Free-to-play colossus Honkai: Star Rail is out now on PS5 following a hugely successful stint on mobile devices. From HoYoverse, the developer behind Genshin Impact, the turn-based RPG is another free-to-play romp, so we want to know if you've been tempted into giving it a try.
Our resident enthusiast (and closet weeb) Sammy Barker has been giving the game a good look on Sony's current-gen console — and we've been left quite impressed. "In some ways its bite-sized nature means it’s more at home on mobile, but its beautiful anime art style and stunning animations deserve to be experienced on a big screen," we wrote in our Honkai: Star Rail PS5 review, awarding the title a 'great' 8/10. "This is a live service executed impeccably, and the truly exciting thing is that the best is yet to come," we concluded.
So, are you playing Honkai: Star Rail? Maybe you're giving it a shot over the weekend? Vote in our polls, and then explain your plans in the comments section below.
Are you playing Honkai: Star Rail? (492 votes)
- Yes, I'm playing it
- Not yet, but I want to play it
- Nah, I'm not sure about the game yet
- Nope, I'm busy with other games
- No, Honkai: Star Rail just isn't for me
What do you think of gacha-based games? (434 votes)
- I really like gacha games, and I spend a lot of money on them
- I enjoy them, but I try to keep spending in check
- I like them, but I spend as little money as possible
- I'll try them out, but I rarely stick with them long-term
- I personally don't like them
- I hate them, I think they're bad for the industry
Comments 33
I'm trying but keep getting disconnected. I hope it's just because it's busy, other online games are fine.
I have it downloaded but I haven't started it yet. With how effectively Genshin Impact has slotted into my life, maybe I'm a little nervous about it happening again.
Passing, it's not bad but a grind once uou reach a certain part. You come to wall and have to spend lot of time grinding, really tries to encourage spending money on microtransactions. I get its a free game and it needs to generate income etc just don't have time for the amount of grinding required . Aa much as I'm a big anime fan I'll keep my money for when the big Jrpgs hit first quarter 24
Helllllllllll NO
@Dragon83 I know this very wall but I find that the game then takes up only 30mins of my time a day and I can move on to other stuff. Sometimes I even put the grindy farm battles on fast forward and auto now that some of my characters are leveled up enough for the auto AI to not die on those battles. Spend even less time with that.
Haven’t tried it yet but I will soon.
@z0d15g0d but what's the purpose of that 30-minute grind everyday? To progress story a little bit further?
@PenguinLtd Totally feel your anguish bud.Not only that i keep reading the first word of this game as Honking.
I tried it and got a little further into it where I could finally roll for characters but it's not grabbing me so far. I never really saw gameplay but I was hoping and expecting a sorta semi open world that's explorable like genshin but with turn based combat. It seems more like a very linear experience and the combat is kinda confusing despite being simple
Some of the character designs are cool, the music is catchy, and the ults are pretty sweet so far. I'ma still play a little further to see if it opens up a bit more but I don't think I'm staying long term. And that's a good thing cause genshin is already more than enough as it is lol
@KundaliniRising333 Yup, with you 100%
This is videogame cancer
@PenguinLtd We tried to warn everyone when DLC first started becoming a thing! You've taken your first steps into seeing just how scammy the industry can be...and you'll have to deal with those younger than you rolling their eyes as you tell them that. It's all a part of becoming an old gamer...
@ATaco Hahaha im 51 and would love to tell stories about how much better it was in the old days, then i remember paying £60 for snes cartridges and that was in 1992 🤣 shortly discovered Super Wild Card after that (shhhhh)
@Tomato_Goose This only when I've completed the mainline arc that's been released so far. There's regular events and end game content but the higher levels are pretty difficult so need to farm materials to level up characters and their weapons. The higher the level the higher the material cost and since I'm not gonna pay for materials I chose to grind instead. The end game content refreshes every week or so and winning each battle drops the premium currency to unlock the characters and weapons so they've in effect made it possible to play and win the gacha without spending any real money.
@ATaco Gacha isn't new. It's from Gashapon which is pretty much Kinder eggs with random toys. Same with trading cards and the like. This is just a video game variant of a system that has been around since the 1960's.
Played it, got bored in 20 minutes, deleted it
Played about 30 minutes. Not sure if I will stick with it. I don't normally play gacha or free to play games. It looks cool, but I also have no idea what is going on, so the jury is still out.
