Seeing as how the 4.5 special program drops tomorrow figured I'd drop thoughts on 4.5....Meant to post this sooner but got caught up in ZZZ (Oooh, Remielle...) and Arknights: Endfield (Liino stole all my Oroberyls sadge!...)
Thoughts and speculation after the break...
So originally after 4.4 I thought the reason why 4.5 would be the beach episode / Astropolis is that we would put a bandaid on Ouroboros because our maybe other half kept saying 8 with everything (wonder if he watched the ring one too many times?) is that we would have enough time to try and bandaid it while we get more aid and what better place than Astropolis? But too many extra questions, how would we get there ( The express needs repairs and omg is PomPom OKAY?!)
But especially with the description for the 4.5 Special program It's looking like it's going to be some wibbly wobbly timey wimey...stuff going on.
The description mentions " This summer version will bring you a Trailblaze Continuance taking place shortly — or perhaps a long time — after the conclusion of our journey in Planarcadia. " Trailblaze Continuance's typically have build upon existing storylines but have not furthered the main story and as I've realized watching new streamers that play HSR you don't have to play them to continue on the main storyline. Xianzhou War Games, Holy Grail War, Topaz's introduction/Aetherum Wars to name a few.
This is an interesting choice for HoYo to go with, almost like they are trying to build suspense from 4.4 and it reminds me of the midseason / summer cliffhangers you would get on TV shows of old and have to wait a couple months for them to return (The wait to know who shot Mr. Burns was craaazy...)
It can definitely explain how we go from " Oh, crap Ouroboros is waking up and gonna gobble the planet" to " Beach vacation with Aventurine and Robin!" Hopefully it does give some more lore and such as the intro Planarcadia trailers gave us.
I was thinking that Planarcadia would be two patches (4.5 & 4.6) and then we would go back on 4.7 and wrap things up but with Pearl being drip marketed it's sounding like 4.6 will go back to Planarcadia (or maybe it'll be a split PoV Thing? Only time will telll....)
I'll be watching the Special program in the morning and seeing where that goes. I don't for a second think that we'll ever get a 100% peaceful vacation, we are the baseball racoon after all!
Woooo, finally made it to Wealth Creator! I took a break ascending to get all the bonds at Amethyst 9. Ran Elation and Stellaron Hunter build and Silver Wolf lv 999 carried!
Can't wait to see how more ridiculous things get as O ascend higher
So, I've had time for 4.4 to settle and to think things through especially after rewatching it a few times...
This is probably gonna be long and I'll try to condense it so it's not a novella but no guarantees 😅
Note: Spoilers if you haven't played 4.4...
As I had said previously, I think that the story was exceptional and 4.3/4.4 as a group is right up there with 3.3/3.4 as my new favorite patches. I say them together because one leads into the other imo and it's just how I'm viewing things, your mileage may vary. It really does seem like it's going to be emotional damage July esp if 5.x does the same thing, haha.
I will say that this patch may have hit me a bit harder than others but I'm factoring that up to the great OST and the amazing voice acting that got me in my feelings. Also, as someone who has family who has a chronic illness I was able to be more sympathetic and relate more to Motoko as watching someone that you care about go through these issues and there's not always much that you can do to help them but support them.
Even with it being an exceptional patch I do have my gripes about the patch but that I'll talk about those later.
What I liked (in no particular order):
The Music:
As always HoYo never disappoints with the OST's and this was no exception. Shout out to Fallen Stars Cradle for making me so emotional during this patch, excellent timing during the Himeko/Trailblazer scenes at the end.
Also, Shout out to Asat Pramad's Boss fight OST's and Beyond this Station. Great music to listen to while playing the game or doing work in the background.
What I liked:
I loved the Asat Pramad boss fight mechanics and his forms. You can see that HoYo really wanted to show off his three masks/forms to show his journey to becoming Asat Pramad. I did not expect an RNG lore session so that was definitely something and wild that they made it actual RNG instead of scripted rolls for story purposes.
From what Himeko was saying in how Asat instilled the thought of trailblazing in her and she nurtured that, One could say that Asat never really left the Trailblaze. It's almost like he moved onto other things but still held the Trailblaze to some degree in his heart.
Love Himeko Nova's design and combat, one of my favorites with Planarcadia. Currently playing with a Himeko Nova (E1 at time of writing), Welt (E4), Sunday (E0), and Dan Heng Permansor Terrae (E0) and the team is working really well. The design of the apocalyptic world that Asat Imaginated was really nice to look at and definitely sets the stage.
