Honkai Star Rail’s 3.4 story made me change my mind about Phainon

Ever since the Trailblazer and Dan Heng crash-landed on Amphoreus, the Honkai Star Rail story has blown me away, and the version 3.4 Trailblaze Mission, ‘For the Sun is Set to Die’, brings everything to a head. This isolated world with no concept of Paths or Aeons is so different from every other location we’ve visited so far, and with a countdown to the end of the world, the stakes are higher than ever.

I got the chance to hop into the new Honkai Star Rail update a little early to experience the most recent story quest and try out Phainon’s combat abilities. Naturally, it’s pretty difficult to discuss this lore-heavy update without major spoilers, so here is your official warning. Turn back now, dear reader, unless you don’t mind finding out the true secrets of Amphoreus before diving in yourself.

Pretty much as soon as you start the new story quest, Screwllum appears to explain that Amphoreus is an entire world made from memoria, and it’s all an experiment to birth a new Lord Ravager of the Destruction to kill Nous, the Aeon of Erudition. The Astral Express should never have been able to land there, but somehow, we fell through the cracks. Screwllum asks the Trailblazer to remain on Amphoreus, against Phainon’s wishes, and we become an integral part of his story.

Although we don’t get to spend much time with him in this version due to the circumstances, it’s nice to hear that Dan Heng’s English voice is back. He’s been silent for most, if not all, of our time on Amphoreus so far, so hearing him speak was a welcome surprise. We also get to spend more time with March 7th than we have in months, as we see her talk to Cyrene, Phainon’s childhood friend, in the Path space. I loved seeing these two bright, positive, pink-haired girls interact, and although we don’t learn much about March’s mysterious illness during the scene, it seems to set her up as an important part of the upcoming story.

‘For the Sun is Set to Die’ is very much about Phainon and Cyrene. It’s their story to tell, and we are simply witnesses, playing the role of a supportive friend, nudging Phainon down the ‘right’ path. When we first landed on Amphoreus, I didn’t trust Phainon one bit, and I found his character a little bland, but this story quest changes everything. This man has been through so much to try to protect his homeland and his friends from The Destruction’s schemes. Instead of completing the Era Nova and birthing a Lord Ravager, he takes the 12 coreflames into his own body and resets the timeline, living the same life millions of times over and transforming into the Flame Reaver in the process, just to try and make a difference.

Knowing all of this about him explains why his combat kit feels so powerful. Honkai Star Rail’s Phainon is a one-man army with the potential to overtake Acheron as the fan-favorite DPS, especially for the husbando lovers. His technique lets you destroy enemies without engaging in combat, he increases your available technique points to eight instead of five, and his attacks deal massive amounts of damage, regardless of weakness type. Of course, due to my early access, I had an incredibly well-built, max-level Phainon, but even without increasing his eidolons, he feels borderline unfair. Thank god Honkai Star Rail isn’t PvP.

Cyrene is an excellent counterbalance to Phainon’s hero complex. She’s sweet, caring, intelligent, and reserved – the perfect older sister character (which is probably why I thought she was Phainon’s sister until very recently). Her presence is immediately comforting and somewhat familiar, which makes a lot of sense when you find out who she really is.

If you’re a fan of combat-heavy updates, 3.4 might not be your favorite, but it’s perfect for lore fiends like me. I genuinely think this is the best-written Honkai Star Rails story so far, and it sets up a lot of interesting events that I can’t wait to explore in further updates. One of my initial thoughts about the upcoming characters, Hysilens and Cerydra, was ‘how are we meant to meet them, they’re canonically already dead,’ but Phainon’s constant rewriting of the timeline gives us the opportunity to meet these final Chrysos Heirs. We briefly get to speak to Honkai Star Rail’s Hysilens in 3.4, and I am already in love with her.

My only complaint is that, for such a story-driven update, 3.4 is still seriously lacking in animated cutscenes or even interactive dialogue moments. It falls into the same trap as previous versions, laying out interesting and impactful story information via voiceover on a still image or, even worse, a black screen. Don’t get me wrong, the artwork is stunning, but I need my exposition to be visually stimulating, otherwise I lose interest. This could be a product of the modern-day attention span or my ADHD, but plenty of other fans complain about the same thing online, so it would be nice to see some changes implemented.

Going into this version, I expected it to neatly wrap up Amphoreus’ storyline and send us on our merry way, but instead, it’s blown the entire story wide open, and I can’t wait to dive even deeper in future updates. Plus, it’s got me extra intrigued to do some digging into some familiar Honkai Impact 3rd characters…

If this preview’s got you all amped up for the new update, make sure to stop by our Honkai Star Rail codes guide for some extra stellar jade. We’ve also got a Honkai Star Rail tier list, which is sure to see some changes with Phainon’s launch and the four character buffs.