Gaming News I played Honkai Star Rail 2.0 and loved it! My impressions after several hours of play
Although the title is less than a year old, miHoYo is preparing to release version 2.0 of Honkai Star Rail. With this new update, the free-to-play role-playing game with turn-based combat welcomes a new planet called Penacony. When the update rolls out on February 6th, I was able to play it in advance and here are my impressions.
There’s reason to be honestly impressed with the number of updates to Honkai: Star Rail in less than a year. Although the title has been available since April 2023, the game has received six updates adding new characters and new content. With such a sustained pace, miHoYo is determined to keep players immersed in this experience for as long as possible, which is both close to and different from Genshin Impact, its other flagship title. While the latter is an action role-playing game set in a fantasy world, Honkai is a role-playing game with turn-based combat in a science fiction universe.
While the title is doing more than well, I had the opportunity to explore version 2.0 of Honkai: Star Rail and all of its new features ahead of its official release on February 6th
Penacony, the land where dreams come true
After the Herta space station, Jarilo-VI and the Xianzhou Luofu, The members of the Astral Express arrive on Penacony after receiving an invitation to the Ôdiapason festival from La Famille, the organization that manages the planet. The event is significant as it is the first time that invitations will be sent to various factions such as the ICC (Interastral Peace Corporation). But in one of the rooms of the Hôtel Rêverie we will discover the true face of Penacony. Thanks to The Fountain of Dreams you have access to the lands of dreams, including the Golden Hour, a spectacular metropolis that you can travel through. In this dreamlike world, the player meets familiar faces, but also new characters with uncertain motives.
So, The topic of dreams plays a central role within the planet Penacony and leads to abstract ideas that are not easy to understand at first glance. Since its inception, Honkai Star Rail has featured quite complex backstories due to its deities and concepts that are not always entirely clear. This version 2.0 is no exception to the rule and you really have to persevere to grasp all the intricacies of this dreamland. However, the good news is that this is the only downside to this new area. Because vice versa This theme gives developers great freedom to offer fancy sequenceseven unlikely.
Let’s be clear from the start: Golden Hour is certainly the most beautiful area in the game. It’s amazing to see such a successful space in a completely free game. Visually, the city is inspired by Art Nouveau and the interwar period and is reminiscent of Rapture from Bioshock, albeit in a more colorful and lively style. To discover this urban environment full of skyscrapers, we have an application called Pass Onirique, which offers possibilities to express your feelings about the events but also to stick stickers in a kind of notebook. A nice little feature that comes alongside new mini-games that are still just as successful and, most importantly, new mechanics that make exploring more enjoyable
Black Swan, Kafka’s new best friend
Whoever says new update also says introduction of new characters. As the star of this version 2.0 we find Black Swan, a mysterious young woman who focuses on fortune telling and fights with tarot cards. And like all miHoYo characters, this one also has a particularly successful and detailed 3D model that gives it a unique look. If we take a closer look at their equipment, we better understand why miHoYo recently unfurled Kafka’s banner: the two fighters complement each other perfectly.
To simply summarize: Black Swan is a DOT-focused DPS, a character who deals damage at regular intervals over a period of time. To achieve this, his skill applies the Arcane Effect to his enemies, equivalent to a wind rift, while his ultimate ability applies Epiphany, which deals a percentage of additional damage per round to his opponents. And as Kafka expands on DOT’s impact, it’s obvious that the two characters work perfectly together
More than welcome improvements in gaming comfort
In addition to all these new features, This 2.0 update of Honkai Star Rail brings some optimizations for players’ convenience. When it comes to improving relics, it is initially possible to limit level up until you unlock an additional stat. Enough to avoid wasting resources on a relic that doesn’t interest us. Generally, Relic upgrading has been streamlined by now letting you add materials depending on what level you want to reach. Recommended relic sets have even been implemented to better fit the characters and be easier to change. The last important point concerns the story of the game. With 2.0, a new feature called Branches of Destiny lets you review events and scenarios in chronological order to better understand all storylines. Enough to make the understanding of the world of Honkai clearer.
With this version 2.0, Honkai Star Rail continues its momentum and offers its players even more content. Penacony promises to be the most beautiful area in the game, full of mini-games and features that will make exploration even more fun. And then the plot still has many secrets that we really want to discover in the following updates. In short, Honkai Star Rail players will be thrilled with this new update.