Holy Voice Actors batman, they killed it this patch! Cia Court and Chloe Eves nailed it as Himeko and Trailblazer this patch! Major props to them both, The voice acting combined with the music made this story so much more immersive. Honorable mention to the Caelus VA for being "the evil one?" lol as I play Stelle.
To me, Beyond this Station really brought me back after I got in my feelings from Himeko's conversation with the trailblazer. Can we just say that canonically Himeko sacrificed herself and was rescued by the Trailblazer through her wish to the Stellaron and call it a day?
The kinda play they made was a one time only thing with Himeko, they can't really do this a second time as everyone will be more apprehensive and they would have to make it permanent and if that ever happens they'll never escape the memes and shadow of Honkai Impact 3rd.
I will say that I totally did not see the twist coming that Himeko had transferred the weathering curse to her so that Himeko could live her life and now this makes sense what Himeko was saying about a "borrowed life".
What I didn't like/What felt off to me:
While I really liked the story at least to me some parts felt like they jumped around and weren't the smoothest or were some gaps.
Himeko/Motoko POV:
I noticed this during the Himeko :Painter in the studio PoV shift where some parts were longer and other parts really short with some gaps IMO (unless they are going to be filled out later but we'll see I suppose?).
That PoV has the general flow of:
Part one: Setting Additional lore for Himeko and Ryusuke (Asat) and explaining how Himeko found the express and worked on it, along with some coffee lore in the workshop. I'd say medium length overall
The Sanatorium showing us a slice of Himeko's life right before entering the Phantasmoon Games and shows us in game how Himeko brought Motoko to life with Imagenesis and actually mentioning her name in game. It also sets the stage for showing how much Motoko cares for Himeko and wants to see her succeed and is becoming a motherly figure to Himeko. I'd say this is the longest part of this sequence due to the amount of dialogue and interactable's there are.
A beautiful courtyard that seems to be set post Phantasmoon Games with Himeko and Motoko standing. The visuals are stunning especially the sky showing the silver rail. There is a small conversation on Starblazer and how they beat the herald of death and more conversation with Motoko being supportive of Himeko's want to trailblaze and ride the express and then the reveal that Himeko actually did survive.
It's an uplifting scene right after the more somber scene at the Sanatorium, however something always seemed off to me in that the game and trailers build Motoko up as building Himeko up and caring for her greatly but the only thing Motoko has to say about defeating the Herald of death is "Because we have each other" when Himeko seemingly can't believe they actually defeated the herald of death? I was expecting more Emotion from Himeko about how she was worried about her post Herald of Death fight. Just seems like a missed opportunity to flesh out more details.
Welt's interactions this patch:
To me it felt like Welt was just kinda "there" to fill an Astral Express seat for some of the patch. He was integral to figure out Himeko's message and dig out the express and gets cutscene time when the Astral Express shows up but other than that what did they script Welt to do otherwise?
In the 4.4 Trailer it looked like Welt was about to pop off with his Star of Eden abilities but that never really seemed to happen which as a bit disappointing...
And in the Asat boss fight it seemed like they intentionally sectioned the rest of the Astral Express from Himeko and Trailblazer which I can get for plot reasons but the next time we hear from Welt is all the way at the end after they defeat Asat and Himeko is welcomed back Welt's response is talking about what I assume a conversation they have had in the past "Just like Is aid, the giant robot was right" which it does make sense for Welt to make a mention about Robots. Maybe his reaction is related more to his backstory and goes into hi3 lore (which I'm only around ch.9/10 so not too familiar...yet...) but it left something to be desired.
One can hope that now that everyone else from the Astral Express has had some of their backstory fleshed out that 5.x will be welts time to shine (Or it could just be Copium... but then the Welt memes would intensify) But something I felt odd.
Speculating on HSR 4.4 story / Himeko speculation.
With 4.4 dropping soon, putting my thoughts here:
I'm going to be disappointed to some degree if 4.4 / Planarcadia gets nicely wrapped up in a bow and then we move onto the beach next patch (Caveat: Unless they pull off a banger of a story line which is always possible...). It would be more interesting if we had to retreat from Planarcadia because Asat turned out to be too strong for us and we have go to Astropolis to get help from the IPC and Robin.
If Himeko sacrifices herself so that we can escape and then there is some plot that brings us back to Astropolis and resurrects Himeko
Asat has the weathering curse and he wasn't lying because he forsake his path(s). This can explain why he is so interested in how Himeko 'freed herself of the weathering curse'. This is still assuming that he was telling the truth to Himeko and not saying the only time he lied was when he said he was her father Ryusuke.
