Honkai Star Rail’s combat could have looked a lot more like Clair Obscur’s

Honkai Star Rail‘s follow-up attack system is one of the most satisfying parts of the turn-based RPG’s combat system, but according to the lead designer, this feature very nearly wasn’t included. Instead, the mobile game’s combat originally looked a lot closer to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33‘s parry-centric QTE system.

In a recent interview with IGN’s Rebekah Valentine for the game’s second anniversary, Honkai Star Rail’s lead designer, Chengnan An, spoke about the evolution of the gacha game’s combat mechanics. According to An, early builds of the game featured “weakness break QTEs” that would let the player manually choose an action when breaking the enemy’s elemental weakness.

However, the team switched out this mechanic for follow-up attacks, like Honkai Star Rail Herta’s iconic ‘Fine, I’ll Do It Myself’ spin attack, because An said, “On paper, [weakness break QTEs] made sense, but in practice, it actually slowed down the flow of combat.” Of course, QTEs in turn-based RPGs aren’t unheard of, and Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is currently blowing up the best Steam Deck games chart while implementing a very similar system.

A lot of people who dislike turn-based games feel the way that they do because they think the combat is too passive, so adding in QTEs for parrying and critical hits like in Clair Obscur adds an extra level of engagement for the player. However, Sandfall Interactive’s game is designed for PC and console, whereas Honkai Star Rail and Hoyoverse’s other games, like Genshin Impact and Zenless Zone Zero, are designed with a huge mobile audience in mind.

I think QTEs would have made Honkai Star Rail’s combat a lot clunkier on mobile, especially when you consider the importance of auto-battling to farm for materials. Farming relics and materials is boring and repetitive, so players tend to set the combat to auto mode, which would get complicated if QTEs were involved. I completely agree with An’s point of view that switching from QTEs to follow-up attacks makes the combat “more dynamic, intuitive, and rewarding.”

Now that Honkai Star Rail’s second anniversary celebrations are in the rear-view, Hoyoverse is focusing on its urban ARPG’s first birthday, so make sure to check out our Zenless Zone Zero events, Zenless Zone Zero banners, and Zenless Zone Zero codes guides to stay up to date with the goings-on of New Eridu and beyond.