The Crimson Diamond is AVAILABLE NOW!! (Launch trailer)
Play it on: Steam Current goal: Solve an old-fashioned mystery
A few weeks ago, I mentioned how I was captivated by Unavowed, a point-and-click adventure from the folks at Wadjet Eye. Well, I’ve finished that one (it was great) just in time for a brand-new entry in the genre to come along. And while Wadjet Eye’s output is most reminiscent of ‘90s adventure games that offered full voice acting and elegant drag-and-drop interfaces, this new game, The Crimson Diamondfrom designer Julia Minamata, is influenced by an earlier era of adventures, ones that ran in EGA and had you typing in what you wanted your character to do. I can’t wait to explore its mysteries.
The Crimson Diamond is perhaps most reminiscent of Sierra adventures, especially the Clara Bow games which saw their plucky heroine tossed into murder mysteries during the roaring ‘20s. Itcasts you as Nancy Maple, a young woman investigating the discovery of an unusually large and valuable diamond in a town in northern Ontario, Canada. It’s clear from the trailer that her investigations will find her encountering people with motives of their own, some of them sinister, and land her in no small amount of peril. Sign me up!
People often talk about the evolution of adventure games from text parsers to purely graphical interfaces as a net good, as if text parsers were just a crutch, a relic from the genre’s early days that we no longer needed, but I’ve always thought of them as two fundamentally different approaches, each with their own strengths. I think there are ways in which the presence of a text parser can encourage creative thinking that a purely graphics-based interface doesn’t always allow for, and in addition to digging into the plot of The Crimson Diamond, I’m eager to see how it uses this design element that so rarely gets employed in modern games. All in all, it sounds like a perfect fit for a cozy weekend. —Carolyn Petit
Austin Williams, Carolyn Petit, Moises Taveras, Kenneth Shepard, and Ethan Gach
Atlus first teased that it was working on a new RPG with a fantasy setting in mid-2023 — it also said way back then that it will be available sometime this year. Now, the developer has revealed that the game, Metaphor: ReFantazio, will come out on October 11 at a special livestream event. Katsura Hashino, the director of the game, as well as of Persona 3, 4 and 5, also introduced a 30-minute hands-on gameplay that gives you quite a lengthy look at its story and combat mechanics. Similar to the Persona games, Metaphor: ReFantazio has a turn-based combat system with what Atlus says is a “blend of real-time action.”
Also, like the Persona games, you’ll have to manage your time, so that you can build bonds with your allies and increase your “virtues” outside of dungeon-crawling. Metaphor: ReFantazio is set in the fictional United Kingdom of Euchronia, which was plunged into chaos after the assassination of its king. In the middle of the royal tournament for the throne, the protagonist and his partner fairy Galica go on a journey to find the cursed prince that was thought to be dead and team up with new allies along the way.
Physical copies of the game, both standard and limited Collector’s editions, are now available for pre-order, but you’ll have to wait a bit if you’d rather get the digital version. Upon launch, the game will be available for various consoles, namely the Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4, as well as on Windows and Steam on PC.
If the 30-minute gameplay footage is too long for you, here’s a new trailer you can watch instead:
Image: Ubisoft, Atlus, Rockstar Games, Mundfish / Shedworks / Nintendo / Claire Jackson / Kotaku, Screenshot: Remedy Games / Kotaku
If you’re stuck on a tricky boss fight or a challenging puzzle, or just want to make the most of your time with a new release, we’ve got you covered. Here are some of the tips we found most helpful this week.
