Asmongold TV - Honkai Star Rail Review | Asmongold Reacts | Asmongold

Episode Date: July 8, 2025

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We're going to watch the review. This is the IGN review of Honkai Star Rail. It's been reviewed on PC. Here we go. Honkai StarRail starts with a bang, serenating you with a symphony and blowing up a space station. Yeah, something like that. Seems like came at a bad time. You quickly ground yourself in a world with code-locked chrome doors, mech-like invaders with bladed arms, and rooms with monitors spread across the hall. Its hook of a prologue gives you enough that you can see why the story and gameplay are worth sticking around for without grinding. Charming characters, engaging combat, and carefully crafted worlds blend together into a game with enough content to keep you entertained for well over 50 hours.

Yeah, I would say that's true. Using polished versions of the progression systems from Honkai Impact 3rd and Genshinna Impact to create Ho-Yoverse's best RPG yet. Wow. This guy really likes it. Holy shit. Damn. Hoyo has a reputation for crafting gotcha games with a strong emphasis on story and StarRail lives up to it. Well, the reason why they focus a lot on story is that if you know enough about a character to imagine yourself in a relationship with her, it would logically make more sense that you would spend more money to get her in the game. You play as the Trailblazer, an amnesiac protagonist who travels. travels planet to planet on a spaceship-like train called the Astral Express.

Major story arcs dip into the city of Bellow Boggs' political... Oh, why was he playing this on a Nokia phone? What's this frame rate? ...express. Major story arcs dip into the city of Bellow Bog's political conflict and its poverty-stricken underworld. It also balances darker themes like loss with lighthearted jokes, some of which reference pop culture or RPG cliches.

Oh, yeah, they do. Weaving these threads. together puts the spotlight on other characters and makes the overall story more cohesive as a whole. There are some twists and turns along the way with some questionable pacing, but eventually leads to an entertaining outcome. Of course, the story is far from finished. Hoyo still plans to add more and future updates like it has and still does with Genshin Impact. Well, I think that's what they're going to do. They're going to just keep adding new content every like month or so or two months, something like that, because that's going to keep people engaged

with the game. But Honkai StarRill already succeeds at slowly revealing small details about each character and creating situations that bring out different facets of their personality. Uh-oh. This fight was really cool. There are three major worlds so far, each of which has a wealth of details hidden in every nook and cranny. I would say this is probably the better part about the game. Like this is the part that I would say really makes it stand out. Is the, the amount of like little Easter eggs and interactables in the world that make the world feel like it's not just a one-dimensional level simulator. I think that's probably the most, that probably stands out the most in the game. Surprisingly immersive for a non-open world. Yeah, exactly.

Trigger many interactions and learn new information from just investigating random objects and talking to your travel buddies and MPCs. On top of that, there's a snippet of lore attached to each light cone, which are weapon-like cards that you attach to your characters to raise their stats and Grantham special abilities. Yep. And even entire in-game books to read, if you want. That all be for not. Yeah, there's a fuckload of lore in this game.

Like, I remember, like, looking at some of it, because I just, like, I went through and I did all the quests off stream. And, oh, my God, that was a long, long time. Without the rewarding progression, though. StarRail leads you step by step through the layers of increasingly complicated systems as you level up, which helps prevent beginners from being overwhelmed with too much information at once. Yeah, I think they do a pretty good job at this. All the leveling items and materials you need come from different places and doing separate types of challenges.

So it can be a lot to remember at the beginning when you're just learning how to play. Which makes sense. You then need to decide how to spin your Trailblaze power, the main consumable resource you need to claim rewards. Do you want to level up your characters' abilities first, or do you want to level up their light cone? At some point, it's impossible to... Well, it's easy. You just buy more of the items on the store, and that will allow you to level up all of them, and that way you don't have to make hard decisions.

Do all of them in one day without replenishing your trailblaze power with consumable items. Those come in a pace that feel fast enough when playing for free, but this is where Hoyo encourages impatient people. with cash on hand to pay to speed up their projects. Remember, this is a free-to-play gotcha game, which means it will be easier for some people than others based on what characters and gear you look into. However, it's also set up in a way that's fair.

That's true, right? I mean, like, if you get, the thing is, like, if you get lucky, like, there are people that get lucky and they get, like, two S-tier characters right off the rip with, like, all their free-to-play spends, and the game is just going to be naturally easier for them. Even when you're not paying, it gives you plenty of resources to get started, including at least 80 free pools from the banners, which grant you characters and gear and permanent rewards from side content. You're also guaranteed at least one five-star character from the standard banner about 50 pulls in. It already offers seven characters.

