
Their first destination is Jarilo-VI, a planet that has been mostly ravaged by the Eternal Freeze, an uninhabitable winter due to the power of a Stellaron. In an attempt to discover their origins and eliminate the threats of the remaining Stellarons, the Trailblazer departs with the Astral Express crew.

After eliminating the remaining threats, the Trailblazer meets Himeko, the Astral Express's engineer, and Welt, an interdimensional traveler from the Honkai Impact 3rd universe. Both are traveling on the Astral Express, a large cosmic train that travels the universe along the eponymous "Star Rail". The Trailblazer wakes up and meets two members of the crew, March 7th and Dan Heng. They join a band of adventurers, the Trailblazers, traveling from world to world aboard the Astral Express, their space train. The player character, the Trailblazer, whose name and gender are chosen by the player, awakens without their memory aboard a space station and discovers that they are imbued with a Stellaron, a disruptive cosmic entity. The game is set in a science-fantasy universe in which humanity follows the paths of beings called Aeons. Elements of open-world and dungeon exploration are present, with multiple mechanics, including the gacha system, carried over from HoYoverse's action RPG Genshin Impact.

Honkai: Star Rail follows the gameplay style of classic Japanese role-playing games: players build up a lineup of characters, and control a team of four in turn-based combat.

A battle in Honkai Star Rail, showcasing its turn-based combat system.