The Best Resident Evil Goes VR And More New Releases | The Week In Games
Massive Entertainment’s upcoming open-world Star Wars game, Outlaws,is coming to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S sometime in 2024. The game doesn’t follow Jedi and deal with The Force, but instead will give us a look into the seedier side of life in the Star Wars universe as it follows the exploits of a smuggler and scoundrel in an open-world format encompassing multiple planets. Let’s take a look at everything we know about the next trek to a galaxy far, far away. – Kenneth Shepard Read More
Persona 3 Reload, the from-the-ground-up remake of Atlus’ beloved PlayStation 2 role-playing game, is coming out on February 2. But while the 2006 classic is getting a modern retouching very soon, it won’t include everything added to the original in the updated Persona 3 Portable and Persona 3 FES editions, the former of which is on Game Pass right now for Xbox and PC. So if you want to play one of the best additions to the base game, you still have a chance before Persona 3 Portable leaves Game Pass on January 14. – Kenneth Shepard Read More
If you’ve been playing Grand Theft Auto V or GTA Online via Game Pass lately, you might need to pony up and buy a copy to sustain your criminal enterprise. Rockstar’s crime saga is expected to leave Xbox Game Pass in about two weeks. – Claire Jackson Read More
Image: Mundfish / Shedworks / Nintendo / Claire Jackson / Kotaku
Happy new year! This week the Kotaku weekend guide returns with a brisk list of games for your consideration. Maybe some of these you hadn’t considered playing before, or perhaps others have been sitting on your backlog. In that case, consider this your reminder to get working on that stubborn list of yours. – Claire Jackson Read More
If you’ve been eyeing (or playing) Alan Wake II lately but haven’t yet played any of the other titles in Remedy Games’ growing “Remedyverse” of connected stories, then you might want to take a look at the Epic Games Store right now. During its “Developer Spotlight” sale, Alan Wake Remastered, Alan Wake American Nightmare, Control, and both the standard and deluxe versions of Alan Wake II are all available for some pretty generous discounts. – Claire Jackson Read More
Now that we’ve entered the final few days of 2023, the year’s bumper crop of new game releases has slowed to a trickle. With long, lazy days looming ahead, it’s a lovely time to cuddle up with one of the biggest, beefiest games in your backlog. And if you’re looking for beef, RPGs are the way to go. On December 15, Atlus announced that Persona 5 crossed a major sales landmark. The modern fantasy RPG and its spinoffs have now sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. Nowadays, the Persona series seems like a sure bet. But just a few years ago, itwas a niche fascination for a few devoted weebs. If you haven’t checked it out already, now’s your chance.
6 Things To Know Before Starting Persona 5 Tactica
Back in 2017, when Persona 5 first debuted outside Japan, critics and audiences had largely soured on turn-based role-playing games, waving them off as dated and passé. The previous year, Final Fantasy XV ditched menu-driven gameplay for rapid-fire action combat that was flashier and faster than the venerable Square Enix series had ever been. It seemed like turn-based RPGs were a thing of the past—until Persona 5 set the world on fire.
The game takes place in modern-day Tokyo, and follows a group of teen vigilantes known as the Phantom Thieves. By day, they’re just conspicuously attractive high school students. By night, they summon demonic Pokémon known as Personas to fight crime and corruption in supernatural dungeons known as Palaces. P5’s stylish, anime-inflected presentation stood out in the late PlayStation 4 era, which skewed heavily toward realism. Innovative combo mechanics kept enemy encounters feeling snappy and unique. The game drew sky-high review scores and currently sits at an enviable 93 on Metacritic. Not too bad for a genre past its prime, right?
Persona 5 Royal – Take Over Trailer – Nintendo Switch
An expanded and enhanced edition, Persona 5 Royal, was launched worldwide in March 2020. Royal came to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox consoles in October 2022. And like any good video game phenomenon, Persona 5 spawned a heap of crossovers and spinoffs. In addition to a dedicated anime series, the cast appeared in a rhythm game (2018’s Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight), a Switch-exclusive action RPG (2021’s Persona 5 Strikers), and this year’s strategy RPG, Persona 5 Tactica. Oh, and protagonist Joker also joined the roster of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Persona 5 isn’t without flaws. Okumura’s palace, which you’ll encounter late in the game, is an absolute chore. And the game’s portrayal of same-sex relationships is about as subtle as a sack of hammers. Oh, and it easily takes more than 100 hours to beat. If you can forgive those shortcomings, it’s an excellent way to wile away the final hours of 2023—whether you play the vanilla version or Royal.
Persona 5 Royal is available on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch, and is often on sale for $30 or less. (Used copies of vanilla P5 on PlayStation 4 are even cheaper!)
Gamers are a passionate bunch, and we’re no exception. These are the week’s most interesting perspectives on the wild, wonderful, and sometimes weird world of video game news.
