Récemment, HoYoverse launched a round of closed beta testing for the newest entry in the Honkai-verse, the open-world creature collecting game Honkai: Lien âme. As a player of several HoYoverse games and a fan of chill games, I was hoping to give Nexus Anima a try. And for once I was lucky. Oui, I find out about new and upcoming games quite frequently, but that’s through direct press invites. I signed up for this one and miraculously got accepted. The good thing is that there are no restrictions for this particular test, so I can share my experience with you.

The first thing players need to know about this game, especially if they are new to HoYo’s games, is that it is definitely a Honkai Verse game. Not only does it carry the Honkai title, but it also features characters from the other games in the verse. Like Direct Transfers and not just Expys – although those exist too. Honkaï: Star Rail’s Blade is present in its original form and Kiana Khaslana made it over from Honkai Impact 3rd.

It becomes very clear that Kiana is a traveler from other places, but Blade is a so-called Novarch and the master of one of the planes of the universe. We don’t know why Blade fills this role. Most Star Rail players assume this is a mission he was sent on. Kiana seems to have just started traveling. Good for you.

As with most HoYo games after Genshin, players first choose between a male and a female character. You don’t design your own character, but you can choose their stats, which can affect how you interact with the world. As with many long-form fantasy role-playing games, your character will have no memories of their previous life. What little we know about the MC comes from a group of people who don’t particularly like him. En fait, they’ve spent over 200 years tracking down the MC and giving him titles like “World-Ender.”

It seems that the MC did something very bad in the past. Or could it be something that was supposed to be good but just went wrong? De toute façon, whatever they did resulted in the death of at least one person and the splintering of the old world into 81 different planes that are strangely connected but not whole. This also made the anima (the creatures you will collect) much more important to the functioning of the world. They are used by people around the world in a variety of ways, including solving puzzles and running businesses. And as you would expect from a creature collecting/combat game, all disputes are resolved through Anima battles.

Bien sûr, this means players will need to acquire Anima. You also need to make them more powerful. Obtaining anima works in two ways. There’s the typical way of going out into the world, fighting them, and when they’ve been beaten, trying to capture them with a contraption – dans ce cas, Twine. (It fits the game’s story.) The second way is through the game’s gacha system. (Oui, there is one. That’s how HoYo usually makes money.)

Fait intéressant, the main focus of the gacha doesn’t really seem to be on the anima. Plutôt, they are the playable characters: Animasters, or as they are called in the improvement and combat systems, “Eidoses”. The only way to get Eidoses, aside from the few the game gives you to get started, is through the Gacha system. And like any other gacha game, you may want multiple copies of the same Eidos, known as “Eidothreads”. It really depends on whether you plan on doing things like Endgame or not.

Anima have a similar system known as rapport. Like the Eidothreads, players can apply six Rapports to an Animo. Cependant, for most Anima, players do not need to roll dice to obtain them. Taming additional specimens will work without any problems. The catch is that each rapport requires a certain amount of energy, which is gained either through taming the anima or through rolls. Obtaining a full Anima nets players 10 Energy. Players need between 10 et 30 Energy to unlock each rapport.

Comme déjà mentionné, energy can also be obtained through the Gacha system, although in different amounts. If one roll only gives you energy, you could get five. If you gain double anima from the roll, it will be converted into 10 energy. By this logic, it would seem that the best way to improve an anima’s relationship is to simply capture her. It guarantees which anima you get energy for and still helps level your character. Cependant, there are free rolls available that you can use to supplement and speed things up. Oh, et oui, there are shiny or “chromatic” anima waiting to be captured.

Speaking of leveling up your character, there are many ways to do this. It doesn’t take long for the game to draw you in, and you’ll come across ongoing Anima fighting events like the Apex Club and Thesophool’s Riddles. Think of these as somewhat like the tower activities in other games. Bien sûr, there are plenty of quests scattered throughout, and it’s also worth checking out Utoplia (Zenless Zone Zero players would compare this to Interknot) for the latest news and related quests.

What does the fight look like? Après tout, the game is about collecting creatures and fighting with them. It’s pretty easy to learn. You start by deploying a number of Anima on the field. The number of allowed Anima increases as the level increases. En même temps, you have Eid cans off the field, each of which has a single ability that you can use when charged. Sometimes it’s buffs, sometimes it’s attacks.

As you progress and collect more Anima and Eidoses, you can form teams with complementary attributes and aspects. Il y a 15 aspects to choose from, and using multiple aspects of a particular type results in different effects. Players can also combine certain traits and damage types. Damage types are physical and magical. Traits include things like blasters, protectors, and mascots.

Another thing to consider is where the anima should be placed. And I’m not just talking about frontline vs. backline – although that’s fixed for each anima. You also have to try to place Anima so that they can hit specific enemies. This requires skillful handling of any obstacles on the field. Bien sûr, once combat is underway, you will not move the Anima or control its actions. The only things you can control at this point are the Eidos abilities.

This means that even if the fights seem easy at first, over time you will find that you have to think more about what you are doing.

Bien sûr, there are other things to do besides fighting. Honkaï: Nexus Anima has a whole host of mini-games, story-based side quests, et autres. There’s even a city management feature that lets you build your own business empire – one of the perks of this city game.

Comme je l'ai mentionné plus tôt, when creating your character you can divide points into attributes, specifically Strength, Charisma and Intelligence. These characteristics affect how you acquire information. But that’s not the only thing that affects how you interact with the game world when creating story content.

At the beginning of the story you are reminded that you have a special item with you. This relic allows you to optimize the history. You do this by making decisions that anchor events. Once you’ve completed a storyline, that doesn’t mean you can’t make further tweaks. You can enter the Infinite Vortex at any time from the game menu and try to complete objectives that you may have missed before. This doesn’t seem to have any impact on the rewards received, but I suspect it will have an impact on story events later on. Que, and at the end you’ll get more information that will be of great use to the Lore Hounds.

Pour moi, Honkaï: Anima Nexus has been an entertaining experience so far. Cependant, that’s probably partly because it’s part of the larger Honkai-verse that I’m very invested in. I want to know why Elio sent Blade on this side quest and what I did to piss off pretty much every being in the Nexus that resembles gods. Toujours, the gameplay itself is fun. I look forward to finding my answers as I launch. I’m already bracing myself for the trauma, wrapped in a cute, cuddly animal shell.