Well, just finished 4.4 and I can say that I'm definitely not disappointed with the 4.4 story. It was exceptional, 4.3 & 4.3 may have dethroned 3.3/3.4 as my new favorite patch.
Some things got taken care of and others didn't so there's that for the future...more mysteries and more intrigue... Will need to ruminate on my thoughts before I post a full follow up...
26.07.18 - Note: finished the 4.4 patch and will ruminate on it and will follow up on a post...
Brain dumping thoughts on the character trailers before playing 4.4 especially since they've been bouncing around my brain from having to wait a few extra days before playing.
Also, these trailers, specifically the Animated Short and the Character trailer are my new favorites, right up there with Firefly's trailers for me.
As with anything don't read below unless as there will be spoilers!
With all three of the Himeko trailers I get the feeling that they are hope mixed with despair/sadge, the HSR team is really good at this and also at putting things in that may not be in the correct order to weave a story that keeps you guessing.
Steam of consciousness thoughts and additional context as I watch through the various trailers again.
I'm noticing some parallels to Phainon and Firefly in the symbolism and language used.
Also, alot of the trailers quotes in the description seem to be them talking to one another but it doesn't give context...
Also, they reference quotes in a trailer of things they said previously.
Improv Tour Trailer: "To the Onlooker":
It gives us a glimpse of Himeko as a young adult and provides some backstory and how everyone treats her since she has the weathering curse. Helps to set the story for how Himeko longs for the stars and with Starchaser.
Also, it helps to set the story for how she worked to repair the astral express. The trailer gives me vibes that Himeko Imaginated Motoko but initially she has this form because Himeko couldn't imagine what her future self would look like. To me it does look similar to Himeko just more ethereal. Kinda gives Phainon warrior inside vibes here.
Another thought is she imaginated a friend since Asat was hardly there for her...
Then at the end we see a picture of what appears to be Himeko's future self and I'll call it her 'inner self' touch the painting and then turn into what we now know as Present day Himeko and referred to as 'Motoko' in the trailers.
Animated Short: "Your Ending, My beginning":
This Animated short was both hype and also sad. HoYo knew what they were doing by animating this very similar to hi3 animations and using similar poses and background tracks for the animation.
I have saw alot of discourse over how things were explained in 4.3 vs. what the trailer shows and my understanding is that part was how Himeko was telling the story to Ryusuke(Asat). I got the vibe that Himeko was deliberately skewing details to sus out if Ryusuke was real or a fake.
The trailer does confirm that Himeko created Motoko and she has a very phainon line in "My wish is to fufill your wish" along with a very Firefly line of "Even if we burn to ashes...This shall be proof that we lived "
The Mech / Magical girl transformation sequence is beautiful and amazing and the ethereal glow that Himeko Nova shows at the beginning of the transformation reminds me of the previous form.
The fight sequence is great, who doesn't love a G Gundam style Mech vs. Kaiju city scale fight?!
I haven't seen anyone else mention this but this part really gives me Nightglow vibes as the pose is very similar to Hi3 Himeko with her sword right next to Kiana at the end. Might just be a coincidence and we do know from HSR 4.1 Mecha PomPom fight that to Imaginate something is one thing but to make it move takes wishpower.
Now I've seen a lot of disagreement in the community based on this part of who sacrificed themselves and I think it's meant to be vague and throw you off.
Personal opinion is it was Young Himeko who used her lifeforce to power up Motoko/Himeko Nova/Starblazer. I've seen people say it was Motoko because when they combined she was the blue/blue white and that was her burning her power and not the Red that was Himeko.
Why do I think it was the opposite? Because I interpret the blue/white flames? as Himeko Nova getting a power boost like you would see in Anime from this additional info. This power boost and sacrifice ignites the flames of the Trailblaze which is why the Astral express lights up as well as you see Starblazer and Flames.
At the end of course we see that Motoko is holding young Himeko and she has her eyes closed and is unresponsive giving us a "is she knocked out or worse?" speculation and the feels definitely come a feeling as the opening theme plays and the Astral Express goes starward.
Further confusion is the repeat of Himeko having dreams and Asat with his smug ending lines.
Himeko * Nova Character Trailer: "The Morning Star Falls Tonight":
IMO Best character trailer thus far. It is so well animated and the transitions are just beautiful along with the soundtrack. I really think it sets the scale of the stakes especially at the beginning, Asat is a very big threat and it's structured in a way to paint a picture of everyone maybe not coming out unscathed (or worse). These trailers may also be HoYo playing into the Himeko memes that every Himeko must die and "Himeko stay on the express" kinda thing.