@z0d15g0d Yeah, this is one of those games where the grind is a core part of the game. You can't really buy your way out of it either, the game is monetized mostly around the gacha and the battle pass, and any other packs seem like they're there just to be bad value, so you buy the Battle Pass instead.
It's pretty satisfying to build your teams from scratch, after weeks of farming usable gear, and the endgame content really justifies the grind unlike Genshin.
I don't remember grinding at all for story content though. If I was very casual, I can maybe see myself needing to grind a little for Phantylia, but she's not THAT hard in the story. The game gives you quite a bit of exp boxes and credits to level up characters, but it doesn't give you talent mats, so I bet if anything you'd just need to grind for those for a little bit.
I don't really know how, as I went no life right out the gate on Honkai Star Rail. Still loving it, this new Pokémon inspired event is a lot of fun, and the story quest to unlock was very interesting and well written.
@ATaco Arcade machines have been a thing since gaming has been a thing. Most of those old ones are the biggest scams ever when looked at from an opportunity cost metric.
You could easily spend 10 - 20 bucks in the 90s in 30 mins to an hour. When you account inflation that is straight up robbery. I'll take take DLC and Gacha any day, all day, every day. I don't need to constantly pump quarters in to play the damn game, only for the stupid thing to just cheat me out of a life or continue.
I'm not that old, I'm in my 30's, but video games aren't as much or as less of a scam as they've ever had the potential to be. If I had to choose between an optional battle pass or DLC being in my game, or getting tricked into buying anything by LJN, I'd rather every game have DLC.
Not interested in another gacha game - one is more than enough, and Genshin takes up too much of my gaming time as it is.
after 2 years of Genshin impact, there is no way i am getting back into gacha games. im done. too much of a time sink.
the gacha system took too much space making the game more confusing than it should with weird story arcs that make no sense and way too much events.
@Constable_What Yea the story battles are pretty forgiving so you don't need max level characters to complete them. Talent farming is a drag since your daily actions are limited but rewarding once you finally lv up their talents. I only get the battle pass when i'm close to completing it (feels a lot more rewarding that way).
Everytime they ask for suggestions in their survey I keep asking for them to add mats to simulated universe lol. I much prefer to grind and know what i'm getting for my time spent than lots of other games that use the accursed rng system (looking at you bungie). I have clan mates that have replayed the same dungeon (takes about 45mins -1hr)over 60 times and still don't have the exotic drop. Rng is far more predatory than any gacha system.
The new story quest was fun and really well written (Really wanted to fight you know who). I just wish they had more options for the responses you choose or optional story paths but that would be a lot of work for a free game. Looking forward to all the IPC "stone" character reveals.
@Constable_What Lol yup. I probably spent up to 1k from bank of mum and dad on MvC 2 arcades alone. When you add for inflation it's an insane amount. I suddenly don't feel too bad about gacha and DLC.
Anything anime is a HARD PASS for me.
@z0d15g0d I must have spent 100's of dollars on Virtua Fighter at my arcade... I remember the walk of shame back to my mom or nana for another 5 as a kid. I'd play 20 more mins, and spend the rest of my time looking for quarters under the cabinets. Lol
Never felt bad about gacha mechanics. It's just a type of game, and the game gives out a lot of freebies, so I'm not at all fussed.
"What do you think of gacha-based games?"
Well, aside from the awful gacha mechanics, the game would be marvelous and interesting, but, well....
However, that could to learn like Mario kart tour, that eliminate gacha mechanics as main way for getting new characters and search for less predatory business with the players.
This Honky is not playing any Honkai.
@Smiffy01
And now a lot of them are even more expensive than they used to be! We should have actually counted our blessings!!
@Constable_What Hahaha dear lord. I guess the walk of shame was a history a lot of us arcade gamers shared.
Downloaded, but not playing yet. So busy with other games that have endings.
Nothing against gachas esp how Genshin approached it.
I'm normally not into gacha games at all but it looked good enough to give shot and I won't lie, it's pretty fun. 😄
I looked at some screenshots and decided to leave this one to the children.
No because, when it’s reasonably possible like this particular situation, I refuse to support the CCP.
Free to play so it's worth a look
But I always dropped Genshin after awhile
it's a case of their being a bit too much to do?
It's my same problem with BOTW and TOTK
I'm weird lol.
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