Is Honkai: Star Rail Open World? – Answered

With Honkai: Star Rail debuting in April, we can expect to see open-world exploration in Hoyoverse’s newest upcoming game as well. It should come as no surprise that upon the release of Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, open-world exploration has become a huge facet of games today. It’s led to creations such as Genshin Impact and Tower of Fantasy getting a leg up when releasing their games and being praised for their exploration and creativity. So this begs the questions; Is Honkai: Star Rail open world?

Related: How to Get a Guaranteed Five-Star in Honkai: Star Rail

Highlights of Honkai: Star Rails Open World Mechanics

If you weren’t privy to participating in Honkai: Star Rail’s multiple closed betas then you should have no fear, this game is definitely going to be an open world. Confusing? That’s alright! After all, this game is also said to be in the style of a turn-based RPG. So how does that exactly work with an open world? In Honkai: Star Rail’s livestream covering the game, they actually went over a lot of the mechanics, such as interacting with enemies and discovering treasure.

With Honkai: Star Rail having multiple worlds, we have quite a few realms to explore, though it’ll be much more structured in a cityscape rather than what you may be used to seeing in Genshin Impact. Closely resembling Honkai Impact 3rd’s and Zenless Zone Zero with its style, you may even discover some fun tidbits and Easter eggs when it comes to interacting with some of the items that you can find around the city of Belabog and in the undergrounds as well. 

You’ll encounter enemies much in the same way you would come across treasure chests; in the open world. Just as you would approach treasure chests in Genshin Impact, you can interact with them to open them. However, when it comes to interacting with the enemies, you’ll be stopped in your tracks by a drastic scene change. Like something out of Final Fantasy, your screen breaks and you’ve entered the battle. Same as you would when charging to attack enemies in an old RPG, doing so in Honkai: Star Rail can gain you an advantage in battle by attacking first. However, vice versa, if you are attacked by the enemy, you’ll be landed with a surprise attack where they get to attack you first. 

Honkai: Star Rail is full of both old and new mechanics in this beautiful combination of all things that have made Hoyoverse a success! Stick with us as we continue to follow updates until its release in April.