Honkai Star Rail‘s first anniversary took place a few months ago, but that hasn’t stopped HoYoverse from introducing its newest game: Zenless Zone Zero. As we know, this is the company’s plan to create different products of different genres to create the “HoYoverse” that caters to all audiences. Even if I’m excited to see more of this company’s games, it feels like ZZZ is launching a bit faster than expected this time. And while I’ll play all of them, I can’t help but be afraid for Honkai Star Rail, as I don’t want it to lose its spotlight soon.
I’m a big fan of most of the HoYoverse games, and like many others, I can’t miss every piece of content in Honkai Impact 3rd, Genshin Impact, and Honkai Star Rail. However, gacha games have been gaining momentum, and HoYoverse wants to take full advantage of this, considering that Honkai Star Rail and Zenless Zone Zero will only be a year apart in their release dates. When Honkai Impact 3rd and Genshin Impact had 4 years between their debuts, Genshin Impact with Honkai Star Rail had a gap of two years.
Zenless Zone Zero Could Steal Honkai Star Rail’s Spotlight Before It Fully Shines
Honkai Star Rail has established itself as a favorite among the community, but it has not been on the market long enough to have a new rival in its own company. Even though they are two different genres, one being a turn-based combat game and the other an action game, Honkai Star Rail significantly increased the pace of its game with the recent release of Penacony. So, I believe one more year of waiting for Zenless Zone Zero would have been ideal. This way, HSR would’ve had a stronger roster and new zones and even allowed players to try ZZZ calmly without splitting themselves between two games or more.
Another important point is that as much as I love all the HoYoverse games and have played several since the beginning, the older ones have declined a bit. Many OG fans of HI3 have complained about the direction of Part 2; even though its purpose was to attract new players, veteran players are the most active in it. Whereas with Genshin Impact, they have left it a bit behind. The biggest GI complaints were during the desert arc in Sumeru due to the poor quality of the story and HSR‘s flashy rewards compared to Genshin’s almost non-existent ones. However, with Fontaine, things are getting better gradually, thanks to the great story and the devs hearing feedback from players.
Yet, it seems that HoYoverse has a favorite for the moment: Honkai Star Rail. I hope that in the future, HSR will not be left behind by the impact ZZZ may cause at launch. So far, it seems like Zenless is the slickest game of them all, and it shows in its latest character demos. Furthermore, it is the perfect combination for those who want action-packed combat but don’t want the huge open world to explore as Genshin does. Ultimately, only time will tell which of HoYoverse’s games stands on top. As long as the top-notch quality remains, we don’t have anything to be afraid of.
