Honkai: Star Rail is an open-world RPG from miHoYo, the creators of Genshin Impact under its subsidiary HoYoverse. While technically the sequel to Honkai Impact 3rd, it’s said to be a new game that uses characters from that title rather than a continuation of the story. HSR players will take to the stars and travel vast distances by train as they explore new worlds and take on epic quests that span entire star systems.
The game aims to sit alongside Genshin Impact, offering a sci-fi take on the anime-style gacha game. HSR Players can collect weapons and HSR characters by spending in-game currency or real-world cash, but the core story and narrative are never lessened for those that don’t want to pay a penny. Given the pedigree miHoYo has and the standard set with Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail will almost certainly be a hit with anyone who loved that game and anyone who desperately wants to get into a new free-to-play game that will receive regular updates with meaningful new content.
Related: Honkai: Star Rail – All HSR Free Codes & How to Claim Them
Honkai: Star Rail Walkthrough
Honkai: Star Rail is an incredibly complex game. You need to master its RPG battle and customization mechanics and have a roster of HSR characters to collect, daily missions to engage with, collectibles strewn across the universe, and so much more. Below, we’ve outlined everything you need to know about Honkai: Star Rail, so you can play without running into any roadblocks. Check out the following list of all our Honkai: Star Rail guides to see if something that you’ve been struggling with catches your eye.
All HSR Quest Guides
- Who is the Thief in the Old Foreman’s Treasure Companion Quest?
- How to Complete Fleeting Lights
- How to complete Hook’s Treasure
- How to solve the Triple Authentication Door puzzle
- How to Complete Hide and Seek
- Signs of Fragmentum Guide
Useful HSR Guides
- Is Honkai: Star Rail Down? – All Error Messages & How to Check Server Status, Explained
- Simulated Universe guide
- All Free Characters & How To Unlock Them
- Stelle or Caelus? Who To Select
- Seele HSR Banner Guide
- How to Level Your HSR Characters
- All Playable Character, Elements, & Path
- Departure, Character Event, Light Cone & Regular Warps
- What are Eidolons? Eidolons explained
- How to Claim HSR Twitch Drop Rewards
- How to Reroll & Best Characters to Reroll
- All-Stars Invite web event guide
- Daily Missions, Explained
- How to Turn on Auto-Battle
- Does Honkai: Star Rail Have a Multiplayer Mode? Answered
- Honkai: Star Rail Pity System, Explained
- All Adventurous Moles Treasure Locations
- All Precious and Bountiful Treasures in Herta Space Station
- How To Get Relics in Honkai: Star Rail
- How to Farm Story Bosses
How to Download Honkai: Star Rail on all Platforms
Honkai: Star Rail is available to download now on iOS, Android, and PC. Use the following links to find the direct download pages for PC, Android, and iOS.
Is Honkai: Star Rail Free-to-Play?
Yes, Honkai: Star Rail is a free-to-play title. You can download it for free and play the story from start to finish without spending real-world cash.
However, if you want to acquire every HSR character and upgrade your equipment faster, you can spend money on in-game Banners. These are the game’s gacha mechanics, allowing you to buy one of several characters or items with every purchase you make.
Is Honkai: Star Rail a Sequel to Honkai 3rd Impact?
No, Honkai: Star Rail isn’t a direct sequel to Honkai 3rd Impact. However, the games do share characters with the same name, though they’re very separate across both. The games are linked because they’re part of the wider Honkai Universe, but that’s where any crossover ends.
Is Honkai: Star Rail set in the Same Universe as Genshin Impact and Honkai 3rd Impact?
Yes, Honkai: Star Rail, Genshin Impact, and Honkai 3rd Impact are all set in the same universe, the Honkai Universe. Simply put, the Honkai Universe consists of a tree surrounded by water. Every leaf on the tree is an entire world where Genshin Impact, Honkai 3rd Impact, and Honkai: Star Rail takes place very separately from one another. The water is forever killing these leaves, but the tree, in turn, is constantly transforming the water into new ones. The idea is that there is a cycle of life and death across an unknowable number of worlds between the tree and water.
Is Honkai: Star Rail a Gacha Game?
Yes, Honkai: Star Rail uses gacha mechanics in its banners. Read about every banner, known as Warps, in the game in our dedicated guide. This is how HSR players unlock new characters, but you can’t ever buy a single individual. Instead, you can buy chances to win a character you’re after, but there will always be others that you may end up with. You can spend more in-game currency to have a better chance of getting the character you want, but it’s never a guarantee.
How Many Characters are there in Honkai: Star Rail?
At the time of writing, there are 28 characters in Honkai: Star Rail. Seven of these can be unlocked for free, which you can learn how to acquire in our guide, but the other seven require you to engage with the in-game HSR banners. You can accrue enough in-game currency to buy them without spending real-world money, but it will take a long time to do so.
What is the Release Date for Honkai: Star Rail on PlayStation?
At the time of writing, there has been no official confirmation of when Honkai: Star Rail will be released for PlayStation consoles. It has been confirmed that the game is coming to Sony’s consoles, but our only release window is “soon.”
Related: How to claim Twitch Drops for Honkai Star Rail
What is the TikTok Star Rail Challenge Event?
miHoYo has announced that the TikTok Star Rail Challenge will start on April 26 and run until May 20 to celebrate the launch of Hokai: Star Rail.
To take part, players will need to complete missions to receive points that can be exchanged for in-game rewards such as Traveler’s Guides, Stellar Jades, and credits. This could give you a head start in acquiring new characters, but we’ll need to wait until the game is in our hands to test out the event and report back with our findings.
All Trailers for Honkai: Star Rail
Below, we’ve collected every trailer for Honkai: Star Rail released to date. The first is the game’s initial reveal trailer, which gave the world its first glimpse of this title.
Next came the March 7 trailer, which detailed a bit more of the worlds of Honkai: Star Rail.
The second closed beta got a trailer ahead of its release, which was open to the public and the most fans to date.
One month later, we were treated to the game’s opening cutscene.
The Serval Trailer treated us to a new character and song, hinting at some of the game’s themes.
Summer Games Fest 2022 brought about a new trailer and a welcome deeper look at this highly-anticipated title.
Then, another music trailer dropped. This time for EP. Out of Control.
EP. Of Snow and Ember was next.
Then, during Gamescom 2022, came another deep, nightmarish trailer.
Tokyo Games Show 2022 also had its own unique trailer.
Just before the final closed beta, the biggest yet, opened, fans were treated to another of the much deeper dives into the game with the Space Comedy trailer.
Bailu got her own trailer after that. This was the first real character trailer.
Yanqing was in the spotlight next. This is another character you can acquire for your party and travel the stars with.
Himeko gave us a new feel for the game’s characters in her trailer.
Gepard is way too serious in his trailer, but he has definitely accumulated a fan base from this short video alone.
A short teaser trailer for the game then came out. This is seemingly a response to anyone that thought the game was about to be delayed. It confirms the release date and sets the record straight that all is well with development.
Another similar trailer to the one above was then released. This one with much more of a focus on characters.
Following the character reveal trend, we have a trailer for Seele, who has way more personality than anyone else shown so far.
The Honkai: Star Rail launch trailer was published the day before the game came out, and it has a brilliant song in the background.
Honkai: Star Rail’s official launch trailer went live alongside the game on April 26, 2023. It’s a bombastic video that gets you pumped to play and eager to start experimenting with character combinations.