6 Things To Know Before Starting Persona 5 Tactica
This is Lars Wingefors, the CEO of Embracer, a Swedish holding company that owns multiple video game publishers, dozens of studios, and employs over 16,500 people. Or at least it used to. Embracer has been laying off hundreds, canceling projects, and closing studios as it reckons with deals that fell through, ambitious bets on big games, and an unprecedented acquisition spree that saw the investor group hoover up everything it could, from the studio behind Deus Ex to the license for The Lord of the Rings. One company to rule them all. That seemed to be the extent of the strategy. Read More
I love Persona 5, but over the years, Atlus’ stylish, supposedly socially-conscious RPG hasn’t loved me. Queer Persona fans know the series to be fraught, and even the most passionate among us treat it like the fun uncle who claims to love everyone and still says something extremely out of pocket each holiday. I figured Persona 5 Tactica, the tactical spin-off launching on November 17, would follow all the previous games and find some way to throw a jab at queer people for no reason. But after years of feeling like one of my favorite series has been trying to push me out, Tactica opened the door for me, if only for a moment. Read More
It’s been nearly a decade since GamerGate, the misogynistic game industry tantrum that harassed women under the guise of demanding journalistic ethics—yet 2023 has felt like we’re not that far past it at all. Read More
I liked Crash Team Rumble. I even said as much on this very website when the brawler MOBA launched back in June. But man, seeing them add Spyro, Crash’s flying, fire-breathing, OG PlayStation platformer contemporary to the roster just makes me wish we had a new Spyro the Dragon game. Read More
I love Persona 5, but over the years, Atlus’ stylish, supposedly socially-conscious RPG hasn’t loved me. Queer Persona fans know the series to be fraught, and even the most passionate among us treat it like the fun uncle who claims to love everyone and still says something extremely out of pocket each holiday. I figured Persona 5 Tactica, the tactical spin-off launching on November 17, would follow all the previous games and find some way to throw a jab at queer people for no reason. But after years of feeling like one of my favorite series has been trying to push me out, Tactica opened the door for me, if only for a moment.
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We aren’t going to get into any big, overarching story spoilers as I explain how, but a brief scene in Tactica’s first chapter does require a little table-setting. If you want absolutely no context, maybe minimize this tab and come back when you’ve finished the first chapter.
Persona 5 Tactica opens with the Phantom Thieves, the teenage superhero vigilantes heading back into the supernatural world called the Metaverse. This time they’re facing Marie, a tyrant bride who has repurposed an entire town to hold her dream wedding. There’s no need to get into the why and who here, as it’s a spoiler, but this serves to set up the scene we’re here to talk about. It’s called “The Ideal Marriage,” and you can find it in the Talk menu in Café Leblanc after you find out Marie’s plot.
The Phantom Thieves discuss Marie’s plan in their home base, and the conversation moves on to the team’s own ideas of “dream weddings.” Ann excitedly talks about how she can’t wait to wear a white wedding dress, and it’s all very cute. Eventually, Ryuji turns to our mostly silent protagonist, Joker, and playfully asks which of the Phantom Thieves he would marry.
I went through a few stages of subverted expectations here, so hold my hand, Phantom Thief, and let me walk you through. When Ryuji asked the question, I fully expected my options to be limited exclusively to the women in the room, as that would reflect the original Persona 5’s extremely limited view of romance. These spin-off games don’t import your P5 save, so games like Persona 5 Strikers find ways to ask you who your paramour in the first game was so you can experience a little continuity.
But much to my surprise, Tactica allowed for everyone in the room to be an option, including Ryuji, who I have headcanoned as my Joker’s unrequited crush since first playing Persona 5 in 2017. Even still, my trepidation wasn’t gone, as any time a dialogue option gave me a chance to suggest how my Joker felt a door was instantly slammed in my face. Persona games haven’t just denied characters’ possible queerness at every chance, they’re often eager to turn any gesture toward it into a mean-spirited joke.
I braced myself as I chose Ryuji, ready for Tactica to hit me with the metaphorical backhand in the form of my would-be boyfriend jolting away in the opposite direction…but it never came.
