Before the global success of Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, HoYoverse was known for its action RPG Honkai Impact 3rd. Seven years after the game's initial release in 2016, Honkai Impact 3rd is still going strong, and now a new chapter is on the horizon.
After concluding the story of protagonist Kiana, HoYoverse announced Honkai Impact 3rd Part 2 on September 22. While it won’t be an entirely new game, Part 2 will see major changes to the story and combat systems. Here’s everything you need to know about Honkai Impact 3rd Part 2.
When Is the Honkai Impact 3rd Part 2 Release Date?
During the first look announcement video, HoYoverse revealed that Honkai Impact 3rd Part 2 will come to the game in February 2024.
Until then, fans will still have plenty of content to look forward to thanks to the recent release of patch 6.9, as well as future content in patch 7.0, which will arrive sometime in October.
Is There a Honkai Impact 3rd Part 2 Trailer?
HoYoverse gave Honkai Impact 3rd players an in-depth look at Honkai Impact 3rd Part 2 in a nearly 10-minute-long YouTube video. It highlights the major changes that will come to the game’s story, characters, and combat. Check it out:
What Is the Story of Honkai Impact 3rd Part 2?
The “Part 2” moniker of Honkai Impact 3rd’s massive update is mostly an indicator that one chapter of the game’s sprawling story has finally come to a close and that a new one is beginning. Over the last seven years, Honkai Impact 3rd has focused on the story of protagonist Kiana and her fellow special warriors called Valkyries in an alternate version of Earth and the moon. Kiana’s story ended earlier this year with patch 6.4.
The Honkai Impact 3rd Part 2 first look video introduces players to a new setting and cast of characters for the next chapter of the story. The new protagonist, Dreamseeker, embraces the silent self-insert lead style that both Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail use.
Players will explore the previously unexplored planet of Mars, which until now has been thought uninhabitable in the game’s lore. The setting has been described as a “unique civilization and nature” filled with “different cultures” by HoYoverse President Liu Wei during the Honkai Impact 3rd Part 2 first look.
This partially suggests Honkai Impact 3rd Part 2 could have a similar structure to Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, which both involve taking the player through different areas of the game world to face a new threat while learning about each location’s way of life.
While Part 2 is an update, the story sounds like an entirely new game in many ways. Players will not need to have any knowledge of the events of Part 1 or Kiana, and there is no indication that Kiana and other characters from Part 1 will show up in Part 2.
What Is Combat Like in Honkai Impact 3rd Part 2?
Like its story, Honkai Impact 3rd’s combat is getting a massive overhaul in Part 2. Combat in Honkai Impact 3rd focuses on real-time action combat that encourages players to focus on creating high-damage output characters. This is different from the more team-based combat style of Genshin Impact’s real-time combat, which focuses on holistic party composition. Combat itself is fairly simple, which can be attributed to its mobile origins (Honkai Impact 3rd only came to PC in 2019).
With Part 2, HoYoverse is looking to bring Honkai Impact 3rd’s combat more in line with what players are familiar with in Genshin Impact. The biggest new combat change is the introduction of the Astral Ring system, which will enable simultaneous burst skills of multiple characters. Enemies will also be getting an upgrade, with HoYoverse saying they “will no longer be simple-minded opponents” and will “react in more interesting and intelligent ways.” Overall, it sounds like HoYoverse is trying to bring more strategy to the combat of Honkai Impact 3rd.
