Honkai: Star Rail is a massive hit, and it seems that some of its success is due to improvements over mistakes made by Genshin Impact, such as the decision of ditching a constant companion like Paimon. The change not only makes Honkai: Star Rail’s conversations more dynamic, but also pleased many fans who simply didn’t like the character much and dreaded the idea of having someone similar alongside.
HoYoverse’s new game has not been out for long, and it has already been downloaded over 20 million times, which made Honkai: Star Rail’s launch very successful. The sci-fi turn-based RPG brings several improvements over the Genshin Impact formula, such as allowing for a dark-mode launch screen or automating some daily tasks. However, perhaps the most important improvement is ditching a constant companion.
Honkai: Star Rail does not have a character like Paimon, and that seems to be a huge plus for a few players. Reddit user Kiretsu gained almost 5,000 upvotes on Honkai Star Rail’s official subreddit by talking about how the new title is so much better without anyone like Paimon coming along. According to them, the main character of Genshin Impact seems almost without personality due to Paimon’s existence, as she’s talking 90% of the time, leaving almost no space for the player.
Commenters on the thread overwhelmingly agreed with Kiretsu. MillionMiracles, for example, said they don’t even hate the character, but she often makes the game treat the player as if they were children, with Paimon constantly explaining everything that is already obvious. In contrast with that, Honkai: Star Rail has a better flow and more fluid conversations, even during infodumps. Another commenter called Luthene agreed, claiming that Paimon can get annoying due to how much she gets off-topic and is constantly trying to be funny, which can get old fast.
Paimon is certainly one of the most polarizing characters in Genshin Impact. Loved by some and loathed by many, she lives on the edge between cute and annoying. Some Genshin Impact players have even theorized that Paimon could be the game’s villain, which is a hilarious theory. The theory is not confirmed by the developers and is very unlikely to be true, but it could make several Genshin Impact players very happy as they would be finally able to enact their revenge upon the character after hearing her talking for hundreds of hours.
Honkai: Star Rail is available for PC and mobile devices. PS4 and PS5 versions are in development.
