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Our trailblaze adventure continues in Penacony with the recent release of Version 2.1 of Honkai Star Rail, where we finally got to pull for highly anticipated characters such as Acheron and Aventurine, as well as celebrate the game’s first anniversary.
In the midst of the excitement for the new update, we had a thrilling opportunity to interview the developers behind Honkai Star Rail from HoYoverse as we talked about game design, inspiration, and future plans.
The Design Behind Acheron, Aventurine, and Gallagher
Since its release, Honkai Star Rail has had a consistent track record of releasing appealing characters in terms of visuals, backstories, and gameplay. Every character in Honkai Star Rail has been distinctive and unique from one another, and the new playable characters in Version 2.1 are no exception.
“In crafting character combat abilities, we start with detailed character designs from our team,” said the developers. “Subsequently, we develop combat traits that seamlessly align with each character’s unique backstory and Path. Our process starts with brainstorming, followed by validating ideas for gameplay suitability and narrative consistency, ultimately leading to the final design.”
“Acheron’s Path of Nihility guided how we shaped her kit, manifesting as abilities that evoke emptiness and disintegration. In battle, she accumulates “Slashed Dream” to unleash a devastating attack once the threshold is met. Her unique technique can instantly take down normal enemies, enhancing explorative gameplay for players and showcasing her immense power. After all, she did effortlessly defeat Ifrit the Duke Inferno.”
“With Aventurine, the gameplay experience aligns with his unpredictable character. He’s not entirely malevolent but far from virtuous. As the final boss of version 2.1, his Ultimate mirrors his penchant for games of chance, allowing him to earn “Blind Bets,” randomized points that damage a selected enemy and afflict them with a unique debuff.”
“Gallagher, the disheveled ally and Bloodhound security officer, has an Ultimate that harms enemies and debuffs them, letting allies heal when they deliver attacks. He’s set to be a prominent detective-type character in the 2.1 narrative, unraveling the Penacony mystery alongside the Crew.”
“Honkai: Star Rail, as part of the Honkai series, embraces a multitude of possibilities. Encountering familiar characters across diverse worlds, players are invited to experience moments of nostalgia and delight, a romantic flavor intrinsic to the Honkai series. Of course, I also want to highlight that Honkai: Star Rail does not have any barriers to entry, and welcomes all players — veterans and newcomers alike — to enjoy the space fantasy story crafted to be effortlessly approachable and burden-free.”
Acheron
Acheron is undoubtedly one of the most popular characters in Honkai Star Rail right now. It is no surprise as many fans of HoYoverse find her sharing similarities to Raiden Shogun and Raiden Mei from Genshin Impact and Honkai Impact 3rd respectively – both extremely popular characters in their own right.
Despite their similarities, they do have traits that differentiate them from one another. When it comes to Acheron, the designers described her and her design process as such.
“Acheron, the seemingly detached and proud Galaxy Ranger, embarks on a vengeful and solitary quest. She’s a Self-Annihilator with an enigmatic past and no memories, and stands as the very embodiment of mystery.”
“Our creation of Acheron started with keywords like Galaxy Ranger, Lightning, and Nihility, which ignited copious amounts of brainstorming and ideation. By embracing the concept of Nihility, we conceptualized a subtractive approach to her abilities and applied faded visual effects to her combat visuals to emphasize the nature of her Path. Her skill set conjures barrenness and fragmentation, signifying the void and solitude behind her formidable powers.”
“All in all, we brew creativity from keyword-driven brainstorming, integrating fresh ideas with established lore for a seamless yet inventive narrative.”
Aventurine
At the current Honkai Star Rail end-game meta, aside from Fu Xuan, players tend to not utilize Preservation characters as much. Not to say other Preservation characters aren’t used, they are more utilized in very niche and situational teams.
In this update of Honkai Star Rail, we will see the arrival of a new Preservation character in the form of Aventurine, the senior manager in the IPC Strategic Investment Department. Being a new character coming under this underutilized Path, fans are obviously hoping that Aventurine will shape up the meta and bring Preservation to the forefront.
“Aventurine is a character that has garnered significant attention. As an avid fan of games of chance from the IPC, he plays a crucial role in the storyline and demonstrates formidable strength in combat in both version 2.0 and 2.1,” explained the developers.
