Is Honkai: Star Rail a Sequel? – Answered

With Honkai: Star Rail coming out on April 26, there are several questions surrounding the story given Hoyoverse’s sister games, but one thing it shouldn’t be is the sequel to Honkai Impact 3rd or Genshin Impact. 

Related: Banners Expected for Honkai: Star Rail’s Initial 1.0 Release

Is Honkai: Star Rail a Sequel?

Hoyoverse has released quite a range of games over the last few years, some of which you may recognize: Honkai Impact 3rd, Genshin Impact, Tears of Themis, Zenless Zone Zero, and Honkai: Star Rail coming up in April. With the latest game coming up and set in space, it’s no mere skip, step, and a hop from thinking that it may just be a sequel to one of Hoyoverse’s most popular game, Honkai Impact 3rd. 

After all, it seemed to have come to a conclusion with Kiana stepping back into a train. It’s reasonable enough to assume that there may be some sort of connection. So how are we so sure that it isn’t? While there are similarities between the games, it is not to say that the events of what is occurring in Honkai: Star Rail are directly following those that occurred in Honkai Impact 3rd. While we are seeing some familiar faces and names that are appearing in Honkai: Star Rail such as Himeko, Bronya, and Yanqing. This is why I believe that while Honkai: Star Rail may not be a direct sequel, it may just be better put that it’s an alternate universe. 

In this age, multiverses are becoming more and more popular. Almost to the point of oversaturation. We’ve actually seen Hoyoverse use other characters in their games for crossover without actually having tied in their two games. Mei and Raiden, for example. Yae Miko and Sakura. For goodness sake, we even had Alloy introduced into Genshin Impact with no plot relevance or event to celebrate or explain her arrival. But she’s there. 

Characters that are presented within Honkai: Star Rail are perhaps homages to the other games more so than an indication that this newest game is meant to be a sequel. But who knows? Maybe much like Matpat, I’ll be eating my words when the next game releases, only I’ll be looking forward to anime husbandos and waifus rather than murderous animal robots.