Yeah, it's good for them to give you all the pulls, and that way it gets you involved. like the goal really is to get you doing spins regularly, even though it's like, yeah, like you're going to get a few of them and then maybe you wouldn't spend quite as much money, but it will get you addicted better. For free, so you have plenty of options to juggle, so you don't need luck or money to enjoy it.

Fighting is meaningless. I've heard a lot of people tell me that, like I've seen videos of like Hong Kai StarRail, and oftentimes some of these like really broken combos, aren't using the five-star characters. And that really surprised me. StarRail uses a turn-based combat system that gives you plenty to consider in terms of strategy,

making it all the more satisfying when you pull off a victory. Each character is a combination of two types, a class called a path like damage dealer or support, and an elemental affinity similar to Pokemon. So there's enough variety that experimenting with team composition is hours of fun. Yeah, I also, enjoy finding different ways to buff seal the solo the entire team. Yeah, that, I think that's really fun.

Some teams may have an ace defender instead of a healer or someone that debuffs enemies instead of buffing their own team members. You also have a chance to switch teammates around depending on the weaknesses of the upcoming enemies. Better late than never. So, planning ahead can be just as important as what you do when the fight begins. Unfortunately, StarRail keeps the infuriating artifacts. system from Genshin Impact in the form of its relics, which are gear that you equip on characters to boost their stats. There are too many layers that rely on chance. Even if you have a relic with at least three desirable substats, it's still possible that the randomized system will funnel every boost into the worst one for your character. Oh, oh, I see. So every single time that you do an upgrade on it,

it gives a benefit to one stat, but the stat that it gives a benefit to is random. Yes, okay. Yeah, Tower of Fantasy work the exact same. Yeah, okay. Yeah, I mean, like, I also think that's stupid, but that's just the way it is. To its credit, there's a custom relics system that allows you to craft your own relics with enough of the related consumable item. But until you've played for many hours and found enough junk to exchange for an ideal piece of gear,

it feels like a lot of wasted time. Yeah, it's true. At least that time can be spent well learning the different systems, building a strategy, and managing your resources as efficiently as you can, while enjoying the story and characters. Beginners might get away with throwing on whatever gear they find without leveling up or considering the stats. But it becomes more difficult after a certain point without proper investment.

Does it really become that hard? I mean, like so far, not really, but I also did like a lot of pay to win stuff, so it's going to be easier for me too. I've heard from a lot of people that they were able to clear the story and do everything without any real trouble being completely free to play. If you're not paying attention, battles can start to drag on for many reasons, including poor team synergy, under-level characters and equipment, or tight disadvantages. But even when you lose, StarRail feels like it genuinely encourages you to do better without punishing you. It gives you helpful tips that push you to reconsider the abilities you. you're using, like if you have enough attack on your main character and where you could get more

resources to level up your gear. The fact that it suggests courses of actions and how to look at your stats is a smart edition that will help less experienced players learn the ropes. I think StarRail was one of those games that the difficulty in the game is outside of combat. It's in building your team in a way that your team will succeed. That's what's really hard. It's like making sure that you're able to like get the right gear get the right sets because the combat is easy. At least so far

it's been pretty fucking easy. Yeah, it's strategy. It's a strategy game more than like a fucking dark shows. That's just some of the tons of text you'll have to read. Some scenarios are voice acted which added to their drama. Even long explanations from NPCs can feel entertaining

thanks to the lively voice performances. But in many cases, you should prepare for lots of text. The wordy dialogues make sense in the main missions because the little details add up to give you the bigger picture of what's happening in the plot. The best missions involve characters that were given reasons to feel attached to, and that can work even when they don't have flashy cutscenes. Many missions outside of the main story also flush out the worlds that you visit with entertaining and sometimes heartbreaking scenarios. You do get to make some decisions that

have enough weight to potentially ruin some MPC's lives, but they don't drastically change the outcome of the plot. That's understandable, considering that this is an ongoing story, and the developers can only create so many branching paths. It's things like, should you send a known scammer to jail, even if he makes people happy with his lies? Should you pull the plug on a well-meaning robot to stop a possible rampage? Yes.

