There’s a lot going on with Honkai Star Rail 3.0. A story about gods, humans and monsters. Brand new battle pass. A big and beautiful planet. An incredible number of banners. And a fresh cast of highly questionable characters with unclear motives. I spent the last week looking at what Hoyoverse has in the store before the launch of the version, but while some of the worst aspects of the game remain the same, HSR 3.0 is a thoughtful and exciting first step in this year’s new journey.
This time, Astral Express heads towards Amphoas. Greek historians tell us about the ancient Greece of Hoyoverse and the birthplace of democracy. We only have their words as evidence of that claim. Democratic philosophy emerged from the heart of Greece, which was fully formed without the opinions of others. Saying that, it’s not just an attempt to make a brave look. The adaptable nature of history, the lies we believe and tell, and how leaders weaponize storytelling and faith in pursuit of their agenda – all of these are at the heart of the HSR 3.0 story.
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After an unexpected collision landing on Amphoreus, Trailblazer and Dan Heng find themselves in the middle of a conflict. The statue comes to life and attacks a group of refugees. A gray-haired swordsman named Fynon – it promises to anyone who played Honkai Impact in third place by Greek Kevin, and a small child named Tribubee, who will rescue everyone and bring them safely. Refugees refuse to go, and insist that they follow their own God and tradition and find only safety.
In Amphoreus Lore, Chrysus’ heirs are destined to inherit the golden blood of God, overthrow the Titans, and establish themselves as the new gods of the world. In this hierarchy, that small fact means that refugees must risk trusting Feinon or betraying their faith. All Phainon needs to bend the entire group to his will is the correct words and a few manipulations.
But it’s better – at least this time. Feinon and other heirs openly acknowledge that they, the Titans, and the people’s faith, Titans, and the existing social order to control things. Otherwise, the end of the world seems to be nearing, so Chaos could engulf the planet. The thing is, even the heirs don’t know completely why they are doing this. They have an old prophecy, a set of ancient words of unknown origin and unknown intentions that drive them to act.
This order, built by the heirs, has an undercurrent of inequality running through okhema. Citizens, in very ancient Greek, justify exclusion of others based on where they were born and who they believe. Everyone else gets a highly censored version designed to inspire pride in the shared culture and beliefs about heirs. When Trailblazer meets Aglaea in a desolate area where it is exclusively booked for heirs, even in-game narration comments on how normal people don’t have it well.
This is all an effort to dismantle hero ideas. Whether it’s politicians, influencers, celebrities, or anything like that, modern-day grandeur. It plunges into the role of mythology to quietly separate the powers that create heroes and the heroes themselves often behind those powers, and to maintain ideals that should not be maintained. The existence of heroes in real life and HSR depends on having ordinary people to save them. It encourages dedication to those who need a sustained equality gap and adoration to a sense of identity, but does not feel an obligation to love and care for those who provide it.
It’s ironic that this all happens in an environment inspired by ancient Greece. Amphoreus, as told by its love for the story, faith, and even the country, no one wonders its inequality. It’s another question whether saving the world justifies the actions they take to achieve their goals, or whether the society they create helps not only themselves but others.
Hoyoverse has the trick to ultimately make the most likeable character tragically good, or at least sympathetically tragically tragically, as we did with Aventurine and Sunday. The goal of the pioneer is to help Clysus’ heirs overthrow their god, so it appears that the heirs will eventually turn out to be victims after realizing that even if you are a hero, they cannot step on the little people to get what you want. Still, whether everyone gets better for reasons later, it’s a deeper, timely, and a more thoughtful follow-up to Star Rail 2.0’s escapism and critique of capitalism.
However, not all Amphoreus is a serious high blow. HSR 3.0 laughed loudly several times, like when pioneers bullied dinosaurs and fed them dirt, or when they realised that spreading rumors was meant to be something like the trending topic section of Twitter. There are lots of soft moments, trash cans, snarks, and destructive moments in the fourth wall. Essentially, it’s all the good parts of Honkai Star Rail, which is better than usual.
And some bad parts too. Amphoreus’ conflicts are far more interesting than the place itself, and apart from looking beautiful, they are often boring to explore. It’s not like it’s empty. Hub areas such as Okhema are alive and stacked like real towns. Quests naturally pop up when Trailblazer hears conversations or gets caught up in people’s problems. Also, when you first talk to a specific character, such as Shopkeepers, a small event unfolds that has nothing to do with the story.
But everything is just a little Too much No friction outside of Endgame Challenge mode. Conversation choices are not yet important, they are really big things that seem to be really big. The puzzle design is basic. One heck is basically just a capture test where the orb rotates until a clear picture is formed. There are currently multiple passes in areas like dungeons, but there is no way to get lost. The new memory of rewinding the time to modify or move objects appears like a gimmick and rarely appears in a way that you don’t feel overly simplified or forced. After two years of improvement and expansion, Hoyoverse needs to give some thought to make every moment between the story beat and set piece battle more interesting.
Speaking of battles, the meta in Honkai Star Rail 3.0 appears to be designed to give older characters another shot of usefulness rather than obscuring Power Creeperity. Amphoreus enemies have armor and gradually decrease in strength as they gain more hits from the party. This armor is separate from the toughness meter, but breaking the armor means that enemies will take more damage in a short amount of time.
The idea is to hit as many enemies as possible per turn. Eralist characters, including Himeko and the new character The Herta from HSR 3.0, are perfectly suited to this, showing that they are the first time they can be viable for anything other than pure fiction. But that also means that almost every other character suddenly becomes useful again, except perhaps Seele. You still look stuck in the orphanage, Kid.
Follow-up attackers reduce enemy armor numbers with one additional point. This has made single-target attackers like Jade, Bounce, and even Aventurine and Moze more useful. Ringsha and Gallagher’s whole party attacks are new and important. Hunt characters are not also excluded, as elite and boss enemies often have special armor that is prone to wear with fast single target units.
Trailblazer’s new memory form is probably slightly less powerful than Harmony Trailblazer, but is much more useful than the first two iterations or player character forms in Genshin Impact. PowerCreep, whatever kits like Mydei’s blades, will happen at some point, and perhaps earlier than that. But for now, it feels fair and balanced, with the armor adding an extra layer of strategic welcoming to combat.
Hoyoverse aside all the tired bits that need to be seriously addressed at one point, Honkai Star Rail 3.0 is the confident first step on this new journey. It sets many opportunities for growth, both in the main story, to help the party defeat each god’s god, and as its characters have a life that doesn’t interact with each other and revolve around pioneers.