Hands On: HoYoverse’s Pokémon Rival Won Me Over – I Just Need It on PS5

I’ve never played an auto chess game – or auto battler, as I think the parlance has settled upon.

Despite this, I’m fairly familiar with the format of games like Teamfight Tactics, because it’s a genre one of my favourite developers HoYoverse seems utterly obsessed with.

If you play Honkai: Star Rail with any regularity, you’ll be familiar with the endgame mode Currency Wars, which takes elements from auto battlers and repurposes them for its turn-based combat system.

Similarly, there have been various events in both Genshin Impact and Zenless Zone Zero which have been inspired by auto battlers, including one featuring the cutesy Bangboo characters from the latter release.

I’m not sure whether the giant Chinese dev has been using these activities to gather feedback for Honkai: Nexus Anima, but it’s sure helped me feel comfortable with a genre I’ve never interacted with before.

As part of its intent to corner every part of the gaming market, this new effort from the ever-expanding studio blends the aforementioned Teamfight Tactics-inspired strategy gameplay with Pokémon-esque creature catching.

Having played the game’s recent closed beta for a few hours, I think it’s a compelling blend.

I’m tired of HoYoverse’s nauseous overemphasis on proper nouns, so the narrative here has done little for me, even if there’s clearly plenty of intrigue baked into the game’s cutesy premise.

You’ll already be familiar with some of the characters, like Blade from Honkai: Star Rail and Otto from Honkai Impact 3rd, so it’s quite cool to see the universes converge. But if I see one more subtitle with smallprint explainers positioned within it, I might just explode.

The world itself is vibrant, although it’s not overly dissimilar to the busy blend of urban assets you may already be familiar with in Honkai: Star Rail’s Planarcadia – the latest planet Trailblazers are exploring.

I think what sets this sandbox apart is its emphasis on creatures, which you can obviously capture a la Pokémon and add to your team.

The world feels a lot more alive and interactive than Game Freak’s efforts, even though I don’t think the creature or character designs are quite up to the same standard yet. Of course, that’s an impossibly high bar for Honkai: Nexus Anima to clear.

I do like the tactical auto battler gameplay, although I must concede I don’t really feel like I’ve extracted all of its depth just yet.

In simple terms, for the purposes of this article, different creatures can be placed on the stage fulfilling unique roles. For example, you might use strong, tank-like monsters on the frontline to withstand damage, while backline critters buff or heal.

Placement feels important, as does synergising different roles and types. I suspect there’s going to be a ton of strategising available in the full game, although unlocking that depth will require a lot of careful reading of statuses and such.

You can also pair your creatures with different Eidoses, or Trainers, who add extra layers to the team-building gameplay. These are what you’ll pull for in the gacha system, alongside different critters.

And this is perhaps the game’s biggest hurdle to overcome. It strikes me Trainers are going to be paired with signature creatures, a little bit like weapons in Genshin Impact, which means the best endgame teams are likely going to rely on pulls rather than actual hunting.

I wonder how much this is going to undermine the Pokémon aspect HoYoverse is clearly trying to capture as well.

My other big question is whether this game is going to even come to PS5 at all.

HoYoverse has had superb success with Honkai: Star Rail on Sony’s console, but Honkai: Nexus Anima feels much more mobile focused than any of its other games.

I tested the title on an iPad Mini where it played great in both long sessions and short bursts, and certainly I think the game could be comfortably adapted to the DualSense without any hassle at all. I just wonder if that’s where the dev wants this game to be played.

To be fair, all of the studio’s titles feature cross-save, and I think it’d be nice to be able to switch between the big screen and mobile play here, so I do hope the dev is considering a console port. There are other auto battlers on the PS5, so the format can certainly work.

With several other gachas already in my rotation, I do think Honkai: Nexus Anima is different enough to get my attention. I’m into the auto battler combat and colourful open world.

Judging by the quality of the beta test, I suspect it won’t be long until this gets a release date, and HoYoverse confirms whether it’s coming to the PS5 at all.

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Are you interested in Honkai: Nexus Anima’s auto battler gameplay? Have you tried any other titles in this genre, like Teamfight Tactics? Let me know in the comments section below.