The Honkai Star Rail producer, David Jiang, met with the president of Nihon Falcom, for an online interview recently, and discussed the inspiration he takes from other game series in his own work.
The main talking point during the online interview was the fact that David Jiang is a big fan of Nihon Falcom’s popular series, Trails. In fact, David’s profile picture on QQ, an instant messaging app in China, has been Tio Plato from the Trails series for over ten years.
This online meeting is understandably an important milestone for David Jiang, who has looked up to the Nihon Falcom president for a number of years. He even mentioned that in previous years, he sent a fan letter to Nihon Falcom to express his love for the company.
The Inspiration
The Honkai Star Rail producer, David Jiang, confirms that the upcoming game takes quite a bit of influence from the Trails series – which is brilliant for Trails fans, With Trails being one of the most notable RPG series, the fact that Star Rail’s direction is inspired by Trails means we’re in for a real treat this month.
This probably explains the decision to go with turn-based combat in Honkai Star Rail, which is one of the main differences between it and Honkai Impact 3rd/Genshin Impact. Trails is a long-running RPG series that focuses on engaging turn-based combat, so it’s clear where David got his inspiration from.
Is Turn-Based Combat Old-Fashioned?
David was originally worried about opting for turn-based combat in Honkai Star Rail, but has been pleasantly surprised by the feedback from fans, despite believing that people think turn based combat is old-fashioned. 95% of HoYoverse fans said they aren’t put off by turn-based combat “as long as the game is fun”.
Personally, we can’t wait to see how David Jiang will put his own spin on certain game elements from the Trails series, while giving it a special HoYoverse twist that we’ve come to expect from the company.
For more information about Honkai Star Rail, visit the official website! If you’re looking for more games to play while you wait for the launch of latest entry in the HoYoverse franchise, take a look at our Best Android Gacha Games guide.
