After playing both Genshin and HSR, I still prefer Genshin!

I admit that I was a bit late to the party, since I've started playing Genshin Impact during version 1.2 so I've missed a few things in the early game. My first limited 5-star unit was Albedo. As for Honkai Star Rail, I was there from the beginning. Two games from Mihoyo, but yet so very different.

Yes, Genshin isn't perfect but HSR isn't either. And at the current situation, I've lost all my hype for the upcoming version 4.0 of Starrail but I'm still very excited for what's up next in Genshin.

The reasons are not easy to describe, but let's just say both games had their ups and downs. I prefer Genshin for it's better exploration, I prefer action combat over turn based combat and I kinda like elemental reactions more than stuff like DoT or Break or Remembrance in HSR.

I think HSR only survived until now because it got much more QoL from the start and it's early patches, while Genshin felt a bit dry and had a very slow start. Only during the past few months since Natlan the game became better again. Although I was not a big fan of Natlan, but now I'm very happy about Nod Krai and what's about to come in the future.

Honkai Star Rail failed during Amphoreus, not because of the story itself but because of the terrible storytelling. If you take every story quest from Genshin from Sumeru until the end of Natlan, you'll get the whole Amphoreus plot! Yes, it's really that long and it became a slog.

I think the plot of Amphoreus went downhill after version 3.4 and only got a little comeback during the fight against Irontomb. The latest events are also very boring and uninspired. And yes, I did pull for more Amphoreus characters than I did pull for any Natlan units in Genshin.

But now? My hype for version 4.0 is zero and I won't be pulling for Yao Guang or Sparxie. I already have three premium teams for every endgame content, so why should I care? As for Genshin, I still want Columbina, Zibai and Varka, but maybe also Alice and Nicole. Genshin has more upcoming characters I'm interested in and a more interesting plot that's about to unfold.

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Commentaires

Mickerus2026-01-11 18:21

Lipheria2026-01-11 18:23

Lol🤣🤣🤣

Slush_Magic2026-01-11 18:26

as someone who plays both, when Alice introduced herself, my first thought was "why does she have more unique animation than 90% of Amphoreus"

babangelsin2026-01-11 19:13

To be fair she also has 90% more unique cutscene animations than every character pre-Natlan combined

Rare_Marionberry7822026-01-11 23:04

Final boss vibes

shadowmanx19892026-01-12 01:12

To be fair HSR's strong point is flashy combat animation, so they have to tone down in other departments

Fabulous_Ground_19832026-01-11 19:10

HSR is mega cringe

Vegetto_ssj2026-01-11 19:22

Basically similar thoughts. I like both the gameplays, there are moments where I have more fun with one and others with the other one. But HSR one completely ruined the philosophy of each Path, mechanics, plus powercreep and HP inflation (even if I still clear contents with my live Himeko). And the fact it is so slow with old-character buffs is frustrating.

But yes, the worse point for me, is the STORYTELLING! For me the length of the story isn't a true problem, but how badly has been told: sophisticated and complicated dialogues for everybody, unnecessary long (3.2, 3.6 and Acheron are the points where I got depressed and I asked myself "why Im playing HSR if most of the patch have these boring and long dialogues?", accompanied by boring and static animations and absence of angle camera.

While Genshin storytelling is more lively and I easily more concentrated (but among the 3 games, the characters are too "mild"; Genshin needs more Hutao/Itto/Sandrone)

Abyss_Wanderer192026-01-11 19:31

Suprise suprise you post this in genshin impact sub. I played both game for years long, genshin storyline atleast since natlan and its cutscene cant even make me as excited as HSR one. HSR since 1.1 until now have been mindblowing.

highlyregarded11552026-01-11 21:14

Literally what fucking point are you making here? Actual schizoposting.

