The Amphoreus saga has finally ended, spanning across eight versions, becoming the longest-running storyline in Honkai Star Rail. After Penacony, the expectation for the next storyline was set very high, and the announcement of Amphoreus only put gasoline into an already burning forest fire. The trailer promised a massive tale of twelve new characters, in a new world that even Akivili had never trailblazed before. Old Hoyoverse fans easily spotted that the storyline was following the Elysian Realm arc of HI3, which was considered the best storytelling arc from the company.
Sadly, Amphoreus failed to live up to the high expectations, falling victim to pacing issues, missing high points, and a year-long build-up that fizzled into a lukewarm finale. Here is my take on the Amphoreus saga, where I think Hoyoverse went wrong and what they could do to better it in the next Edo Star storyline.
Merging Storylines Could Have Saved Amphoreus in Honkai Star Rail
The biggest problem with Amphoreus was pacing and an unnecessarily long build-up. Where Penacony finished in four versions, Amphoreus dragged it to eight. Normally, it’s perfectly fine to develop a story over time, but we must remember that each version in HSR takes 42 days, or 1 and a half months. If the story on the update day doesn’t grab or excite us, why should we look forward to the next part, which takes nearly two months to arrive? What they should have done is merge multiple versions.
Firefly’s death was the hook for Penacony’s first update. What was the hook for Amphoreus? Nothing!
For example, the entire 3.0 and 3.1 versions could have been made into one. Version 3.0 was nothing more than an introduction to Amphoreus and featured a villain that no one cared for. Fast forward to version 3.1, and the story introduced one of the best characters in the game, Anaxagorus, alongside revealing a heartwarming story about Tribbie and Mydei, and featured a much more appealing adversary, the Flame Reaver.
However, in true Hoyoverse fashion, the writers added a whole plotline about one of the Kremnoans kidnapping Trianne, which literally no one cared about. Instead, they could have simply merged both versions into one, cutting almost 40% of the unnecessary content from either to create a much more streamlined story that would have kept everyone excited for more. Similarly, versions 3.3 and 3.4 could have been made into one, and version 3.5 could have been skipped in its entirety.
The only reason Hoyoverse dragged the story this long was to sell all the characters they promised to introduce. This could have also been solved if some of the characters were just introduced as 4-stars. Having fourteen 5-star characters in one arc made absolutely no sense!
Whom to Grab? A Dilemma Felt Worldwide
Honkai Star Rail fans always plan their banner pulls, making sure to grab the best value for their hard-earned Stellar Jades. However, even the best planners would get confused when facing a wall of 5-star characters, each looking valuable. Honkai Star Rail usually managed this by introducing some of the story characters as 4-stars.
For no apparent reason, they suddenly decided to create a drought of 4-star characters for almost a year. This sudden inflation of 5-star characters made players terribly confused about where to invest, which also led to a loss of revenue for Hoyoverse. Characters like Mydei, Cipher, and Anaxa, who are very good for the gameplay and well defined in the story, were forced to skip by players, which many still regret today.
If only four to five characters of Amphoreus were made 4-stars, particularly Cerydra, Anaxa, Cipher, and either Tribbie or Hysilens, Honkai Star Rail players would be a lot less frustrated today.
All That Build-up For What? A Rushed Finale
One of the biggest reasons for Amphoreus’s failures is that the story only had a build-up but never delivered the final payload. When Phainon’s pain and suffering as Khaslana was first revealed, players couldn’t wait for the fight with Lygus and Irontomb in the finale. With retaining interest in the story, Hoyoverse executed a masterstroke by making the successive versions as lackluster as possible.
The biggest ball drop came in the recent Honkai Star Rail 3.7 version. The version started by showing how Irontomb’s revival is a major threat to the universe, with multiple factions from the cosmos coming to help the Astral Express. However, we saw no strategic intervention from any of the key figures from other factions, like Jing Yuan, Aventurine, or members of the Galaxy Rangers.
Instead, everything happened in the background with only a slight comment made about Stephen Lloyd hacking into the Scepter. If this were really a universe-destroying event, shouldn’t the other characters also take active roles alongside Madame Herta, Screwllum, and the Astral Express?
What they could have done is make Irontomb free after Phainon’s reveal as Khaslana. He could have sacrificed himself right then and there, and the next couple of versions could have been the Trailblazer and the universe fighting Irontomb, trying to contain it as they try to find a way to defeat it. Just imagine witnessing a multi-versal war between a Lord Ravager and key figures of the Star Rail universe, wouldn’t it be a better story?
Instead, we get a fight that barely lasts five minutes, with the trailblazers losing for a brief second before Cyrene revives everyone and uses her full potential to help them win. A possible universe-ending event ending in mere minutes with barely any consequences.
How Can Honkai Star Rail Improve in Edo Star
The biggest change Edo Star, the next destination of Honkai Star Rail, must bring is not to drag the story for more than three versions. Keep the story short and impactful. Instead of dragging a story, what can be done instead is to explore other stories, like the war between Abundance and Hunt. Other than that, it is time for Honkai Star Rail to start readding 4-star characters. Every HSR player is tired of seeing only a 5-star character for around a year now. We deserve a break with some engaging 4-star character as well, who won’t be hard to obtain.
Other than that, please deliver on your build-up. Instead of dragging a nonsensical backstory of a character, we could have a version of long interstellar battles. This is a story about space exploration, and the lore is well-built for writers to fully take advantage of it. Introduce bigger and more menacing villains and make them take center stage for multiple versions, not just at the very end.
So, what’s your take on the Amphoreus saga in Honkai Star Rail? Did you enjoy it in Honkai Star Rail? Let us know your opinion in the comments below.
