Honkai: Star Rail Version 4.3 continues the main story of Planarcadia right where V4.2 left off and drops some pretty significant lore bombs despite its relatively short duration. In fact, personally I consider it the best narrative-heavy patch the game has gotten so far, even over my previously favorite V3.3 (Aquila fight).
What starts as an apparent slowdown or filler patch before the big reveal in actuality leads to several important revelations and a desperate all-hands-on-deck type of battle against Asat Pramad, working overtime to uncrown Lygus as the best HSR antagonist and restore the reputation of Lord Ravagers after Phantylia and Irontomb.
After a lengthy intro scene, during which March 7th and the rest of the crew go recalling events that literally just happened for questionable reasons, our ensemble cast naturally splits into 4: the Trailblazer, Blade and Silver Wolf go to find the legendary artist Graphia in the World in Canvas to fulfill Evanescia’s quest and get rid of Shuhu; Welt, Dan Heng and Yao Guang join forces in order to create a trap for the Lord Ravager that has shown his hand against Silver Wolf; March 7th and Ashveil try their best to get anything useful out of the Masked Fools; and, finally, Himeko decides to confront Ryusuke and fulfill a wish made 15 years ago on her lonesome.
Each group has their own work cut out for them, and each brings in something interesting about our antagonist or the lore altogether, with the ultimate pay-off likely coming in Version 4.4. Let’s go over the group’s findings one by one, starting with Yao Guang’s, then Ashveil’s, Trailblazer’s, and finally Himeko herself.
General Yao Guang is nothing but meticulous and, as soon as there is an idea about who the planet is about to face, she springs into action to put in some measures against the future threat. With the help of Welt and Dan Heng, she intends to use the divine eye of her Spiritus, the Kalacakra Skyplume, and weave a giant web that would ensnare countless possible futures.
Once the planet is folded into the divination’s trajectory, all possibilities will be laid bare before her. Both Dan Heng and Welt find her plan to be quite insane and excessive, but considering the abilities of the adversary we’re about to face, Yao Guang’s preparations might just be the key to victory– or not as a heavy a loss, depending on the kind of story HoYoverse wants to tell.
Meanwhile, Ashveil and March 7th embark on a bizarre adventure of their own. After all, trying to get any kind of useful information out of the Masked Fools is as hard as interrogating a Slumbernana Monkey, with sanity draining by the second. Still, after a lengthy humorous section dedicated to the adventures and exploits of the legendary Masked Fool Enroute, they come to a chilling realization.
The Fool that abandoned the Path of Elation and Isee, the Navigator of the Astral Express that gave Ashveil the shadow in his arm, are the same person. But it goes deeper yet: after the disappearance of Akivili and the rise of Nanook the Destruction that Isee witnessed personally on Adlivun, he leaves the post of the Navigator and willingly pledges himself first to Finality, and then to Destruction, becoming Lord Ravager Asat Pramad.
At the very least, such is the story indicated by the newest Cavern Relics set. Whether this is quite that simple or if Asat Pramad is the Mask left by the Fool Enroute – similar deal to Sparkle and Sparxie – remains to be seen.
Now, coming face-to-face against Asat Pramad, Ashveil finds himself in a uniquely disadvantaged situation. The power locked in his arm that he’s gotten used to might not work against the very person that had granted it, even if you disregard Asat’s many other abilities. And just you wait until the Lord Ravager whips out the real deal Phantasmoon Games mask and turns out to be our 9th hidden Supplicant that can gobble up the abundant Wishpower, then we’d be in real trouble.
Still, the deep dive into our antagonist’s rich past wasn’t even the biggest surprise coming from the little Tavern visit. Ashveil and March 7th run into some other familiar faces: Tingyun and Ruan Mei, Member #81 of the Genius Society that is uniquely interested in leviathans.
Oroboros, the Aeon of Voracity, had once been a leviathan before its ascension to the Aeonhood, so it comes as no surprise that Ruan Mei is aware of the hidden truth: Oroboros has long been dead by now, and its powers and the entire Path is fair game where it concerns Aha.
The Aeon of Elation sealed Oroboros’ body among the stars, suppressed it with the Abundance, and siphoned the power of the Path of Voracity. Now, Aha is on their way to consume the Aeon-less Path.
The connection had been hinted at in the most obvious way possible, which is exactly why it remained in the plain sight but unaddressed until now. Aha stole the Aftertaste (the original Primum Mobile) from the creatures of Voracity, turning the process of savoring something’s “aftertaste” into an act of Elation, and leaving these creatures to become living black holes, devouring anything and everything without discrimination.
Aftertaste, the unique Blessing of Elation in the Simulated Universe, available right there from the very beginning. This section certainly changed the way Aha appears, from a careless often unfunny and unhinged clown to a possibly quite cunning and scheming joker. It’s quite honestly no wonder that so many beings in the universe won’t mind throwing hands against Aha.
Around the same time, the Trailblazer is setting off to the Inkford Hermitage, the area sitting at the very edge between the real Planarcadia and the World in Canvas. There, the protagonist hopes to find Graphia and warn her that Asat Pramad has returned. But the raccoon gets so much more than they bargained for.
