Honkai: Star Rail is a free turn-based RPG from HoYoverse, the same studio behind Genshin Impact, released on April 26, 2023 for Windows, iOS and Android and on PS5 from October 11, 2023. You play the Trailblazer, an amnesiac protagonist carrying a Stellaron (a mysterious threat in the game's universe) inside them, travelling from planet to planet on the Astral Express train with March 7th, Dan Heng and Himeko. New characters come from gacha (a random-pull system), here called Warps.
The big difference from Genshin is that you do not run and slash in real time; you pick skills turn by turn, and the depth comes from exploiting enemy weaknesses and then breaking their Toughness bar. OtaHub thinks this is one of the most rewarding turn-based systems in the gacha genre. On the other hand, gacha is still the backbone of progression, so the speed at which you gain characters is tied to patience or spending. This review covers the game up to version 4.6 (released on September 28, 2026).
Quick facts
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Developer | miHoYo (HoYoverse); Unity engine |
| Publisher | HoYoverse (global version) |
| Release date | April 26, 2023 (Windows, iOS, Android); October 11, 2023 (PS5). Reviewed up to version 4.6 (September 28, 2026), on PC and mobile |
| Platforms | Windows, iOS, Android, PS5; the PS4 version is postponed indefinitely |
| Price | Free; gacha model (Warps, using Stellar Jade) |
| Languages | Vietnamese text supported; voice-over in English, Japanese, Chinese and Korean |
| Length | No fixed length; a long-term game with regular updates |
| Where to play | HoYoverse website, Epic Games Store, App Store, Google Play, PlayStation Store |
| Critic scores | Metacritic 80 (PC), 82 (PS5); OpenCritic about 88 to 90% |
Review scope: what is OtaHub basing this on?
This review covers Honkai: Star Rail on PC, mobile and PS5 up to version 4.6, "Dance With the Beast Before Moonrise" (September 28, 2026). It relies on HoYoverse's official information, critics' reviews, Metacritic and OpenCritic scores, and revenue and award figures. Data was read up to October 8, 2026. The review does not yet include hands-on notes from an editor; when it does, OtaHub will add them. The story is only discussed up to the opening of each planet, with no plot details.
Gameplay: what is different about turn-based combat?
Teams have up to four characters. Each has an element, a Path (a combat role), Traces (passive skills) and a Light Cone (a weapon), plus a set of Relics for gear. What makes the combat distinct is the Toughness bar: every enemy has a white bar above its red health bar. It only drops when you hit with an element the enemy is weak to, and in general Ultimates drain more than Skills, which drain more than basic attacks.
When the white bar empties, the enemy is Weakness Broken: its action is delayed, it takes a burst of Break damage, and it suffers an effect based on the element. Physical causes bleed, Fire burns, Wind causes Wind Shear, Lightning shocks, and Ice freezes the enemy in place. Quantum and Imaginary have their own effects too. You do not have to break Toughness to win, since health still drops normally, but ignoring it makes fights much longer. In OtaHub's view, the clever part is that newcomers immediately see why matching the element matters, while veterans get turn order and Break to optimise.
After the story come three challenge modes that rotate by season. Memory of Chaos has 12 stages and up to 36 stars and favours focusing damage on a single target. Pure Fiction favours clearing large waves of enemies, so area damage is king. Apocalyptic Shadow lets you face enemies you have already fought, but in stronger forms, leaning on Toughness breaking and hitting the right element. Each of those last two modes has four stages and up to 12 stars. Each mode forces a different team, so no single squad dominates everywhere. The game has auto-battle and fast-forward to lighten repeated content.
When a whole pack loses its shields at once
The best trick in the game is that you do not have to hit enemies one by one. If your team has a character who drains Toughness across the board and uses the right weakness element, one Ultimate can break the shields of an entire pack at the same time. The whole pack has its turns delayed and takes Break damage, and then you pour damage in while they stand still.
What OtaHub likes about this moment is that you realise you planned it in advance. You picked the team for its elements, counted the turn order, and then watched the whole screen flip in a single beat. It is when turn-based combat shows it is not slow at all.
