enchanting and immersive, though it feels somewhat limited to specific areas. While the music and overall ambiance contribute positively to the experience, players note that the late-game issues and lack of replayability detract from its overall appeal.
- “The atmosphere is enchanting and immersive, though it feels confined to certain areas.”
- “The game features great music and a captivating atmosphere that enhances the overall experience.”