Honkai: Star Rail

[Bobin]

You're better off getting Castorice tbh. Since even if you got Ruan Mei you're literally playing catch up to a meta nearly a year ago, fated to fade out soon. Firefly E0S0 has already seen quite a drop in performance in the new environment.

Yeah... by some twist of fate I stumbled into superbreak while rolling for Gallagher Eidolons and all this while I've been doing my best to make it work since it feels almost complete. Fugue and HMC makes it usable, but it doesn't feel like it's living up to it's full potential, which bothers me a lot. I also want to free up HMC so that I can use the Remembrance path, and the only way both of that is possible is if if I get Ruan Mei to fill in for them even though I'm well aware that the meta has shifted at this point.

Unfortunately, Castorice's gameplay doesn't appeal to me. Not to mention that I the only reliable sustains I have are Aventurine and Gallagher. I hope that there will be more Memosprite characters that I can use with Sunday because I don't like Algaea's kit either.

[Lobo]

Just finished the chapter. My general impressions are: It seems they did listened to the players feedback and added more camera movements to improve some scenes which makes me wonder if they may work on more animations for future updates. However, the huge amount of camera movements felt like they were overcompensating due to the negative feedback but I'll take it, better than what we had with room for improvement on future patches at least.
The story, on the other hand, while it had really good moments it jumped all over the place as it tried to cramp too much together: The Grove, the Flame Reaver, Mydei's struggle and Tribios' past. It felt at various moments like different scripts cut and smash together to form some semblance of fluidity.

Aglaea and Hyacine: Both were just there tbh. Seems Hyacine will be taking the Sky Titan in the future but it ain't much that can be done with that now while Aglaea vs. the Council right now just feels like another unnecesary plotline to an already too convoluted plot.

Anaxa: He also was mostly just there however his plotline set up feels as something more immediate to deal with (literally next patch) plus his personality and Stephen Fu's performance give him a lot more presence than Hyacine got.

Castorice: She got to shine on the Grove but it wasn't much really. I like her as a companion there but it's obvious her story is been save all for next patch. That end teaser however rings so hollow after Penacony + MC touched her and nothing happened + is the MC we are talking about c'mon.

Phainon: He sure got over failling Strike's test too quickly eh? However all his scenes with Mydei were great, the chapter leant heavy into the chemistry between this two characters to sell the story and I like that.

Mydei: I did enjoy his story, but as I said, the presentation got butchered a lot jumping between subjects. His personal struggle was understandable, his friendship with Phainon was great and his VA did an amazing job. However I can not believe this motherfucker was not only Gilgamesh (& Achilles) but also Iskandar, my god and five dead boyfriends, hoyo really?

Tribios: Like with Mydei, I enjoyed their story but the presentation... Also, again, after Penacony, death's ring hollow here. The "all but one (Kevin, it's so obviously Kevin) will die" just has no impact. Even if not next patch, who's to say the finale doesn't revert all deaths.

MC and Dan Heng: Both were really just there, after the Grove, MC doesn't really has much to do and Dan Heng, I'm starting to question why he's here, but this is also a symptom of shoving too many characters and plotlines in a limited time format.

Overall, I'll say I enjoyed it more than 3.0 (unlike that, I never felt tired or like I wanted it to just be over already even though I played both with long breaks inbetween) however there are issues that need to be adressed, it feels like the writers bit more than they can chew here when trying to homage the flame-chasers. In something like a novel this wouldn't be such an issue but here, as they have to write the story in a per patch format there's just too much, too many characters, too many plotlines, too much that needs to happen for just one big chapter per patch.

[asterism42]

Unfortunately, Castorice's gameplay doesn't appeal to me. Not to mention that I the only reliable sustains I have are Aventurine and Gallagher. I hope that there will be more Memosprite characters that I can use with Sunday because I don't like Algaea's kit either.

Sunday buffs all summons, not just Remembrance characters. So if you have Topaz or Jing Yuan you can use him with them.

[Formless Creature]

Keep in mind that this storyline is going to go until ~3.7 and both story chapters we've gotten already average out at around 8 hours, so I don't really mind the convoluted plot because at the current pace this entire thing is going to be the length of a large-ish JRPG. It's not like Penacony where it ends in 2.2 and you're like "how on Earth are they gonna wrap this up satisfyingly lol". Anyways, Mydei's plotline got wrapped up this chapter, they don't really have to do much to resolve Tribbie's arc, and if I'm right about where Phainon's arc is heading, it's tied to everybody else's anyways. The council thing's been here since 3.0.

Will post my review of the story later. I liked it.

[Lobo]

Keep in mind that this storyline is going to go until ~3.7 and both story chapters we've gotten already average out at around 8 hours, so I don't really mind the convoluted plot because at the current pace this entire thing is going to be the length of a large-ish JRPG.

I know, something that I thought of after I posted that review, that may have help me not feel the story so disjointed this patch is that Mydei should have been the one to come to the Grove instead of Castorice. I didn't mind her there as I said, but with Mydei there instead, MC would have had the oportunity to bond, see his struggle up close and the story wouldn't have felt like it jumped abruptly from him to another thing. Keep the flow going with him through out the story, you know?