Screenshot: Atlus / Kotaku
Instead, what I got was a really sweet scene of Ryuji in a stylish white tux, saying he couldn’t believe the person of his dreams had been right by his side the whole time. It was a reference to one of the best interactions between Ryuji and Joker in OG Persona 5, one often pointed to by fans as a moment that implies some level of romantic trust between the two. But here in Tactica he also acknowledged sparks had been flying between the two since they met at the beginning of Persona 5, and I thought to myself it was about damn time he wisened up to this.
As Joker stops pondering his dream wedding it’s back to reality, where he and Ryuji aren’t dating, despite those sparks. The scene then ended, and before a wave of excitement hit me, my first feeling was a sense of relief.
Persona 5‘s homophobia problem
Persona 5 has always positioned itself as a story about standing up against oppressive forces in the name of standing up for the little guy crushed under their boots. The Phantom Thieves use their supernatural powers to fight crooks as small-time as an abusive high school coach and climb up until they reach a major politician. The game tackles power imbalances, class issues, and corrupt law enforcement, but queer identity has always been its blind spot. Even as it stumbles in advocating for victims of abuse by putting those same people through the same violence after the fact, at least Persona 5 does, at some point in its 100+ hours, take a stance.
But when it comes to how identity is a marginalizing factor, Persona 5 has always been willing to shun, or even point and laugh at queer people. Men, especially. Playing the original Persona 5 as a gay man was an incredibly disheartening experience as it both refused to let me go down a romantic path with any of my male friends, and also bombarded me with assumptions of who Joker, and by extension, myself, was in its dialogue.
Image: Atlus / CloverWorks
On top of this, Persona 5’s treatment of its sole canonical gay men, two harassers assaulting Ryuji in the middle of a crowded street, remains one of the lowest points in the series. The English localization team stepped in for the definitive Persona 5 Royal version by making these characters enthusiastic drag queens eager to show Ryuji the ropes rather than predators, but even that can’t make Persona 5 an inclusive game when it’s entirely uninterested in telling a story about queer characters, even if the player is trying to push it in that direction. Sure, you can tell a random shadow in a buried battle menu that you like men, but in terms of living as a gay teen in supernatural Tokyo? Persona 5 won’t let you.
It’s frustrating because I’d argue the social link arcs between Joker and Ryuji or Joker and his rival Goro Akechi still enjoy the most romantic tension in the game, far more than most of the women the player can pursue. But really, it didn’t come as a surprise that Persona 5 was dismissive of queer identity, because Persona almost always is.
Persona 3 has weird transphobic jokes that I’m curious to see handled in Persona 3 Reload. Persona 4 nearly has interesting conversations about queer identity with party members Kanji Tatsumi and Naoto Shirogane initially being presented as possibly working through male attraction and gender fluidity respectively, only for the game to handwave those conversations, fall back on the status quo, and engage in some casual queerphobia along the way. Shoutout to Persona 2, which had a gay romantic interest in 1999. I wish your successors followed suit, but maybe they can moving forward?
Screenshot: Atlus / Kotaku
Persona 5 Tactica doesn’t make good on the series excluding queer people, and it definitely doesn’t fix that it made us the butt of the joke for almost 20 years. But it does hint that maybe the future’s looking brighter for queer Persona fans in the future. Now, even if the love stories that should’ve been there aren’t, those of us who spent years playing as Joker pining for Ryuji or Yusuke (apologies to the Akechi lovers but he isn’t here, R.I.P. to you) have something in hand to beat the headcanon allegations.
I didn’t flirt with any of the women in any of these games because I was truly committed to the self-insert bit. Now I finally have at least one scene in this whole series that acknowledges that my Joker wants to smooch his golden retriever best friend. This leaves me a little more hopeful that whoever I play as in Persona 6 might get a boyfriend of his own.P
Games routinely cycle in and out of Game Pass every month, but the Xbox subscription service is about to lose some really good ones. You have less than a week left to try Persona 5 Royal, Signalis, and Gunfire Reborn. Here’s why you should give them a try before they’re gone.
