Honkai Impact 3rd is tied to Honkai Star Rail in some ways, but its status as a prequel is debatable. In an interview with ONE Esports, miHoYo clarified that the latter game is a spiritual successor to the former title. In addition, the character Welt Yang is present in both games. In Honkai Star Rail, the character also makes a few references regarding his time in Honkai Impact 3rd. Gamers could look at his appearance as a soft confirmation of this subject.
This article covers the aspects that connect the two games, as well as how they don’t have the traditional prequel-sequel connection. Let’s start with miHoYo’s official stance.
Honkai Star Rail is connected to Honkai Impact 3rd, but not as a true sequel
Here is the relevant excerpt from ONE Esports’ interview with miHoYo in regard to the connection between the two games:
“We’d like to emphasize that Honkai Star Rail is not a direct sequel to Honkai Impact 3rd but a new game for everyone. Except for Welt, every previous character in the series will show up with brand-new identities in Star Rail, so players do not need to worry about its connection with other games.”
While there are aspects that hint at Honkai Impact 3rd being a prequel for Honkai Star Rail, miHoYo seems to view the game as “not a direct sequel.”The gameplay between the two titles is radically different from one another, as is the overarching storyline. That means there is no requirement to play any of miHoYo’s previous titles to enjoy Honkai Star Rail.
Welt Yang’s connection to the two games
The one character present in both titles is Welt Yang. If a person views his splash art from Honkai Star Rail, as shown above, they should notice the following Honkai Impact 3rd characters in it:
- Frederica Nikola Tesla
- Lieserl Albert Einstein
- Welt Joyce
Welt Yang’s story in Honkai Star Rail canonly takes place after the Alien Space manga, further driving a connection between the two games. However, apart from the character’s connection and the Honkai name, there isn’t much else of note for connecting the two games.
Both titles take place in the same universe, and having knowledge of past games is nice for understanding minor trivia. miHoYo could always add more connections between the two Honkai video games in a future version update.
Many other characters are different
The following names are used by characters in both Honkai games, but they are completely different people:
- Bronya
- Carole
- Himeko
- Kafka
- Natasha
- Seele
- Sushang
Their hair and eye colors between the two titles tend to be similar, but that doesn’t mean they’re the same character. Reusing similar character designs is nothing new for miHoYo, who has used past Honkai Impact 3rd characters’ appearances like Yae Sakura and Raiden Mei for Yae Miko and Raiden Shogun.
Honkai Impact 3rd is technically a prequel, just not in the sense that gamers might think.
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