Honkai Impact 3rd (pronounced /ˈhɔːnˌkɑɪ/, Chinese: 崩坏 3; pinyin: Bēnghuài 3; literally "Collapse 3rd," "Deteriorate 3rd") is a 2016 free-to-play 3D science fantasy action role-playing game created and published by miHoYo. Outside mainland China, it is published by Cognosphere, which operates under the name HoYoverse. The game continues the story of Guns Girl Z, using some characters from that game in a new storyline. It combines many game types, including fast-paced combat, social simulation, bullet-dodging challenges, platforming, shooting games, and dungeon exploration, across single-player and multiplayer modes. The game includes gacha mechanics, where players can obtain random characters or items through in-game purchases. It was first released for mobile devices and later made available on Microsoft Windows.
A major update called Honkai Impact 3rd Part 2 was released on February 29, 2024. This update introduces the second major story chapter of the game, featuring new characters, redesigned user interfaces, an updated engine, and a change from a mission-based structure to a limited open-world format.
The story of Honkai Impact 3rd is also told through other media, such as animated short videos, comic series, and promotional clips.
Etymology
The word "Honkai" comes from the Japanese word "houkai" (崩壊) and is the same as the Chinese word "bēng huài" (崩坏), which means "collapse" or "breakdown." The word "Impact" is not part of the original Chinese or Japanese titles but is used only in English marketing materials.
In the game, the term "Honkai Impact" (also called "Honkai Eruption" or "Honkai Outbreak") describes a large disaster caused by Honkai. This disaster happens at the same time as the birth of a Herrscher.
Gameplay
In the game Honkai Impact 3rd, players control a team of up to three characters called Valkyries during real-time battles against enemies. During battles, players can switch between characters and move freely across the battlefield. Each Valkyrie has unique skills, including attack, evasion, switching, and an ultimate ability, as well as a type. The three main types—Mecha, Biologic, and Psychic—are based on a system similar to rock-paper-scissors, where each type has strengths and weaknesses depending on the enemy and the Valkyrie’s own type. Two additional types, Quantum and Imaginary, are weak against each other but have no advantage or disadvantage over the main three types. A third type, Stardust, is strong against itself and has no advantage or disadvantage over other types. Valkyrie abilities and stats can be changed using weapons and equipment, which can be improved with in-game resources. New weapons, equipment (called Stigmata), and Valkyries can be obtained through crafting or a gacha system.
Single-player game modes include the Story campaign, which features stages with cutscenes and full-motion videos (FMVs) showing dialogue; Chronicles, which are short stories exploring Valkyrie backgrounds or world details; and Open World, where players explore large open areas to gather materials and complete challenges with their own storylines.
The game includes multiplayer modes, such as Memorial Arena, where players compete against bosses for the highest score on the server, and Abyss, where players attempt to progress through a series of battles to earn high scores in small groups. Players can join groups called Armadas, which provide opportunities for events, rewards, and limited requests for materials from other Armada members.
Outside of battles, players can interact with Valkyries and Stigmata in the Dorm mode. After completing character-specific tasks, characters may move into dorms, where players can view new information and dialogues between characters. Players can craft furniture and design dorm layouts to increase the "comfort" of Valkyries and Stigmata. Higher comfort levels allow players to expand dorm limits for more detailed decorations. Players can also visit and view each other’s decorated dorms.
Secondary gameplay includes minigames with elements like bullet hell, platforming, and shoot 'em up, which help players gather crafting materials and experience. Limited-time events may include gameplay styles such as dungeon crawling or battle royale, which are not typically found in main modes.
Each Valkyrie can equip one weapon. Weapon types include dual pistols, blades (katanas), heavy (cannons), greatswords, crosses, fists (gauntlets), scythes, lances, bows, chakrams, javelins, drive cores (yo-yos), rapid-fire crossbows, rocket hammers, chained blades, and mechanical staffs.
Players can obtain weapons through purchases, crafting, or the gacha system. After obtaining weapons, players can upgrade them to improve their effects. Once players reach level 50 for both their character and weapon, some weapons can be upgraded further into PRI-ARMs up to level 65, changing their design, attributes, and effects. This requires specific materials, such as Einstein’s Toruses, SC Metal-H2, and Fluid Alloy Blocks. Players cannot increase weapon levels beyond 50 until they reach level 81.
Each Valkyrie can equip three Stigmata. Stigmata improve attack, defense, critical chance, and other attributes based on the character’s role. The Stigmata system has three types: top (attack), middle (defense), and bottom (auxiliary). Players can activate special effects when wearing two or three Stigmata from the same set. Stigmata can be obtained through the gacha system, completing stages, events, or crafting. After obtaining Stigmata, players can enhance, upgrade, and refine them to improve their stats and effects.
Players can improve Valkyrie stats by leveling up weapons and Stigmata. Stigmata require different EXP items than weapons. Enhancing equipment can provide better attribute bonuses. Upgrading weapons and Stigmata increases their star level, raising their maximum level limit and allowing stronger effects. More advanced upgrades require better materials, which can be obtained by completing stages, using the gacha system, or purchasing from stores.
The main currencies in the game are crystals and coins, which can be earned through non-premium methods. Asterite is another currency obtained from various in-game sources and can be exchanged for supplies in specific shops. Many gameplay modes and events have their own currencies and shops.
Story
Honkai Impact 3rd is set in an alternate version of Earth that faces many problems caused by the Honkai. The Honkai is seen as an evil force with its own will. It can harm humans by changing their minds, causing diseases, or turning them into undead creatures. It also creates monsters and gives some people god-like powers, allowing them to cause disasters. These powerful humans are called Herrschers. The Honkai returns regularly to challenge Earth's civilization when it becomes too advanced.
