Stelle and Caelus fly over Planarcadia as a giant moon blows on a party horn in Honkai: Star Rail.
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Bruno Yonezawa
Published Feb 12, 2026, 11:01 PM EST
Bruno Yonezawa is a Gaming Senior Writer for Screen Rant. He's been practicing professional journalism for over 10 years, and is also a communications specialist. He's played games all his life and turned that passionate hobby into a passionate career, in an industry where he's worked as a writer, editor, analyst, and more.
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The highly anticipated Honkai: Star Rail 4.0 update is finally here after a few weeks of delays, as had previously been announced by developer HoYoverse. The patch kicks off a whole new year of content for the popular turn-based RPG, taking the members of the Astral Express to a brand-new destination called Planarcadia. The release of Honkai: Star Rail 4.0 also brings forth two new playable characters, both of whom follow the new playable Path of the Elation.
As is expected from every X.0 update, there is a lot of content to explore. The new destination features several maps that compose what we know of Planarcadia so far, and adds extensive main story quests that guide you through the location. This comes with new puzzles to solve and mini-games to participate in, as well as anticipated new characters in Honkai: Star Rail, even if the majority of them are not yet playable.
Planarcardia’s Story Starts Off Bland
I Hope The Upbeat Vibes Serve As A Contrast For Something Darker
Sparxie shares a livestream with enemies in the background in Honkai Star Rail.
Especially when compared to the previous story arcs, the new one centered around Planarcadia starts a bit bland and calm. While Amphoreus kicked off with the Trailblazer and Dan Heng being attacked as they descended into The Eternal Land, the Astral Express is welcomed by the locals upon its arrival; in Planarcadia, the spacefaring train and its members are celebrities.
This is not to say there isn’t intrigue and mystery in Planarcadia. You’ll be met with an unsettling opportunity to become an Aeon if you decide to participate and win a contest, and with Aha as the dominant Aeon on the planet, things are bound to not only get weird but also very complicated. Despite how intriguing this may seem, I found it a bit hard to get hooked on the story just yet, perhaps because of how leisurely the Express’s passage on Planarcadia may seem for now.
In terms of story content, however, Version 4.0 is full of tension, even if it is constantly underlying, and very rarely does it show itself through regular methods. This suspense is actually great, even though it only serves to set up what will happen during this year of content.
Honkai: Star Rail often touches on pretty compelling themes, like existentialism and nihilism, so while the gleefulness of Planarcadia may seem off-putting at first, I have hopes it will serve as a contrast to how dark the story can become as it moves forward.
One thing that did get me hooked instantly was Cosmicon Collective, a new card/dice game in Planarcadia. You’ll be introduced to it naturally by progressing through the story. If you enjoy it as much as I did, you’ll likely see yourself deviating from the campaign to challenge NPC players and then try to get resources to purchase new cards.
Elation Seems Like A Promising New Path
Honkai’s New Path Is Great For Fans Of Huge Explosive Numbers
Yao Guang holds a feather between her fingers in Honkai Star Rail.
Having Elation as a new playable Path is exciting. The mechanics, at least in Version 4.0, seem pretty straightforward, as players using characters on this Path will accumulate Punchline, which then triggers special effects from Aha. Overall, the Elation feels like an alternative version of the follow-up mechanic.
Instead of triggering continuous follow-up attacks where you see yourself not making decisions for a while as your characters automatically attack, Elation’s Punchline attacks are like a big follow-up that triggers once in a while for an outstanding amount of damage.
In the same way the Remembrance characters were tied to one another in the Version 3.X patches, I suspect that Elation characters will be highly dependent on each other, as they are what help increase each other’s Elation value – and having more Elation characters in the party often brings better results.
If you like big numbers that explode after a nice build-up period, Elation may be a great playable Path in Honkai: Star Rail for you. For now, the playable Path is limited to two characters, but it got me curious as to how diverse the Elation will feel as the game progresses and more characters on this Path are introduced.
Honkai: Star Rail 4.0’s New Characters Are Nice Enough
I May Not Pull For Sparxie, & Am Conflicted About Yao Guang
Yao Guang is flanked by Sparxie, Sparkle, and Hyacine in Honkai Star Rail.
Talking about the new characters, specifically, I was honestly impressed. The first character, set for the Phase 1 release, is Yao Guang. The 5-star Physical character on the Path of the Elation is a support character for Elation teams. When running her alongside other types of characters, she doesn’t work too well. However, when using Yao Guang’s best team comp DPS, Sparxie, she excels and brings a lot of value to the party.
Yao Guang’s buffs for Elation characters significantly increase the numbers seen in Sparxie’s damage output, and the accumulation of Punchline is evident. I predict that Yao Guang will be somewhat indispensable, at least for now, for Elation teams this year – even though there is a history of powercreeping in Honkai: Star Rail that could rapidly see her value diminished.
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Dive into the world of movies and TV shows with Screen Rant, your source for news, reviews, and exclusive content. Subscribe By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.Sparxie is the second Elation character, who will be released in Phase 2 banners, though I did get a chance to test her out extensively. Alongside the proper team comp, especially Yao Guang and Sparkle in Honkai: Star Rail, Sparxie is a pretty strong DPS. She’s a fun character to run because of how tough her Basic Attacks can be, enhanced by Skill Point consumption.
I do have an issue with how dependent Sparxie is on Yao Guang and Sparkle. Yao Guang’s buffs significantly change how much damage Sparxie deals, while Sparkle unlocks Sparxie’s full potential as she’ll have a huge number of Skill Points to burn for her Enhanced Basic Attacks.
Outside the early access build, I would not actively pull for Sparxie in Honkai: Star Rail, as fun as she may be. Sparxie may be a great Elation DPS in Version 4.0, but I do expect her to be powercrept pretty early on – in the same way that Agalaea was powercrept by Mydei, Castorice, and Anaxa a few patches later.
Overall, I’m excited with the turn-based RPG in a way that I hadn’t been in a while. Although the overall idea around Amphoreus is superb, the story felt a bit dragged out and often unappealing. I’m hoping this year is different, and I’m extremely open to how upbeat Planarcadia is in comparison. It does seem like Elation is going to be a fun new Path to play, although I may still stick to my Remembrance and Acheron teams in Honkai: Star Rail for a while.
HoYoverse provided Screen Rant with a limited-time Version 4.0 Early Access build with full access to all the new playable content for the purposes of coverage.
9/10
Honkai: Star Rail
Like Follow Followed RPG Turn-Based RPG Systems
OpenCritic Reviews
Top Critic Avg:
83/100
Critics Rec:
90%
Released
April 26, 2023
ESRB
Teen / Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes, Simulated Gambling, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items), Users Interact
Developer(s)
HoYoverse (Formerly miHoYo)
Publisher(s)
HoYoverse (Formerly miHoYo)
Engine
Unity
7 Images
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Genre(s)
RPG, Turn-Based RPG
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