I Didn’t Play Final Fantasy XVI ‘Right,’ And That’s OK
Leaving Game Pass on October 31, you have approximately zero chance of actually completing Persona 5 Royal by then if you haven’t already started it. But there’s still plenty of time to discover why so many other players have fallen in love with the demonic high school RPG sim. Signalis is much shorter and the perfect spooky Resident Evil-like puzzle adventure to play in the leadup to Halloween. Gunfire Reborn is sort of the opposite: a furry roguelike loot shooter about meditating to the flow of arena combat. Taken together, they serve up the perfect little weekend gaming buffet (and each one is available on console, PC, and over the cloud).
Persona 5 Royal
Screenshot: Atlus
The Persona series has always been great, but Persona 5 takes the turn-based RPG to a whole other level. A hyper-stylish presentation and jazz-infused playfulness makes it easier than ever to get through some of its more grueling and grindy parts. One moment you’re taking pop quizzes in class or helping friends after class, the next you’re chaining together demon-fueled combos against evil adults in surreal dungeons. Imagine being a kid all over again but with demons and the freedom to min-max your relationships and personal growth.
“Persona 5 offers the fantasy of a perfect teenage life,” Kirk Hamilton wrote in Kotaku’s original review. “With a little help from the Internet and a willingness to reload your saves, you could live this year in the ‘best’ possible way.” The Royal edition takes that same fantasy and ratchets it up even more with additional confidants, a longer school year, and tons of other tweaks like a grappling hook for dungeons. Famously, Persona 5 takes about 100 hours to beat. Consider its last few days on Game Pass as an expanded demo to decide whether you’re ready to take the full plunge.
Signalis
Screenshot: rose-engine
One of my personal top ten games of 2022, Signalis sort of came out of nowhere. Made by developer rose-engine, it’s eerie, haunting, and beautiful. You play as a mysterious person uncovering what happened in a weird facility full of little puzzles blocking your path and disturbing revelations lurking around every corner. If you’ve played the original Resident Evil games, its top-down view and low-poly horror atmosphere will feel instantly familiar and unsettling.
But punctuating the exploration and gameplay are anime cutscenes that hint at the larger story without ever letting you feel completely certain of what’s going on. There’s also gun combat that is surprisingly crunchy and requires you to be extremely mindful of not wasting ammunition. The music is incredible, too. As one Steam user wrote, “This game has done irreversible damage to my soul (it’s a masterpiece).” You can also finish it in under 10 hours.
Gunfire Reborn
Screenshot: Duoyi Games
Imagine if Borderlands and Enter the Gungeon had a baby and you get pretty close to Gunfire Reborn. The roguelike shooter is simple enough: run through dungeons, kill lots of stuff, unlock new characters and upgrades for future playthroughs. The key to Gunfire Reborn is that everything from the guns to simply throwing a grenade and watching it blow stuff up looks pretty and feels incredibly satisfying. Don’t let the fact that you’re playing as cute little colorful animals fool you: this is a first-person shooter fan’s shooter.
Every time you kill enemies you get coins you can use to purchase new weapons for your loadout. Your evolving arsenal changes how you approach each new encounter and the calculus everytime you can swap out a new ability or upgrade. Even when you’re feeling at the top of your game, Gunfire Reborn has a way of throwing something at you to knock you back down again. Thankfully, starting over again is half the fun.
Even once these three games are gone from Game Pass, you can still buy them outright for 20 percent off if you’re a current subscriber. But there will always be new stuff to play as well. Dead Space was just added today and Personal 5 Tactica, the strategy spin-off, arrives on November 17. You probably won’t beat Persona 5 by then either, but it’s plenty of time to figure out why all of the game’s characters are wearing Eyes Wide Shut masks.
Persona 3 Reload, a full-fledged remake of Atlus Games’ beloved 2006 role-playing game Persona 3, is set to release on February 2, 2024, for Xbox, PlayStation, and Windows. So take a deep breath and relax, you’ve still got a bit of time to play through October’s busy fall releases before hunkering down for an RPG-filled winter.
HD-2D, The Unique Retro-Inspired Art Style, Took Off In 2022
The remake is far from being the definitive version of Persona 3, given its lack of Persona 3 Portable and Persona 3 FES content, which means no appearance from fan-favorite female protagonist Kotone Shiomi. However, its various pre-order versions (and the bonus items that come with them) might soften the blow for longtime fans. Here’s a guide for what each pre-order version of Persona 3 Reload will get you.
