How Genshin Devs HoYoverse Went From Action to Turn-Based in Honkai Star Rail

Honkai: Star Rail‘s battle system is a major departure from the biggest games HoYoverse is known for. It’s not an action RPG like Genshin and Honkai Impact, but a turn-based RPG – Speaking to DualShockers, HoYoverse explained the two major reasons behind this change.

Honkai: Star Rail launched on May 25 its second Closed Beta Test on PC and mobile, and for the occasion, the development team explained the biggest reasons why the game is turn-based in a Q&A with us here at DualShockers.

HoYoVerse Devs Explain Why Honkai: Star Rail Uses A Turn-Based Battle System

If you take a look at all of the games miHoYo – and now HoYoverse – released so far, you’ll notice that nearly each one of them is part of a different genre. From the 2D run & gun Guns Girl Z to romance adventure Tears of Themis, each hoYoVerse game plays differently, and the drive behind that is to always appeal to a larger audience.

The Honkai: Star Rail development team told DualShockers it’s “committed to developing products of different varieties to improve the player’s experience and choice so that more players can find the genres of games they are interested in HoYoverse. And Turn-based strategy has always been a genre we’ve wanted to try.”

The First Ever Classic Turn-Based RPG From HoYoverse

With Honkai: Star Rail, HoYoverse also plans to bring in an audience looking for easier gameplay control and higher levels of strategy: “Turn-based games are not only very friendly to the players with slow hands, but also provide space for expert players who prefer to strategize,” HoYoverse told us.

One recurrent complaint shared by veteran Genshin Impact players is how its endgame has a lack of variety due to its content being based around DPS checks: the sole strategy is to find ways to deal as much damage as possible in short periods of time. This means grinding continuously for Artifacts with the ideal substats.

Strategy Awaits

With Honkai: Star Rail, however, HoYoverse strives to make a turn-based battle system that will gradually allow each player to “form a playstyle that suits their own pace and personality.” Last but not least, the devs also stressed that this way of designing games (trying to bring out each player’s personality) is something they strive to do with each of their games, regardless of the gameplay and genre. HoYoverse hopes that “through the combination of turn-based gameplay and the Honkai franchise, more players will be able to experience Honkai: Star Rail, and feel the charm of the Honkai franchise.”