The game takes place in the year 2015 of the Current Era. The Previous Era, which was more technologically advanced, was destroyed by the Honkai 50,000 years ago. In the Current Era, different groups work to fight or use the Honkai's power. Schicksal is a European peacekeeping group that sends human warriors called Valkyries to battle the Honkai. Anti-Entropy was once the North American branch of Schicksal but preferred using robots instead of human soldiers. World Serpent is a secret organization that has influenced world events since the end of the Previous Era.
Three Herrscher awakenings, called Impacts, have already happened in the Current Era before the story begins. The Herrscher of Reason became the leader of Anti-Entropy instead of fighting humans. The Herrscher of the Void was defeated by Schicksal and Anti-Entropy in 2000. The Herrscher of Thunder was stopped from fully awakening and sent to train as a Valkyrie at Schicksal's St. Freya Academy.
Kiana Kaslana, Raiden Mei, and Bronya Zaychik start as Valkyrie students fighting Honkai outbreaks. Their lives change when Kiana is taken over by Sirin, the Herrscher of the Void, because of Otto Apocalypse's plans. Himeko sacrifices herself to save Kiana, who later learns to control her Herrscher powers with help from Fu Hua's remaining consciousness. As World Serpent, led by Kevin Kaslana, tries to "save" humanity with extreme methods, Mei becomes the Herrscher of Thunder to help cure Kiana. She joins Kevin and leaves her friends behind.
The conflict grows as more Herrschers awaken, and the truth about the Previous Era's Flame Chasers is revealed. Otto's long plan to bring back Kallen by resetting the world succeeds, but it costs his life. Mei discovers that Elysia, the first Herrscher to fight for humanity, made it possible for modern Herrschers like Kiana, Mei, and Bronya to resist the Honkai's influence.
In the final battle, Kevin claims to be humanity's ultimate test. Kiana, Mei, and Bronya fight him on the moon, where Kiana defeats Kevin and is recognized by the Cocoon of Finality as the Herrscher of Finality. Choosing to stay on the moon to end the Honkai's threat safely, Kiana leaves Earth in the care of her friends, turning humanity's greatest enemy into its greatest protector.
Development
The production team for Honkai Impact 3rd started with 7 people and grew to over 200 employees by 2018. miHoYo gives players small amounts of in-game currency if they complete surveys about their experience, which helps developers improve the game. Because of this, Honkai Impact 3rd is updated regularly, with fixes to problems and new or changed content added many times each year. Since its release, the game has had major changes, such as rewriting the first two chapters of its story in a December 2018 update. The developers chose to make the game free-to-play instead of requiring players to pay upfront, so more people could play it. The fight system in Honkai Impact 3rd was influenced by games like Devil May Cry and Bayonetta.
The official PC version of the game was released to the public on December 26, 2019. A major expansion called Honkai Impact 3rd Part 2 was launched on February 29, 2024. This update introduces the second main story arc of the game, featuring new characters, redesigned user interfaces, an improved engine, and a shift from a mission-based structure to a limited open-world format.
Related media
Honkai Impact 3rd includes a continuing comic series with the same name, written in both Chinese and English. This series starts before the first chapter of the main game story and adds more details to the in-game plot. It often explains where the characters come from and shows the battlesuits worn by the Valkyries. The series has three prequel stories and one main story.
Cooking with Valkyries (Chinese: 女武神的餐桌; pinyin: Nǚ Wǔshén de Cānzhuō) is a non-canon slice-of-life cooking animated series from Honkai Impact 3rd. It has 19 short episodes and was released from July to September 2020. The version on bilibili is in Mandarin Chinese, while the Japanese broadcast version is in Japanese.
ELF Academy (Chinese: 人偶学园; pinyin: Rén'ǒu Xuéyuán) is another non-canon animated series from Honkai Impact 3rd. It has 10 episodes and was released from July to September 2021. The series includes Mandarin Chinese and Japanese voice acting. It follows ELFs, which are autonomous weapons designed to replace living soldiers, as they attend school and interact with each other.
Reception
The game gained a large group of fans in Asia before becoming popular worldwide. It was first released in China in late 2016. In Japan, it had 1 million downloads just 11 days after its release. According to IGN, as of March 28, 2018, the game, called Honkai Impact 3rd, had 35 million downloads worldwide. The game is available in Korea, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, North America, and Europe. It supports many languages, including Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, French, German, and Indonesian. The game also has voiceovers in Chinese and Japanese.
In a 2017 article from Ungeek.com, the writer noted that some features in the later parts of the game are hard to understand. The article also mentioned that the game requires a lot of storage space on mobile devices. However, the review praised the game's high-quality graphics, the ease of learning how to play, and the overall quality of the game. The article said the game's quality is similar to games played on consoles.
Controversies
On April 22, 2021, to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of the game's global server, a music video titled "Brilliant Bright" was released on Honkai Impact 3rd's YouTube channel. The video was created in collaboration with the Japanese band Myth & Roid. The video showed characters wearing bunny-girl outfits, but these outfits were not made available in the game. The outfits were only used for the video. Chinese players reacted strongly and negatively, with many feeling it was unfair to release content only for international players.
The special video was later removed from Honkai Impact 3rd's channel, though it remains available online through fan reuploads. Myth & Roid ended their collaboration with the game and had their special video single removed. However, "Brilliant Bright" is still available on streaming platforms and as a digital single. In the game, all content related to the 3rd-anniversary bunny-girl theme, except for specific event items called stigmata, was removed. According to the game's official statement, players on the global server received 500 crystals as compensation. Chinese server players received more compensation (10 focused supply cards equal to 2800 crystals), even though no content was removed from the Chinese version of the game.