I was going to wait until I get to the endgame before saying anything, but my gacha addiction has been surprisingly numb, and I'm probably not going to get there anytime soon, so I'm just gonna say my piece right now.
I liked Genshin but I have a lot of annoyances with it, to the point that I consider it a guilty pleasure. That is something I cannot say for Star Rail. It's a much more entertaining, focused and leaner game in every way.
The combat system is slick, flashy, and has more than enough depth considering its mobile game nature. Only thing holding it back is the gacha systems, of course.
While the overall story and world lore seems just okay, the writing for the character dialogues and environmental interactions are quite well done, especially in regards to the absurd "zoomer" sense of humor. They also addressed one of my biggest complaints with Genshin, where older characters would just cease to exist in the game world until another event that involves them pops up. Now you can get messaged by them in game as a daily thing, which is very cool. Even if there's a limit to this, I still consider it a big W. The writing style is still very "trash", as in exaggerated and full of unnecessary flowery words, and it's not gonna be for everyone. But as a trash enjoyer, I consider this to be good trash.
As someone who is not the biggest fan of the BOTW approach on open worlds, I much prefer the detailed and tightly designed smaller spaces that Star Rail offers. I guess it's closer to something like DQXI, although it's not as good.
The one thing that disappointed me is the music/soundtrack. I remember playing Genshin back when it only had up until Liyue content, and even back then there's a lot of great music. Meanwhile in Star Rail, the only track that I would legitimately say is great is the main menu track. The battle tracks are good, but not listening-to-it-on-its-own good.
Lastly, Mihoyo are still the kings of character design in the anime gacha space. It's like they got the scientific formula perfected after making a deal with the devil.
All I'm saying is that Star Rail is an actual good game, very much worth trying out. Also, Himeko best girl.
I liked Genshin but I have a lot of annoyances with it, to the point that I consider it a guilty pleasure. That is something I cannot say for Star Rail. It's a much more entertaining, focused and leaner game in every way.
The combat system is slick, flashy, and has more than enough depth considering its mobile game nature. Only thing holding it back is the gacha systems, of course.
While the overall story and world lore seems just okay, the writing for the character dialogues and environmental interactions are quite well done, especially in regards to the absurd "zoomer" sense of humor. They also addressed one of my biggest complaints with Genshin, where older characters would just cease to exist in the game world until another event that involves them pops up. Now you can get messaged by them in game as a daily thing, which is very cool. Even if there's a limit to this, I still consider it a big W. The writing style is still very "trash", as in exaggerated and full of unnecessary flowery words, and it's not gonna be for everyone. But as a trash enjoyer, I consider this to be good trash.
As someone who is not the biggest fan of the BOTW approach on open worlds, I much prefer the detailed and tightly designed smaller spaces that Star Rail offers. I guess it's closer to something like DQXI, although it's not as good.
The one thing that disappointed me is the music/soundtrack. I remember playing Genshin back when it only had up until Liyue content, and even back then there's a lot of great music. Meanwhile in Star Rail, the only track that I would legitimately say is great is the main menu track. The battle tracks are good, but not listening-to-it-on-its-own good.
Lastly, Mihoyo are still the kings of character design in the anime gacha space. It's like they got the scientific formula perfected after making a deal with the devil.
All I'm saying is that Star Rail is an actual good game, very much worth trying out. Also, Himeko best girl.