Story and world: a different planet every time
The Trailblazer travels through several planets, and each has its own identity. Jarilo-VI is a planet frozen by a Stellaron, inspired by Russian architecture. Xianzhou Luofu is a starship in an East Asian silkpunk style. Penacony is a festival world where a shared dream turns into a conspiracy, drawing on the 1920s and classic Hollywood. Amphoreus draws on Greek and Roman mythology. Antagonists are spread across places, including the Stellaron Hunters.
The game's world revolves around the Paths, universal concepts presided over by powerful Aeons. The proper nouns come thick, so expect the first few hours to be a learning curve. Version 4.6 opens a new story in Astropolis, where Aha and Nihilux head to the Life Sciences Institute deep within the city, and the Trailblazer works with Pearl, a 5-star Ice character on the Path of Elation, to stop a weaponization scheme. That said, the amount of dialogue and explanation runs long and at times slows the story down.
Graphics and music: why does music score highest?
The game's visual style is very consistent, and each planet has a very different architectural look, so every stop feels new. Exploration areas are split into self-contained maps with treasure and puzzles rather than one large open world, so the screen stays tidy and readable.
Music is by HOYO-MiX with seven composers, alongside multilingual voice-over. This is the criterion OtaHub scores highest (9.7), because each planet's soundtrack sharpens the atmosphere even when you are just standing still reading dialogue. The game has also collaborated with Fate/stay night (July 2025), Crunchyroll (November 2025, version 3.7) and Fortnite (announced February 2026), which shows its pull beyond the gacha community.
Technical performance: will it run well on your device?
The game uses the Unity engine and was built by around 500 people starting in 2019, according to Wikipedia. On PC, Esports.gg lists the launch specification as a minimum of a GTX 970, 8 GB of RAM and 20 GB of storage, while ONE Esports lists a lower minimum (GTX 650, 6 GB of RAM), so check the official page before installing. According to Esports.gg, each Chinese, Japanese or Korean voice pack adds about 2 to 3 GB. Text language can be switched at once without a download, while voice-over needs the matching pack.
The game has been on PS5 since October 11, 2023 and shares one account across platforms, but the PS4 version has been postponed indefinitely. In the reviews cited, technical quality was not the main criticism. Even so, OtaHub scores this criterion lower than the others (8.6) because it has no independent performance measurements.
Content and value: free, but what do the characters cost?
The game is free, but character progression goes through gacha. To picture it: a Warp is a pull, a banner is a time-limited pull table for featured characters, and pity is the maximum number of pulls before a rare item is guaranteed. According to gacha guides such as GGRecon and ONE Esports, character banners have a hard pity at pull 90, rising odds (soft pity) starting fairly late (sources say from around pull 60 to 80, one calculator lists 74), and a 50/50 rule: if you lose the first 5-star flip, the next one is guaranteed to be the featured character. Light Cone banners have a hard pity at 80 pulls. Every ten pulls guarantee at least one 4-star item.
In content, you get a multi-planet main story, three seasonal challenge modes and regular events. Version 4.6 adds "Cosmic Bang Bang Clash", a multiplayer challenge, and events such as the Starpeace Festival. Wikipedia records global revenue above 100 million USD in the first 10 days and over 100 million downloads by February 2024. Value is high for the patient, but lower than a buy-once game if you want to collect every character.
For players in Vietnam
- Vietnamese
- Text is supported. Voice-over is only in English, Japanese, Chinese and Korean.
- Price
- Free to download and play. The cost sits in gacha; payment options in Vietnam are unverified in this review.
- Hardware
- PC needs about 20 GB free (sources differ on the minimum spec, so check the official page); mobile and PS5 are supported. Each voice pack adds about 2 to 3 GB, per Esports.gg.
- Where to play
- HoYoverse website, Epic Games Store, App Store, Google Play and PlayStation Store.