“Aventurine’s defining feature is the ability to apply a special stackable Shield to all allies with his Skill. When teammates with this stackable Shield are attacked, Aventurine accumulates a resource called Blind Bets. Once the Blind Bets reach a specified threshold, Aventurine triggers a follow-up attack. Furthermore, his follow-up attack can once again apply the stackable Shield to all allies. In other words, taking hits with the Shield allows for follow-up attacks.”
“This unique ability will surely empower players in end-game content, and we encourage everyone to deploy Aventurine and experience his outstanding combat performance.”
Path of Erudition
On the topic of meta, Erudition characters are known to be quite underwhelming within the player base, with many considering it to be one of the weaker classes in the game, even with the 5-star variants, with the exception of Jing Yuan.
When asked if there are any changes planned to buff the Path of Erudition for them to stand out more, the developers said, “Our dedication to the development of every character is immense, and we are grateful to find that many characters from the Path of Erudition, for instance, are loved by many players.”
“Aside from the Xianzhou’s General Jing Yuan that was just mentioned, or characters like Qingque, whose battle tactics are linked to her favorite Jade tiles, embracing a mix of randomness and exhilaration, and Argenti, the valiant and formidable knight from the Knights of Beauty, are adored by many of our players. Additionally, recently Himeko and Herta have become more popular thanks to Pure Fiction.”
“In the future, our resolve is to carry on ensuring that characters from every Path will have their moment in the spotlight. We’re dedicated to crafting gameplay that not only deepens in complexity but also expands in diversity, providing a richer and more engaging experience for all our players.”
Memes
Since its launch, Honkai Star Rail has not been reserved when it comes to memes, planting them throughout the game for players to find, enjoy, and talk about. From the “Rickroll” messages by the Masked Fools to the Trailblazer constantly referring to themselves as the “Galactic Baseballer”.
Even though the game is not lacking in memes, its main story stays consistent without humor interjecting the pacing and serious moments. To balance the funny moments and serious moments, the developers noted that, “During the development process of Honkai: Star Rail, we’ve always aimed to strike a balance between light-hearted humor and in-depth storytelling, creating a gaming experience that’s filled with laughter yet has complexity.”
“Player feedback on features like ‘trashcan memes’ and ‘text message chats’ has been overwhelmingly positive, and it’s inspired us to weave more delightful moments throughout the narrative, enhancing the fun of this cosmic journey.”
“The latest Penacony chapter introduces an NPC, the Lordly Trashcan, whom players can stumble upon throughout various locations. You have the choice to either engage in thrilling combat or take a break and have a chat with him, figuring out his inner world. Such interactive elements are crafted to infuse your adventure with joy and provide a source of relentless amusement throughout the game.”
“However, the profundity of the main story has not been neglected. Things like the apocalyptic survival challenges, societal class divisions, and resource depletion issues on Jarilo-VI, the issues associated with the Xianzhou Luofu’s long-life species, and the complex motivations and enigmas of Penacony’s factions all possess depth and expansiveness. These are the weighty topics we’re eager to explore. Not only do they deepen the narrative, but they also invite players to think deeper, allowing them to perceive the game’s underlying significance amidst the amusement they’re experiencing. In Penacony’s tale, the interplay between reality and dreams, the emergence of diverse factions and their hidden agendas, all merit the player’s investigation.”
“By and large, our dedication lies in crafting an experience that is both effortlessly engaging and richly layered. We are confident that through relentless dedication and creativity, we will continue to deliver an ever-more mesmerizing game world to our players.”
Penacony
Penacony, also known as the “Planet of Festivities”, is the latest explorable world in Honkai Star Rail and it greatly differs from previous locales in many ways. Many guests flock to this colossal space station, which houses The Reverie Hotel, to revel in lavish dreams through Dreampools and be transported to realms of dreams.
It is a unique place and the developers opened out its design process and addressed the challenges in bringing the planet to life. “Designing Penacony posed significant obstacles for our team but also bore exhilarating results. The primary, most exciting challenge was crafting Penacony’s ‘uniqueness.'”
“Much thought went into differentiating Penacony’s cultural and architectural essence. We saw Jarilo-VI as a blank slate that was rejuvenated with new life, while the Xianzhou Luofu gleamed with the allure of an Eastern-inspired fantasy. In envisioning Penacony, our vision gravitated towards creating a world that was not just entertaining but also carried a sense of depth and intelligence in its design, ensuring it stood out with its own novel charm.”
