One Honkai: Star Rail player saw one of the gameplay changes that HoYoverse made in response to feedback from Genshin Impact, and posted their findings on social media. Though Honkai: Star Rail has not been out long, players of the new HoYoverse release have noticed that the game has already separated itself from its hit predecessor Genshin Impact in different ways.
Released nearly three years after Genshin Impact made its debut, Honkai: Star Rail already was a hit before its launch. According to HoYoverse, the game's pre-registration period topped the charts of Apple's App Store in the "Free Apps" category. The game also saw recognition on the front page of the Epic Games Store. Though Honkai: Star Rail and Genshin Impact share a graphical style, the gameplay differences are noticeable from the start. Compared to Genshin Impact's action-oriented combat system in the open world, Honkai: Star Rail follows a turn-based format, which gives players plenty of time to plan their moves. Between the combat and the smaller zones to explore, Honkai: Star Rail may seem familiar to players of older RPGs such as Final Fantasy 10 or Dragon Quest 8. However, as pointed out by one player, the differences do not stop there.
On Reddit, a user named vil727 noted on the r/HonkaiStarRail subreddit that switching elements in Honkai: Star Rail does not require a player to be at a specific place in the world to make the change. In addition, switching elements gives the main character, called the Trailblazer, a different Path and a different weapon to wield. Players can switch the Trailblazer's element freely by opening the character menu, selecting the Trailblazer, and clicking the option to switch paths, which is located beneath the Light Cone icon. By contrast, Genshin Impact players were required to travel to a Statue of the Seven in a major region of the game, such as Liyue for the Geo element and Inazuma for the Electro element. Click here to see the post on Reddit.
At the time of writing, only the Destruction and Preservation Paths are available to the Trailblazer, both of which are useful in exploiting enemy weaknesses in Honkai: Star Rail. However, vil727's post was removed from the r/HonkaiStarRail for a violation of the subreddit's spoiler tag rules. But, the post received over 900 upvotes prior to its takedown, and other Honkai: Star Rail players thanked vil727 for their contribution.
Between the quality-of-life changes and a strong opening week, Honkai: Star Rail is off to a fast start. Only time will tell if it can keep the momentum going, just as its predecessor Genshin Impact has.
Honkai: Star Rail is available now for PC and mobile devices. PS4 and PS5 versions are in development.