Honkai: Star Rail Release Date and Preview | Everything We Know So Far

All aboard the Astral Express! Want to know everything about the upcoming game Honkai: Star Rail? Read on and find out everything you need to know including available platforms, release date info, and more in our preview of miHoYo’s latest game!

Honkai: Star Rail Release Date

Honkai: Star Rail Will Come Out in April 2023

The sequel to Honkai Impact 3rd and the long-awaited follow-up to Genshin Impact is set for release on April 26, 2023, but it will be available for pre-download for PC, Android, and iPhones on April 23, 2023. There is no confirmed date yet for when it will be released for PlayStation.

Everything We Know About Honkai: Star Rail

Honkai: Star Rail Trailer

Honkai: Star Rail Story Plot

Set in the multiverse of Honkai Impact 3rd, Honkai: Star Rail puts you in the shoes of the Trailblazer. An intergalactic criminal named Kafka woke you up from your slumber and tasked you with joining the crew of the Astral Express – a train that travels through the stars. With you are four of the train’s crew members, who all have their reasons for riding the star rail.

But you know nothing about your own purpose. Plus, you are potentially the vessel for a weapon that could cause devastation on a planetary scale…

Honkai: Star Rail again follows in the footsteps of Genshin Impact, being a gacha RPG. The only difference is that instead of fighting enemies in real-time, you will fight them in turn-based combat with a party of characters. Each character has their own corresponding element and Path (or class), which dictates their skills. They also have their own weapons and equipment.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a miHoYo game without a gacha system. To get your hands on other playable characters and weapons, you’ll have to use Star Rail Passes to “Warp” them in. These passes can only be bought with the game’s in-game currency, which you can either accumulate as you play or buy outright with real-world money.

Honkai: Star Rail Platforms

Honkai: Star Rail is set to come out on Android phones, iPhones, and PC (through the Epic Games Store) on release. It’s also planned to go on the PlayStation, just like Genshin Impact, though there’s no confirmed date yet as to when this will exactly happen.

How to Pre-Register for Honkai: Star Rail and Rewards

If you want to pre-register for Honkai: Star Rail, you can go to the official website, where it’ll just be a matter of registering with your preferred email address.

Pre-registering will net you the following rewards:

● 50,000 Credits
● A total of 18 Star Rail Passes
● A “Trailblazer Welcome” Avatar
● The 4-Star Character “Serval”

An additional reward of 50,000 Credits and two more Star Rail Passes will be given out if the number of those following the game’s social media accounts reaches 2,500,000.

Is Honkai: Star Rail Open World?

In a word, no. Honkai: Star Rail, unlike Genshin Impact, is divided into different areas that you can explore. However, they’re not connected by a seamless open world. However, these areas are relatively big, full of enemies, and drowning in secret treasures and puzzles. So it’ll play more like your traditional JRPG than an ARPG like Genshin Impact or The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

However, just like a traditional JRPG, certain players may be turned off by the game’s linearity and the apparent slowness of the gameplay loop because it’s turn-based. So, a fair bit of warning: don’t come into Honkai: Star Rail expecting a Genshin-like experience, or else you might be caught off-guard.

Games That Will Come Out Alongside Honkai: Star Rail

Games Releasing in April 2023	How It Matches Up With Honkai: Star Rail
Dead Island 2	Honkai: Star Rail will probably be a better game for those who want a less violent and more story-driven experience. Also, the anime-inspired aesthetic will pull in players who prefer that over Dead Island 2's more realistic style.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor	Though both are set in space and are also epic space opera adventures, Honkai: Star Rail is a lot slower than Jedi: Survivor in terms of gameplay. Those who don't like action gameplay that's too intense might find that HSR's turn-based combat is more up to their taste.
Minecraft Legends	Honkai: Star Rail's scope is smaller than Minecraft Legends, but it is shaping up to have the game beat in terms of story. So those who want to play video games with heavy plots might like Honkai: Star Rail over Minecraft Legends.

How Honkai: Star Rail Matches Up to Similar Games

Games Similar to Honkai: Star Rail	How It Matches Up With Honkai: Star Rail
Genshin Impact	First of all, Honkai: Star Rail is not an open-world game like Genshin Impact. However, it has a more sci-fi bent than Genshin, so those who prefer that genre will have a better time playing HSR.
Honkai Impact 3rd	The combat in Honkai: Star Rail is much different than Honkai Impact 3rd. But what we've lost in fast-paced combat, players will gain in what seems to be a richer story with an expansive setting.
RAID: Shadow Legends	Honkai: Star Rail could appeal to Raid players who want the same kind of combat system, but wrapped in an aesthetic similar to Genshin Impact. HSR is also more open compared to Raid: Shadow Legends.

Honkai: Star Rail Trailers

Reveal Trailer (Released October 8, 2021)

In this trailer, we see the first glimpses of the Astral Express, as well as the player character (The Trailblazer) and the interstellar train's crew. We also see in-game locations like Jarillo VI, a snowy battlefield, and a dry canyon. Other supporting characters in the game make an appearance too, as well as some of the game’s combat.

Second Closed Beta Trailer (Released April 28, 2022)

We see more cutscenes involving the crew of the Astral Express, as well as the world of Jarillo VI. The female version of the Trailblazer makes an appearance as well. More environments are also revealed, such as a mine, a dark city, a scrapyard, and a futuristic battleship.

Summer Game Fest 2022 Trailer (Released June 10, 2022)

This trailer shows off more of the futuristic aspects of Honkai: Star Rail, so we see more battleships, holograms, and space stations. There are also futuristic enemies to deal with, as well as massive ones. There’s also a stinger that shows off one of the worlds we could wind up exploring: the massive ship Xianzhou Luofu.

Gamescom 2022 Trailer (Released August 24, 2022)

In this trailer, we see the nightmare of one of the game’s playable characters, Dan Heng, hinting that he will be somehow important in the story later on.

Tokyo Game Show 2022 Trailer (Released September 17, 2023)

We see more of the combat in the game, to the tune of Pachelbel’s Canon being played by the intergalactic criminal Kafka. This could imply that she is the driving force behind many of the game’s events.

Final Closed Beta Trailer (Released January 24, 2023)

This final closed beta trailer is much lighter in tone compared to the previous trailers and shows off almost all the relevant characters and worlds that will be available in the game.

Honkai: Star Rail System Requirements

Based on the system requirements listed on Honkai: Star Rail's Epic Games Store page, it doesn't seem to be that demanding of a game to run. Looking at the gameplay and trailers, it shouldn't be more intensive to run than Genshin Impact. If your PC can run that game, you can assume it'll also be able to run Honkai: Star Rail.

Honkai: Star Rail Product Information

Title	Honkai: Star Rail
Release Date	April 26, 2023
Developer	miHoYo
Supported Platforms	Android, iOS, PC, PS4/PS5
Genre	Gacha Turn-Based RPG
Number of Players	1
ESRB Rating	N/A
Official Website	https://hsr.hoyoverse.com/

Michael Mendoza Ab..

Reviews video games by day, tries to write novels by night. He's a sucker for open-world games (Bethesda Fallout titles, Mount and Blade Bannerlord, Grand Theft Auto), CRPGs (Planescape: Torment, Disco Elysium), and First-Person Shooters (Call of Duty, Battlefield, and immersive sims like Bioshock..