“Initially inspired by the Victorian era, we pondered a steampunk aesthetic with a world akin to a colossal clockwork where people lived among gears and sprockets. Yet, this concept overlapped with Belobog. Story-wise, we needed a setting that could serve as a backdrop to a constellation of stories. After refinements, we chose the ‘Jazz Age’ and ‘Land of the Dreams’ as our themes. Early ideas like time suspension persisted, and Penacony is now divided into 12 Dreamscapes, each symbolizing its own local variant of hedonism. Here, every moment invites revelry in its own right, positioning Penacony as an envisioned utopia and an impeccable backdrop for a story.”
“The transformation of Penacony from a mere concept to an immersive reality has indeed been a thrilling expedition. We’ve also peppered the world with distinct interactive features, such as perpetually sprinting billboards and the Dreamscape Pass that chronicles a Dreamchaser’s adventures. These features allow Trailblazers to experience ceaseless surprises while they explore. We eagerly await the stories and memories that our players will create in Penacony, bringing vivacity to this kaleidoscopic world.”
Optimizations
Speaking of Penacony, while it is a beautiful place, the release was met with mixed reception due to performance issues with many players reportedly facing stutters and lags in the new planet compared to previous worlds.
“From the very beginning of Honkai: Star Rail’s development, our commitment has been unwavering to a cross-platform release strategy,” the developers responded.
“Recognizing the critical role of high-quality graphics in enhancing the gameplay experience, we’ve invested substantial amounts of R&D and technical expertise to ensure a uniform experience across platforms. Please keep an eye on our official channels for more updates on performance optimizations.”
New Challenges in Version 2.1
One of the most exciting aspects of any new update for players is always the fresh new challenges ahead in the end-game modes. Version 2.1 will also come with a slew of challenges that you test players strategically and encourage them to experiment with different team compositions.
“In the 2.1 update, players will explore World 9 of the Simulated Universe, encountering new and challenging enemies. Some of them can make their allies immediately take action, evolve into elite monsters, or buff their own attack power. Additionally, main storyline bosses, like the one in the ‘Ten Stonehearts: Aventurine of Stratagems’ mission, raise the stakes by engaging characters in a dice roll gamble and imprisoning non-participants. Overcoming these tough adversaries and mechanics in version 2.1 will require players to craft varied and strategic team compositions.”
“Looking ahead, we are excited to continue evolving the gameplay experience beyond our existing modes such as the Simulated Universe and Pure Fiction. Delving deeper into strategic complexity and the diversity of lineup choices is something we are working on, please stay tuned!”
Player Feedback and Improvements
As with every update, there are improvements to the game and we wondered if there is any notable player feedback being addressed in Version 2.1.
The developers noted with a yes, “In every update, one of our key focuses is on functional enhancements that are directly informed by player feedback. Our goal is to continuously improve the overall gaming experience. We’ve introduced improvements such as the more detailed filtering of items in the Inventory and the inclusion of Tears of Dreams as a universal upgrade material in the past.”
“Notably, in version 2.1, we’ve acknowledged player concerns regarding the previous Relic storage limit, which impacted their daily gaming routine. In response, we’ve expanded the Relic Inventory capacity to 2,000.”
Update Highlights
As we concluded our interview, we asked the developers if they had any particular element in this new 2.1 update that they would like to highlight aside from new playable characters.
“Version 2.1 not only welcomes new characters and story but also introduces the Fate’s Ensemble feature. This innovation allows players to join the Crew in Trailblaze Missions and switch perspectives to different characters, offering a deeper dive into the motives and secrets of various factions,” replied the developers.
“Central to the new version’s narrative are two scenes: Clock Studios Theme Park and Dewlight Pavilion. The Clock Studios Theme Park, set within the Golden Hour, promises a cinematic cultural experience, presenting players with an array of thrilling challenges. Meanwhile, the Dewlight Pavilion, nestled in the Moment of Morning Dew, stands as a Family estate shrouded in mystery to outsiders. Additionally, in the “Vignettes in a Cup” event, Trailblazers can try their hand at the art of drink mixing and engage with monster patrons. As a highlight, the first anniversary of Honkai: Star Rail will be celebrated by version 2.1 with special online and offline events. These festivities are meant to enable Trailblazers to fondly reflect on their interstellar adventures and to look forward to future voyages in this awe-inspiring galactic fantasy.”
Here concludes the interview. We would like to thank the development team for taking the time to answer our questions with fascinating answers about Honkai Star Rail and its Version 2.1 update. We would also like to thank HoYoverse for this wonderful interview opportunity.
For more Honkai Star Rail content such as character guides and the latest news, be sure to check them out here at GamerBraves.
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