Highlights

  • Honkai: Star Rail's light cone system lacks interesting aesthetic appeal compared to Genshin Impact weapons, limiting player experience.
  • Swapping light cones in Honkai: Star Rail lacks the fun and visual impact of Genshin Impact's weapon system.
  • Different elements of customization in games like Honkai: Star Rail and Genshin Impact can affect player enjoyment in small ways.

Honkai: Star Rail and Genshin Impact's weapon system differences put Honkai: Star Rail in a weird spot. There is no overbearing issue with the light cones in Honkai: Star Rail versus weapons from Genshin Impact, but the present differences do take away from the player experience in small ways. Indeed, the customization that Genshin Impact offers with different passives and different weapon types is arguably better than its sister game.

Honkai: Star Rail limits light cone configuration to the element type of the unit, and they are more akin to memories or stories than weapons. There is no visual change in the character when swapping a light cone in favor of another. The fun matching that Genshin Impact weapons offer—though they are locked by weapon type for the characters—is something that the sister game misses out on.

Genshin Impact Fans Should Check Out Granblue Fantasy: Relink
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Genshin Impact Fans Should Check Out Granblue Fantasy: Relink

Despite advertising a different experience, Granblue Fantasy: Relink has enough in common with Genshin Impact to show its fans a similarly good time.

The Difference Between Light Cones and Weapons in Honkai: Star Rail and Genshin Impact

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Ultimate Customization for Players

For a lot of players, no matter what kind of game it is, customization is something that players look forward to and want to encounter. When character customization is included, many players sit down for hours to decorate their persona however they desire (take The Sims 4 customization, for example.) When it comes to games like Honkai: Star Rail and Genshin Impact that do not have that, players only have weapons and light cones and need to be able to create their own makeshift design combinations.

Weapons in Genshin Impact offer a lot more of that aesthetic appeal than Honkai: Star Rail light cones do, at least in terms of how aesthetics can come together. It scratches a certain itch to be able to choose between a weapon that is arguably good for a character's kit and a weapon that matches the design of the character. Some examples of matching weapons are:

  • Akuoumaru and Chongyun
  • Memory of Dust and Ningguang
  • Favonius Sword and Jean
  • Kitain Cross Spear and Raiden Shogun

The Fun of Swapping and Testing Weapons and Light Cones

When battling in Honkai: Star Rail, players do not see light cones, but rather their unique weapon. And though it is in itself fun to see what weapons each character uses and what that says about the unit, it isn't as fun as swapping around, for example, catalysts on Genshin Impact's Yanfei to see what fits best. Knowing that Gepard uses his sister's guitar case as a weapon is silly and fun, but that's all players will ever see.

The light cones do not add any physical fun to the game the way weapons do in Genshin Impact. The backstory behind the light cone may be enticing or entertaining, but it isn't too different from the readable lore each weapon in Genshin Impact has. It also limits the number of fun combat challenges players can give themselves. It isn't possible to do a challenge such as only using a weapon that matches the character design in battle in Honkai: Star Rail, for instance.

Again, this is not an inherent fault of the developer, nor should it be considered an oversight. The lack of customization in this way may be upsetting, but it is no deal-breaker by any means. Not every game, especially RPGs like Honkai: Star Rail and Genshin Impact, can be as customizable as games that actively include it as a part of the game's very structure, such as:

  • Stardew Valley (Character customization and later tailoring)
  • The Sims 4 (Every aspect, from building homes to creating a Sim)
  • Baldur's Gate 3 (Rich RPG character customization)