After learning the story of those ancient Phantasmoon Games from the ever-suspicious Nihilux and Imagenae named Casper, the Trailblazer runs directly into Graphia. Right as the protagonist gets a chance to doubt the identity of the red-haired woman, she spins it on them – revealing that Asat Pramad can change his appearance at will, and had done so during the Cinderearth War, she demands the Trailblazer proves the truth of their words.
Just like that, Asat Pramad in disguise has managed to gaslight, gatekeep and girlboss the protagonist before a seed of doubt at the convenience of it all could take place. After all, if we have to prove our identity and reassure the other side, that means they’re the real deal and have come to the same conclusions, no? That also allows the crafty Lord Ravager to find his way inside the World of Canvas as an uninvited guest.
Before the Trailblazer could set off, they run into some old friends: Blade, who has resigned himself to the final, possibly agonizing death in the Voracity’s maw, and crestfallen Silver Wolf, saddened but unable to deny his decision.
Together, the trio meets with Graphia – who does not show any recognition at seeing the Trailblazer, but at that point the protagonist’s mind is on completely other matters – and ventures into the World in Canvas.
Blade’s fight with Shuhu in the Voracity’s Maw serves as a way to reinforce his own identity. Perhaps he is no Yingxing anymore, but he had been once – and Yingxing the crafter is still a part of him, as is the Quintet, but it doesn’t have to be the defining one.
In a way, he repeats the journey that Dan Heng underwent in Version 3.6, embracing his own other self, although in a much more violent way where Shuhu is concerned, to forge a new path ahead. And sometimes you have to return to your very roots before you are ready to proceed, which is exactly what Blade has done.
Sure, he is not the man who forged weapons for his friends anymore, he’s the man who charges in first, using himself as a weapon. But he is still the master craftsman at heart, and he has new kin to protect. It also felt like the game very lightly hinted that we’ll see new versions of Kafka and Firefly in the future, which won’t surprise me at all.
Of five people, only one is still stuck in the past – you are not one of them, Jing Yuan. Hopefully, we’ll either see Baiheng return one way or another and upend the status quo all over again, or Jingliu move forward as well. Perhaps when it’s the time for the Godslayer Protocol? Any day now?
Planarcadia has been spectacular in tackling the question and the very idea of identity, from Sparkle and Sparxie, to Evanescia and Graphia, and now onto Blade, Himeko and Asat Pramad. Knowing just who you are, what you are striving for, and who aids you on this journey is a power-up in and of itself.
The idea that an Aeon can turn away from their own Path or a Pathstrider can step off theirs (and suffer the consequences, like Graphia and her descendants) plays into it nicely as well. That also makes you wonder about some characters that we know have changed their Paths, such as Asat Pramad himself and The Dahlia.
The most intriguing – even if slightly drawn-out – part is no doubt Himeko’s section. What starts as a heartfelt chat between father and daughter who had finally seemed to find some common ground quickly devolves into a deathmatch that will decide the future of Planarcadia.
Ryusuke being suspicious was an obvious thing, and it was a bait – not the red herring that hid the true antagonist, but rather a trap that hid the depths of this treachery. The idea that he was working for or with the Lord Ravager seemed to almost be a given, but being the Lord Ravager who was simply playing a sick joke by pretending to be a father and a caring dean? Now that’s some dedication.
And we still have to wonder – how much of it was pretending? Perhaps Asat Pramad is someone who plays his roles with everything he has, much like Constance, just to relish the second of Destruction when it all falls apart.
Still, one truth persists – there’s much more to what happened 15 years ago on Planarcadia than even this Version reveals. Even if we accept that Himeko – our Himeko, the Navigator – is truly the Imagenae of the real child that perished during the Bloodstained Games, some things don’t add up.
For one, the Imagenae cannot exist outside of Planarcadia for a prolonged period of time. Secondly, the mystery of the Express being fixed. Thirdly, the “lie of the Trailblaze” hinted at by Asat Pramad. The real answer will likely come in V4.4 with the release of Himeko Nova, but so far it seems that a Stellaron managed to leave its mark here as well.
The question of identity raises its head once more. From the standpoint of the Trailblazer or other members of the crew, nothing at all changed, and Himeko is still the same as she’d always been, our Navigator.
But things are undoubtedly different – just like Ryusuke being Asat Pramad this entire time and raising Himeko as his own.
However, before we can beat the answers out of him, we’ll have to get through his ridiculously OP abilities that include (but are likely not limited to) reading the Script the way Elio does, reality manipulation that is no weaker than that of Silver Wolf LV999, and the skill to cast his dice and affect the outcomes, which has negated all of the protagonists attacks so far.
Between his backstory, personal connections to the Fools and the Elation, the Express and the Trailblaze, Himeko and Planarcadia, his powers and the sheer aura he has, we have a great antagonist on our hands.
It would be a pity if magic of friendship prevails in V4.4, but this time I choose to believe in HoYoverse (while inwardly hoping that we’ll lose and run off to Astrapolis to finally call the Anti-Destruction Alliance to target Asat Pramad as their first goal).
My only real persistent complaint when it comes to HSR is the lack of interesting events, especially those more narrative-driven rather than lazy mobile “match-3” type of minigames. We saw that the developers can do them, they simply choose not to for some reason.
Sure, the upcoming Fate collab will likely have an associated story, but I hope that we get more content that explores how things are going in the worlds we have visited before – just like Genshin still has their seasonal regional events like the Lantern Rite or the Windblume Festival.
