Hoyoverse is a company that has now seen so much success in their individual games that collabs between the games are wildly popular. Released earlier today on the Honkai Impact 3rd Youtube channel was an announcement trailer for a collaboration between Honkai: Star Rail and Honkai Impact 3rd. The short video featured shots of Star Rail characters and Impact 3rd characters interacting. 

Also featured are Shaoji, one of the faces of the Honkai writing team known for classics like Final Lesson and the Elysian Realm in Honkai Impact 3rd and Penacony in Honkai: Star Rail, and RJ, one of the prominent artists of the games. Apparently the collab will feature “two stories in one” and seems to be centered around the Xianzhou Luofu and Penacony.

Apparently it will contain elements of mystery and suspense, including a possible mole among our allies. Honkai: Star Rail players less familiar with the game’s predecessor will be sure to recognize Jing Yuan, Tingyun, Feixiao, Bailu, and Firefly in the trailer. Bailu was seen with two figures that look remarkably similar to Lingsha, a character in Star Rail introduced in version 2.4 and made playable in 2.5. Lingsha is an expy, or character based on a character of a different property, of Nuwa from Honkai Impact 3rd. Whether the two will interact, or each will get a new skin based on the other remains to be seen. 

Firefly was also standing next to Elysia, one of the most beloved characters from Honkai Impact 3rd, and one who many fans are very excited to possibly see in Star Rail. Stelle, the female main character, was also featured in the trailer fighting with Kiana, the main protagonist of Honkai Impact 3rd, both using baseball bats as their weapons. 

However the most mysterious panel of the video belongs to a pensive Welt sitting alone on the Astral Express. Just to bring everyone up to speed, Welt in Honkai: Star Rail is the same Welt from Honkai Impact 3rd, having ended up there at some point in the timeline. He also came to the Star Rail timeline with Void Archives, a mysterious individual that bears a very strong resemblance to Luocha.

How this collab plays out remains to be seen, it will launch in Honkai Impact 3rd version 7.9, and more information will be out on September 19th, 2024.