Yeah, we beat, bro, we beat the fuck out of this. dude. We put this dude in the dirt. Apparently there was a third phase. We didn't even know what happened. If it would essentially remove their emotional intelligence and individuality. However,

some side quests dump a lot of information without as much investment. It starts to feel like a chore rather than an accomplishment to wrap up lingering side quests. I think that's always how it is. Because like most of the time, you're rat, well, the reason why it feels like a chore is because

of the reason why you're wrapping up the side quests. You're not wrapping up the side quests because you want to learn the lore and you want to learn the game. You're wrapping them up because they give you trailblazer experience and you want to level your character. So the goal is not to understand the story. The goal is

to complete this quest as quickly as possible because you want to make your character more powerful. So that's why the side quests feel like that. I had found the side quest out? Yeah, because you're probably not as compelled to focus on that stuff. Or hitting character lore like in the companion missions, they would be more enticing than just gaining points at the end.

Finally, veterans of other Hoyo games will appreciate the loads of quality of life improvements in StarRail, like how its descriptions highlight in-game jargon like break effect that might need explaining and offer a definition when you click on it. It also has a recommended gear button that you can use to automatically choose relics for each character if you... I did that with every single one. Don't want to spend time crunching the numbers.

And each enemy has icons indicating their weaknesses before you even approach them in case you forget. They even have at least two weaknesses so that you don't feel like you're disadvantaged because of just one missing element, which makes it much more forgiving if you haven't covered every single element in your party. I agree with that. I think the element stuff is probably going to matter like the higher level you get. Like earlier on it's not that big of a deal.

And then like once you're at about where I'm at, yeah, it does start to matter more. It's kind of common sense, right? Honkai StarRail is the best free to play game of the year so far. Its stellar storytelling and satisfying progression systems offer dozens of hours of content that a ho-yo newcomer can enjoy even without paying for gotcha items or having played honk-eye impact third or Genshin impact. Combat is deep with layers of strategy for those willing to dig into details, but done in such a way that it doesn't get in the way of more casual players enjoying it. Its world building also expands outside of the main story.

Is that true? I think that's generally true. Yeah, okay, sure. Because there are like a lot of, There's a lot of ways that the game can kind of effectively play itself. Yeah, the trash can lore goes deep. It does. Into the side missions and interactable objects. Making an already captivating world even more lively. This is the kind of RPG that you can play for months without getting tired of it. We'll see about that.

Damn, they gave it a nine. Holy shit. For more, check out our reviews of Demio and Mighty Dude. And for everything else, stick with IGN. Let's see what other people look at it as. Let me see. Hong Kai Star Rail Review. I feel like a lot of people are rating it really high.

Look at this. 81% Metacritic. 9 out of 10, 90%. Look at this. There's a lot of people that have rated it super highly. Like 4.5 stars. Look at all these. This one's not so good.

Honkye StarRail PC. Yeah, I think that a lot of people have rated it high. I mean, it's free? Yeah, it is. And where's the game rank for me? Where does the game rank for me? What would I rank the game? I haven't played a turn-based game since Super Mario RPG on the Super Nintendo. The last time I played a turn-based game, the internet didn't exist. Okay? So it's so hard for me to make it.

make a decision and say, oh, well, this game, yeah, it's fucked up to say it like that, right? Um, it's, this game is, is like a nine out of ten or an eight out of ten. I feel like I've enjoyed the game a lot. And also, I haven't done a review on it yet, because I haven't beaten the game. Like, whenever I beat all the story content, I complete World Six on the simulated universe, I start leveling up my end game gear. Then I will make a actual review on the game. But the thing is, too for me is that I actually don't, it's hard for me to do a review on the game because

how can I do a review on the game and give it an accurate review that people can resonate with if I spent $1,000 on the game to make my characters more powerful and do more damage. So like my experience, like I'm going to have to structure

the review in a way that doesn't take into account that. You can do an inaccurate one. Yeah, play without seal. Well, there's a lot of people that play without SEAL and they have good comps, too. It's not that big of deal. I'm about play Persona 5 sometime. Yeah, something like that.

Review the story. I think that the story was incredibly good. I actually think the story was really, really good. And the people that didn't like the story, I think the reason why they didn't like it was because it was anime girls. And I said this before that the Braña and Sela like conversation in front of that fucking, like that foster home if that conversation was between thrall and Grom Hellscream

I think those are the two people I used that would be like one of the best cinematics ever So imagine like yeah how How fucking masculine and badass that would have been So I think the reason why people don't like it primarily is probably just because of the fact that it's an anime pay to win game that's it and anime tropes

are part of all guy star rail story well I don't have a problem with that either my problem with the story is it's way too slow shouldn't review it be based around your experience well yeah but you have to

contextualize that and that's all I'm saying I would have played the game anyway I said that before I was going to play it regardless just because it's a new game and like with Ginch and impact like I'm kind of far behind on it

but you know like with this one it's like it just brand it just brand new came out. There's a lot of people that like watching it. There's no reason for me not to try it. You know, it just makes sense. Loving a super pay to win in slow, but everything, that's a great game. Why people pay to win on a single player game? So stupid? Well, because people like to do that, right? They like gambling.