What You Get: Pre-orders of any version of Persona 3 Reload will get you the base game, as well as six Persona 4 Golden background music tracks as bonus DLC. The bonus DLC will let you listen to “Reach Out to The Truth,” “Time to Make History,” “I’ll Face Myself,” “A New World Fool,” “Fog,” and “Period” in P3R. So if you just wanna jam to some P4G tunes and don’t wanna pay a little extra for something extra, this is the version of P3R for you.
Persona 3 Reload Digital Deluxe Edition
Atlus
Price: $80
What You Get:P3R’s digital deluxe edition will get you the base game, six bonus P4G tracks, the game’s 64-page digital artbook, and its 60-song soundtrack of newly arranged and all-new songs by the Atlus sound team.
Persona 3 Reload Digital Premium Edition
Atlus
Price: $100
What You Get:P3R’s Digital Premium Edition includes the base game, P4G’s bonus tracks, the digital artbook and soundtrack, as well as all of Reload’s DLC on launch.Here’s a description of P3R’s DLC pack:
Persona 5 Reload Phantom Thieves Costume Set
P5R Shujin Academy Costume Set
P5R Persona Set 1
P5R Persona Set 2
P4G Yasogami High Costume Set
P4G Persona Set
Persona 3 Reload Aigis Edition
Screenshot: Atlus / Walmart / Kotaku
Price: $200
What You Get: Last is the big kahuna: Persona 3 Reload’s Aigis Edition. Pre-ordering this eye-wateringly expensive version will get you the base game, a physical art book, a two-disc P3R soundtrack, a P3R DLC pack voucher, and an Aigis figure. There’s no clear information on the size of that Aigis just yet, although it looks like a standard 6-inch prize figure.
The internet’s been buzzy of late for the freshly announced Persona 5 spin-off game, Phantom of the Night (P5X). Fans were intrigued by the new characters, but they were also excited to meet their old favorites again. But when I looked at the screenshots, I noticed one person missing: Goro Akechi. What gives, Atlus? You can’t just pretend that Persona 5 Royal’s main antagonist wasn’t also the series’ most compelling character. He was a true member of the Phantom Thieves group, and his haters can die mad about it.
Goro Akechi is a high school student who acts as a rival for the main protagonist of Persona 5. In the original game, he’s known for betraying the party after pretending to be their friend. He also does this in the enhanced Royal release, but this 2019 update of the game adds additional scenes for him. These social interactions make Akechi feel more like a deeply troubled friend, rather than a shithead cop who had a change of heart at the very last second.
Like most RPG antagonists, Akechi has a tragic backstory. His mother died when he was young, and he grew up as an orphan (who generally face considerable social stigma in Japan). Akechi wanted revenge against his neglectful and cruel father, so he cooperated with him in order to get close enough to assassinate him. Unfortunately, his father also planned to assassinate his son all along. Akechi eventually recognized that the protagonist is a similar person to him, and chose to sacrifice himself to ensure the escape of the heroic Phantom Thieves.
It also helped that in Royal, players got to spend more time with him in an entirely new arc. The post-game added a new semester in which reality has been completely changed. In this altered Tokyo, every character has their personal tragedy undone, and each person lives a happy life. This is the only scenario in which Akechi can be saved. However, he rejects the artificial world and the false happiness that comes with it. Since he’s implied to have died in the original plotline, defeating this world’s owner means he will cease to exist. He doesn’t care. For him, dying is preferable to living under the thumb of some higher power.
But I wanted him to live! When you pursue the ending in which the artificial world is destroyed, Royal teases the possibility that Akechi might have survived. And so I held my breath for the possibility of being able to see Akechi again in the sequel game Scramble. I never ended up finishing that musou game despite completing so many others. Akechi wasn’t in it, and that was definitely part of the reason. I wasn’t terribly invested in a P5 in which he didn’t exist.
I hoped that it was a fluke. Akechi is good, and he deserves to appear in other spinoff games. Now it seems like P5X might let me down too, and I’m starting to lose hope that Atlus remembers who he is. This is homophobia, and I won’t stand for it. Atlus, give us my feral bird son or give me death.