What critics say, and where OtaHub differs
IGN scored it 9/10 and called it the best free game of 2023, PC Gamer gave 90/100 for its visual style and tactical depth, and Eurogamer praised its humour, voice cast and combat. Metacritic shows 80 on PC and 82 on PS5. Wikipedia records mixed opinions on character progression and gacha monetization. The game won Best Mobile Game at The Game Awards 2023, iPhone Game of the Year at the 2023 App Store Awards, and Best Game and Best Story at the 2023 Google Play Awards.
OtaHub agrees with critics on the combat and the music, but does not give a perfect score for two reasons. The first is gacha: the complaints about progression and spending are real, so Content & Value gets only 8.9. The second is that OtaHub cannot measure performance independently, so Technical stays at 8.6. In the other direction, OtaHub scores slightly higher than the Metacritic level (80, 82) because it sees the depth of turn-based combat as the genre's standout.
Who should play Honkai: Star Rail?
Play it if you like turn-based RPGs, science fiction stories and long-term games. It suits both patient free-to-play players and those willing to spend on favourite characters.
Think twice if you hate gacha, because it is the core of progression, or if you want a tight story with little dialogue. In that case, try the first few hours for free before you decide.
Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths
- Deep turn-based combat built on Weakness Break, still approachable
- Every planet has its own identity and architecture
- Area-specific soundtracks, the highest-scoring part
- Free, on mobile, PC and PS5, with regular updates
Weaknesses
- Still gacha: progression speed is tied to spending and luck
- Some criticism that character designs lack originality, especially female characters
- Long dialogue and explanations sometimes slow the story
- No PS4 version
OtaHub score
The total is the weighted average of the six game criteria; editors may adjust it by up to ±0.2. See our review standards.
- Gameplay & Mechanics · 9.3Turn-based, but with something real to think about: exploit weaknesses, break the Toughness bar, then pour on damage. Combat is deep yet approachable, and it is the game's biggest strength.
- Story & World · 9.2Each planet has its own identity, from frozen Jarilo-VI to Penacony in a shared dream. The dialogue and explanations run long, though, and some people find the character designs unoriginal.
- Graphics & Art Direction · 9.4The visual style was praised by PC Gamer, and each area uses a very different architectural look.
- Sound & Music · 9.7Music is by HOYO-MiX with seven composers, plus multilingual voice-over; this is the highest-scoring part of the game.
- Technical & Performance · 8.6Available on PC, PS5 and mobile; in the reviews cited, technical quality was not the main criticism. OtaHub has no independent performance measurements, and the PS4 version was postponed indefinitely.
- Content & Value · 8.9Free, with deep content and three rotating challenge modes, but collecting every character still takes money or patience.
OtaHub recommendation: Buy now
FAQ
Is Honkai: Star Rail free?
Yes. The game is free to download and play, and earns money through gacha (called Warps, using Stellar Jade). Many characters and much content can be had without spending, but getting every strong character takes time or money.
Which platforms is it on?
Windows, iOS and Android (released April 26, 2023) and PS5 (October 11, 2023). The PS4 version is postponed indefinitely. One account works across platforms.
Is Honkai: Star Rail turn-based?
Yes. Teams have up to four characters and you pick skills for each one every turn. There is an auto-battle mode and fast-forward to lighten repeated content.
Do I need to play Honkai Impact 3rd first?
No. You play as the Trailblazer boarding the Astral Express from the start, so you can play without knowing anything about earlier Honkai games.
How many pulls guarantee a 5-star character?
According to gacha guides such as GGRecon and ONE Esports, character banners have a hard pity (guaranteed drop) at pull 90 and a 50/50 rule (if you lose, the next 5-star is guaranteed to be the featured character); Light Cone (weapon) banners have a hard pity at pull 80. Check the in-game table before you pull.
Sources: Wikipedia (Honkai: Star Rail), Inven Global (version 4.6), Sportskeeda (Weakness Break), GGRecon, ONE Esports (pity), Esports.gg (requirements), IGN, PC Gamer, Eurogamer, Rock Paper Shotgun, Metacritic, OpenCritic. The score is OtaHub's editorial judgement under the review standards.