I mean, there it is. Some people in Chats of Hypocrats, Lamao, and plays Diablo Immortal. Well, it's not about being a hypocrite or not. Like, I don't really care about that stuff. But the point is that I do think that Honkai Star Rail is a good game. And from everybody who I've talked to, everybody has told me that it is playable as free to play and enjoyable to play. So I think that goes for a lot. I actually think this is a good review by IGN.

Oh God, Seal voice actor says the thing. I truly, Eileen, what is wrong with you people? You hear this in Altline every other two minutes and you want to hear it some more? Yeah. Let's do it. Do the thing. Do the thing. I'll count it down for you.

All right, right, right, right. Five, four. Three, two. Disappear among the sea of butterflies. Illusions of the past. Yes! Yes! Oh, my fucking God.

Oh, God. Let's go. Jesus. It makes no sense. It makes literally no fucking sense. I know. Literally no fucking sense. I have no idea what the fuck they're talking about.

Like, I have no. I have no clue. She had to stay at five times in a row. Oh yeah, so it's just like in the game then. Yeah, that makes sense. Okay, let me see what the new cinematic is. This came out last night, right whenever I went to bed. Or I'm not bad, I ended the stream, so we're gonna take a look at it. Here we go. It's a dude, who cares? Yeah, true. Is that a sword? Oh shit.

As clouds that cover the heavens, will the knights protect the Cienjo? Yes, master. That's cool. That's cool. It's actually pretty good. Hold firm. A cloud knight must never let slip their whistle, nor let slack in their form. Yes, master.

What is this looks awesome? It's a turn-based anime game that's pay to win. Yeah. He doesn't recognize us. Uh-oh. So it is with the Morris'naker. To become stricken with Mara is to be a long life species if I too become stricken in times hereafter you must not hold back that's like the curse of like long life or whatever that's how they got resurrected

That's actually pretty good. I like that. 9,997. 9,998. Oh, that's a kid from the cinematic. 999. 10,000. A cloud knight must never let slip their weapon,

nor let slack in their form. Though, you'll have to grow a little taller before the knights will have you. I want to be like you, General. I want to be a famous Yenjo legend. Ha, ha. You do. It is a d'a.

difficult road. But that's the road you took, right general? Seeing as you're so full of fighting spirit. I won't hold back. That was actually pretty good. Holy fuck. Yeah, I didn't expect it to be good. I feel like a lot of these cinematics that they've put out,

like dude, they've been putting these out like crazy. I feel like a lot of them are actually pretty good, man. Yeah, no Game Boy though? Bro, like, I think that the attack that he did with like the big guy, that's like his ultimate attack. I saw it on like a YouTube video or some shit. So yeah. Let's see here.

And it's his ultimate, I think? Yeah, exactly. Let me link you guys to video. There it is. And it's actually, I'd actually watch that anime. Yeah, I thought it was pretty good. You imagine using the gotcha money to give back to fans?

Well, it's, I mean, this is how they get people to continue, like, playing the game, right? to keep them invested in the game and shit like that is to have it, you know, like make really cool stuff like this and people will be like, wow, okay, now I'm thinking about the game. Because like, every time they bring one of these out, people go and watch it, and whenever they watch it, they're like, oh, shit, maybe I should go back and play the game. Maybe I should log on and see what's going on in the game.

And whenever they do that, then maybe they spend money. Maybe they play the game again, right? And so that's the mindset. Yeah, deepen the parisocial bond to make users spend. Yeah, something like that, sure. And did you ever watch the other video? Yeah, I watched all of them. I'm pretty sure I've seen every single one.

Almost goes to the wild. Yeah, bro. And that is so good. Bro, compare this shit. Compare this shit to that raid cinematic that we had yesterday. Yeah. Compare it to the wow cinematic. Isn't that crazy?

Man, watch it. I don't think I'm going to have to. I really, I'm going to be honest. I really don't think we need to do that, man.