In anyway, overall I did like the story this patch (much more than the last), the feeling of disjointment is just my biggest critique but it's not a dealbreaker (in this case at least).

[Kamera]

>you must beat Difficulty 6X 3 times to get the final DU title
Why....

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If the previous DU update has 30% of the blessings being useless Max HP upgrades, this DU patch doubles down on that, and it's more like 60% of the blessings, equations and boons, and they axed Preservations lol.

[Bobin]

Just met Hyacine. The nicknames she gives MC, Dang Heng, and Castorice all use 宝 (bao/meaning precious or treasure in this context), which is really chummy for strangers you've just met. Incidentally, Tribbie's name 缇宝 (ti bao) also contain this character. She also says 我想死你了 to Castorice, or "I've missed you to death!" which I thought was funny.

[Kamera]

I still maintain that the individual characters are fine, good even, but how the story is structured is ass and the Amphoreus setting is worse than Luofu.

[Petrikow]

MC and Dan Heng: Both were really just there, after the Grove, MC doesn't really has much to do and Dan Heng, I'm starting to question why he's here, but this is also a symptom of shoving too many characters and plotlines in a limited time format.

Dan Heng is just the most boring character I have seen in anything in a long time. I was cursing the stars when March got hit with the plot-flu and we had to take Dan of all people with us to this planet. Alone with Dan. It's like being saddled with that one cousin you hate while on a vacation.

[mami-kouga]

Dan Heng is a character that's very easy to make boring if you don't use him well but I do love him so I'm obligated to go "Shit taste"

[asterism42]

He's bascly the straight man to march/tb shenanigans, so how good he is is heavily dependant on those two

without that or the angsty gay lovers to enemies thing with blade he's got nothing really

[Lobo]

And so far the writing keeps insisting on separating him from TB for no reason which is why my grievance with him.
When we learned he was coming with us but not March, I was expecting more one-on-one funny shenanigans & dialogues but so far we got a couple of those and then he's gone again to wait for TB to be back. It's really not that different from when he got benched on the express after the Luofu arc till now.

[Kamera]

Doesn't help that the Trailblazer duo has been sidelined for most of this chapter, and they basically have no agency whatsoever.

[Bobin]

I have the feeling that writers also realize that everyone is fighting for more screentime, so the new characters naturally get priority. It makes more sense to have the other chrysos heirs tag along with us instead of him for exposition, and if Dan Heng were made to come along with us he'd have to share the role of the straight man constantly, taking away their screentime. So he gets the boot.

I've reached the point where you save Anaxa from the cloaked guy. Mem is slowly becoming able to talk normally now and I wonder if she's actually going to turn into a girl.

[Kamera]

Speaks miles of the incompetency of the writer that they can't even juggle the story around more than 3 characters on the screen.

[Lobo]

I've reached the point where you save Anaxa from the cloaked guy. Mem is slowly becoming able to talk normally now and I wonder if she's actually going to turn into a girl.

This remind me, the banter with Mem, both our options and their answers starts to look more and more like the banter with March this patch.
My theory is that Mem (the sealed memories) + March (the body) = Cyrene

[Formless Creature]

Mem is slowly becoming able to talk normally now and I wonder if she's actually going to turn into a girl.

Mem has a 99.9% chance of being Cyrene, so yes.

Speaks miles of the incompetency of the writer that they can't even juggle the story around more than 3 characters on the screen.

Why do you play a game you clearly hate everything about?

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I cannot comprehend why they chose Dan and not Sunday or something to go with us. I know Sunday's Harmony powers are plot-relevant but like, whatever, the writers make the rules, it's not really necessary. It'd be much more interesting to put the guy with a savior complex in a place that desperately needs saving, and he'd make for a nice dynamic with Aglaea, another character with controlling tendencies who thinks she's doing the difficult things for everyone else's sake.

[asterism42]

why does sunday even still have harmony powers, he betrayed the harmony, that's like the most unharmonious thing you can do

[Kamera]

Why do you play a game you clearly hate everything about?

I don't hate Star Rail, I just dislike Amphoreus specifically, and Shaoji especially. Besides, doomposting is my love language.

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why does sunday even still have harmony powers, he betrayed the harmony, that's like the most unharmonious thing you can do

It's his racial powers, just something Halovians can do.

[Bobin]

I cannot comprehend why they chose Dan and not Sunday or something to go with us. I know Sunday's Harmony powers are plot-relevant but like, whatever, the writers make the rules, it's not really necessary. It'd be much more interesting to put the guy with a savior complex in a place that desperately needs saving, and he'd make for a nice dynamic with Aglaea, another character with controlling tendencies who thinks she's doing the difficult things for everyone else's sake.

The last time Dan Heng came with us on our adventures was Jarlio IV. For various reasons, he sat out from initially joining us in both the Loufu and Penacony. He's been very absent from the story for a while now despite being one of our main companions and even specifically make a promise if you talk to him after completing those locations in the parlor car that he'd join us on our next destination because he finally feels up for it, which ended up being Amphoreus.

I thought it was funny that even the game pointed out that Algaea was similar to Sunday but not have him around. On that note, Anaxa also reminds me of Dr. Ratio, who looks like he belongs on Amphoreus to begin with.