The epic Aetherium Wars tournament arrived in Honkai: Star Rail on Oct. 11, and although it’s only been out for about a day, players already can’t get enough of it.
One Trailblazer took to Reddit yesterday to share their love for this event and called it the “best event so far” since they are enjoying “pretty much everything about it.”
The Aetherium Wars event adopts a style similar to Pokémon and asks players to collect enemies, called Aether Spirits, from around the world and then deploy those enemies in battle against other competitors. All of these foes take the form of opponents you’ve probably fought many times, and the other contestants in this event are also iconic characters you’ve gotten to know throughout your travels.
You can mix and match different lineups to create your perfect Aether Spirits team for the event, just as you can mix and match your playable characters to design your dream lineup outside of the event.
Another player praised this event’s careful attention to “detail, easter eggs, and battles.” If you’re a Pokémon fan who also enjoys Honkai: Star Rail, this event seems to have been designed especially for you.
The style of this event appears to be heavily inspired by Pokémon not only with its general format and gameplay, but also with the many Easter eggs sprinkled throughout it—another reason players are having an amazing time with the event. One player gathered all the references and shared them to Reddit, but be warned: There could be some spoilers depending on how far into the event you are.
The references and gameplay similarities are so good that one player even called Aetherium Wars a “Pokémon ripoff,” but a funny one nonetheless.
Two characters who appear near the start of the event sound so close to some iconic characters from the franchise that players are actually convinced the voice actors from Pokémon might have lent their talents to Honkai: Star Rail too. The devs haven’t revealed who voiced these characters just yet though, so for now it’s just speculation.
Players are enjoying Aetherium Wars so much that they’re asking for it to become a permanent game mode. Because of this, a player suggested the devs turn it into Honkai: Star Rail’s own version of Genshin Impact’s Genius Invokation TCG.
This player said it would be a “fun way of adding” an “optional PVP mode” that comes with its own currency, allows players to keep dueling new opponents as more planets arrive, and perhaps even offers accessories to customize the teams that are being sent into battle. If Topaz has her own accessories for her Warp Trotter Numby, surely we can dress up our Aether Spirits too.
As much as players do love this event, the one common complaint about it seems to be how you cannot compete against other players. A multiplayer mode in general is a highly requested feature among the Honkai: Star Rail community, through, so this isn’t too surprising to see.
But if players do get their wish granted and this gameplay mode becomes permanent, it could end up seeing the arrival of a PvP mode too.
The Aetherium Wars event will be live until Nov. 11, 2023, so you’ve got a full month to get to work building your dream team and taking on opponents before it comes to an end.
