These days, many big RPGs that come out, especially ones with an online focus, tend to let players customize their player avatars. This design choice makes perfect sense; what better way to fulfill the “role-playing” part of a role-playing game than to allow players to look, sound, and behave however they want? And with the release of HoYoverse’s newest RPG Honkai Star Rail, many will want to jump in with a player avatar that suits them best. However, not every RPG includes full-blown character customization. With this in mind, does Honkai Star Rail allow players to customize their character? And to what extent?
This may come as disappointing news, but no, Honkai Star Rail does not feature an extensive character customization system. You do have the option of picking a gender, either male or female, as well as a name for your character, but the options don’t go beyond this. This limited approach resembles that of HoYoverse’s immensely successful Genshin Impact, which had players controlling one of several preset characters rather than an avatar.
Is that really all?
Although you have little control over your character’s appearance, voice, and general fighting style, you at least have different stat upgrades and abilities to consider like most RPGs. For instance, players can unlock and level up Traces, another name for a character’s special abilities. Additionally, the game provides Light Cones that buff specific stats for characters according to their type. You also have access to Eidolons that augment characters with passive abilities, although you need to find rare items before unlocking them.
Many players will likely enjoy the default characters in Honkai Star Rail and not mind the inability to customize their appearance. At the very least, knowing ahead of time what you will get yourself into before jumping in may help with any potential disappointment.
Image via HoYoverse