After seeing Honkai: Star Rail for a few minutes during a live media preview, I mostly liked what I saw. HoYoverse’s “space fantasy” RPG doesn’t reinvent turn-based combat, but the performance was smooth. The fighting animations were among some of the best I’ve seen out of anime games in recent years. The combat’s turn tracker, team combos, type matchups, and battle animations were reminiscent of games like Shin Megami Tensei and Persona 5. But HoYoverse absolutely does not want you to think of it as either of those games. Besides the seeming identity confusion, my conversation with the developer left me without much optimism about racial inclusion in Star Rail’s space fantasy.
Here’s how Star Rail works: Although you start off with a protagonist character, most of your roster will come out of rolling for wives and husbands through the gacha system. You use them to explore maps filled with enemy encounters (rather than real-time combat like in HoYoverse’s current mainstay Genshin Impact).
Once you run into an enemy, you’ll start a turn-based battle. Each of your four party members will have two skills. Some will be offensive, while others will be support or healing based. Each attack corresponds with an element, and using elemental type matchups effectively will allow you to break shield bars. Once an enemy is vulnerable, you can use team combination attacks to kick them while they’re down.
Screenshot: HoYoverse / Kotaku
Despite the relatively simple combat, the game will feature an auto-battle mechanic. This should make it easier to grind daily battles for resources, which is an essential feature some modern gacha use to keep the games alive.
Star Rail will have a main story campaign and regular sidequests. While it shares similar characters from Honkai Impact 3rd, Fish Ling, a representative from HoYoverse, assured me that there wouldn’t be any story crossover with their incredibly lore-heavy real time action game.
Driving Honkai: Star Rail’s development was HoYoverse’s desire to diversify its portfolio from the usual action games it’s released, according to Michalel Lin, another representative for the developer. Secondly, HoYoverse felt turn-based combat was conducive to “the story that we want to tell.” Its design philosophy was driven by the desire to make turn-based combat approachable for newcomers.
Things got murkier, however, when I tried to ask who the target audience is. The Star Rail presentation mentioned that the game would feature different cultures. Remembering how badly Genshin Impactflubbed depicting darker skinned people and Southwest Asians in the Sumeru update, I asked how the developers intended to improve representation in Star Rail. What lessons did they learn from the overseas community?
“The game is set in a fictional world,” Lin said. “What we do is dependent on how the IP grows. As a combination of cultures in our world, there’s not a specific culture we target. We will continue listening to fans’ feedback, but how the world will be built, we can’t say for certain.”
Screenshot: HoYoverse
It’s 2023, and Asian RPGs keep dropping the ball on diversity. This immensely disappointing answer reminded me of Final Fantasy XVI producer Naoki Yoshida’s response as to whether or not that game would include people of color. Their answer was that their world was fantasy, so it couldn’t be held to any diversity standards at all. Star Rail includes characters who are culturally Chinese, so it feels really shitty that its launch characters seem to be even more light-skinned than those in Genshin Impact. Once again, we have to start holding Asian RPGs to higher standards.
I got similarly vague answers when I asked where Star Rail took its inspiration from. “We think turn based RPGs are very engaging and have an active audience in the market,” Lin said. It took me a couple of minutes to remember that the Persona series has sold 16.8 million units globally and was probably at least one of the games alluded to. When I pressed about the studio’s creative inspiration, Lin told me Star Rail’s team consists of 500 individual developers. Therefore, it would be impossible to narrow down specific influences.
I can guess why HoYoverse is being so coy about its Persona 5 game set in space. It’s likely because the internet tore into Genshin Impact at launch for its similarities to Breath of the Wild, to the point where the developer had to reassure players that the game was more than a clone. But Star Rail will likely release sometime this year, and people will be able to see the Persona DNA embedded in how the game plays.
So here’s the honest summary of Star Rail: It’s a space fantasy game that you’ll probably enjoy if you’re a fan of the Persona or Shin Megami Tensei series. Be careful of the gacha system, and don’t hold your breath over improved diversity from what we’ve seen so far.
