HoYoverse has been hosting launch events for Honkai: Star Rail all over the world, but as usual, Japan went a step further.
The developer secured a collaboration with the Chichibu Railway in Saitama prefecture (fairly close to Tokyo) to operate a special Astral Express using the railway’s famous Paleo Express, which features an actual steam locomotive.
The event is already active and will end on June 11, operating with the train operating only on Saturdays and Sundays. It features a special emblem on the front of the locomotive and Honkai: Star Rail decor in the cars and at terminal stations, Kumagaya and Chicibu. You can find panels portraying Kafka at Kumagaya Station and the female heroine at Chicibu.
You can get a special commemorative ticket for 960 yen (just south of $7 at the current exchange rates) on top of additional merchandise including boarding certificates, acrylic stands, and can badges.
Honkai: Star Rail is a turn-based RPG that can be played for free in single-player mode. It’s available for PC through a standalone client and the Epic Games Store, as well as on iOS and Android devices. Although the developers have announced that they are working on ports for PlayStation platforms, no specific release date has been announced just yet, but HoYoverse has promised that more information is coming soon.
Fans are currently waiting for the first major update, version 1.1 “Galactic Roaming,” which is coming on June 7, 2023, with three new characters for the event warps (albeit two will be featured in the game’s gacha a bit later, on June 28) and plenty of new content and events to enjoy.
If you’d like to see more about the game, you can check out the character trailers revealed in the past few weeks including Yanquing himself, Bailu, Himeko, Gepard, and Jing Yuan, on top of a rather awesome animated short featuring Jing Yuan and Yanqing.
