Honkai meets Pokemon in this new Hoyoverse game, and you can sign up to play now

Well, those leaks from earlier in the week were real after all – Hoyoverse officially announced Honkai: Nexus Anima on Friday, August 29, launching social sites for us to pore over. It’s the next entry into the epic Honkai franchise, and we’re sure it won’t disappoint.

You can find the official X account and website here, which have pages dedicated to three kinds of characters. There are ‘sovereigns’, ‘novarchs’ – which includes Honkai Star Rail’s Blade – and ‘others’, which seem to have the most regular looking guys and gals.

The roster has a nice mix of male and female options. Most characters have matching Nexus Anima, which fit their vibe, though there are plenty to choose from, judging by the first few, numbered from 001 to 056, listed on the site.

The Anima come in all shapes and sizes. There are dessert-themed dogs, an inky foal (called Inkifoal), cats, birds, dragons, mushrooms, and much more. Each has a type and a trait, which likely has a type-match and weakness system like in Pokémon.

The combat in the game is an autochess situation, where your human character stands with your creature during battle. If you’re eager to try it out, you can sign up to be part of the Nexus Bond Test from now until September 12, though you can only join using an iPhone or a PC. Sorry, Android users, you need to wait til next time.

While we wait for more information, we recommend grabbing the new Honkai Star Rail codes and Genshin Impact codes for some free in-game currency in Hoyo’s other excellent gacha games.