Slazapuss2026-01-11 21:56

Hsr is mind blowing in the sense the story makes me want to blow my brains out 😂

SquishyBruiser2026-01-11 21:59

You're so right. HSRs 1.1 patch was very "mind-blowing" in the truest sense of the word. The curveball of releasing a filler patch as the first new update despite the Loufu storyarc not being over was definitely something that nobody expected

Arnimon2026-01-11 19:38

When HSR launched, I felt the story was pretty refreshing compared to Genshin. It was more straightforward, with less bloated dialogue. As time went on, Genshin has become great in its storytelling, with better cinematography and dialogue. Characters are actually exressive—thank you, Natlan! Still a lot to read, but it feels more meaningful. Cut off some of the fat, I guess.

Meanwhile, HSR is abysmal in large segments. Big parts of Amphoreus were such a sleeper, which sadly took away from its good moments. Downhilll after 3.4? 3.0-3.2 was the worst part for me. Amphoreus cast didn't really interest me too much, while I pulled every 5* in Natlan. I mostly play because of the Stellaron Hunters at this point. So 3.8 was quite the gift in that regard.

corecenite2026-01-11 20:19

[deleted]

Zeldamaster3862026-01-11 21:46

Not really my cup of tea sorry

corecenite2026-01-11 21:57

but you did try it, right? even for 30 minutes?

corecenite2026-01-12 07:54

but you did try it, right? even for 30 minutes?

corecenite2026-01-13 01:23

but you did try zzz, right? even for 30 minutes?

OsirusBrisbane2026-01-11 22:44

I agree that Amphoreus felt like too much of a slog. But I have high hopes for Planarcadia being more like Penacony (which I loved).

Nod Krai's story is certainly interesting so far, and archon patches are always exciting. Just a few days!

kokko6932026-01-11 23:32

I'm just so far behind in HSR, with not many characters, they are low level, not invested, 0 synergies anywhere. The story is cool but there is a lot to read with the characters standing around.

Meanwhile in Genshin I have tons of characters who are good individually and together, I can play comfortably, I can do some of the endgame (not all because I'm a big slacker, but I'm starting to take it seriously with some guides. The story is nice, exploration nice, gameplay is OK. After 5 years of playing GI the gameplay is kind of always the same thing, but it's good.

ZZZ is vastly superior in fighting vibe to GI and HSR. I'm having fun. Problem is I'm behind too.

I guess I just can't play more than 1 gacha :')

Azsara2026-01-12 01:07

Yeah that's fair, I feel like HSR's storytelling was its strong point early on and although the animated shorts are still really good and I like the charscter design I started skipping the story because I could really not be bothered to sit through all that dialogue with minimal gameplay.

HSR is a good game but Genshin just feels nicer/better for me and 4.0 will be a heavy decider...

Silent_Bluebird_8772026-01-12 03:25

I quit during Amphoreus, the yap was insane. Youtube playthroughs clock the arc at nearly 60 hours wtf?

r0ksas2026-01-12 05:42

Hsr is still my favorite game since i like heavy lore games but i understand how much a yap fest is the story, the Lore and story is so good but the story telling is terrible and scripts are unnecessarily complicated AF.. kudos to genshin specially in nod krai, its like watching an Avengers movie and easy to absorb

JewelKnightJess2026-01-12 09:15

I loved HSR at first but as the patches rolled on the storytelling got more convoluted and just a chore to get through. Penacony lost me a few versions in, and I never enjoyed Amphoreus story at all. I'm still going to give 4.0 a play but I feel I might end up as a story skipper. I still love doing the simulated universe type modes. HSR shines in its side content.

It's funny because I feel Genshin was the opposite. I think the Liyue chapter of genshin is the weakest by far, it feels like it's not going anywhere and suddenly you're fighting a god at the end. Inazuma had pacing issues but I liked it more than Liyue story wise. From Sumeru on I feel like it's been constantly improving. With the more dynamic camera and animations it's a lot more engaging. I feel the yap factor has been really dialed down too. Most conversations seem to move along at a good pace.

dakrangelolivia2026-01-12 11:43

Yapforus story could've been cut 75% and it would've been told so much better. Like holy bloat jesus. Genshin also suffers from the same problem but nowhere as bad as HSR. It was basically nonstop 1 hour of static head talking cutscenes, followed by another, and another