The starting notes and phrases of " Today, Navigator Himeko is leaving the Astral Express" only helps to paint and advance this narrative. They are helping to paint mystery of if Young Himeko lived or died due to the dialog mentioned. I don't think all of this trailer is from the same time frame as some may older and others younger. Also, it sounds like Motoko has survivors guilt because she dreams of that moment often.
Once this trailer starts it doesn't stop and the more I've watched it the more I've gotten theories and caught additional details
This shot leads me to believe that Young Himeko is alive but in very dire straits. My first thought was that this was a room in the express and that the Trailblaze/Astral express is keeping Young Himeko alive (which would also explain the need for refueling...) Beautiful star in the background.
Then of course you have the letters " S A C R A F I C E " appear quickly individually to further this thought and Young Himeko's body appears to be shaken by some force?
There is a faint beeping and then Young Himeko is jarred awake as if she was waking up from being unconscious from the Fusion and her using her lifeforce to power starblazer.
This whole sequence before the Himeko Nova character card makes me think of two things:
1.) Young Himeko is providing a tactical role to Himeko nova and since they merged they can communicate somehow. Gives me Babs Gordon Oracle vibes honestly.
2.) Young Himeko can control Himeko Nova somehow remotely? (Due to their fusion?!) Or maybe the community is right and Motoko actually did sacrifice themself and the Himeko we know has been operated by Young Himeko all this time?
This part after Himeko Nova hits a wall after being hit and Young Himeko being affected seems to give this some additional proof....
The transition to this was phenominal and 10/10
Next sequence is painting that the odds are against us and stacked especially with Asat Pramat.
There's so many "death flags" and actual colored blood that we could have a parade here.... Which is interesting especially since they've gona with other motifs before for blood...
This scene I think actually helps to tell that Both Young Himeko and Motoko did survive and that Himeko is in the express. How it pans out I'm assuming that Motoko/Nova has told Young Himeko that she's going to send a train car away from Asat and make her final stand which Young Himeko obviously doesn't agree with...
Especially with the lines of " No, this can't be it! If you can't come with me, what's the point of all of this?!" . Young Himeko doesn't want to actually see Himeko Nova sacrifice herself because them she'll be alone and what is the point of her living?
The Younger Himeko is a great transition to tell her beliefs and story in a tugging the heart string way. Before it goes into the uplifting battle sequence and theme.
Motoko cranking what I believe is the express would further support this.
Possibly this part is Young Himeko wanting to sever the chain of fate and a throw back to the Animated short where if she's going to die she's going to do it on her own terms?
May just be me but this reminded me so much of Amphoreus and gave me major Tribios and Triane Vibes!
The battle scene was a triumphant power boost with defying the chains of fate.
This transition was phenomenal and totally unexpected but ever since Penacony we do seem to love running the Astral express into things haha...
Aaand then the hi3 parallels are back again with the very end of nightglow..
But it seems like this will be different because the Trailblazer and other members of the Astral Express will always be there.
And a great logo animation! so much to say but can't wait to play!
Speculating on HSR 4.4 story / Himeko speculation.
With 4.4 dropping soon, putting my thoughts here:
I'm going to be disappointed to some degree if 4.4 / Planarcadia gets nicely wrapped up in a bow and then we move onto the beach next patch (Caveat: Unless they pull off a banger of a story line which is always possible...). It would be more interesting if we had to retreat from Planarcadia because Asat turned out to be too strong for us and we have go to Astropolis to get help from the IPC and Robin.
If Himeko sacrifices herself so that we can escape and then there is some plot that brings us back to Astropolis and resurrects Himeko
Asat has the weathering curse and he wasn't lying because he forsake his path(s). This can explain why he is so interested in how Himeko 'freed herself of the weathering curse'. This is still assuming that he was telling the truth to Himeko and not saying the only time he lied was when he said he was her father Ryusuke.
I'm putting this here and hopefully below will be a "read more" so no one can get spoiled if they aren't this far or have to wait to start the patch.
I have not played 4.3 yet (darn work lol) but I wanted to stop procrastinating and put my thoughts down after watching the 4.3 trailer but before playing 4.3
This is going to be a bit rough around the edges and more of a stream of consciousness thing so forgive me if it's not the best on grammar and punctuation.
THAR BE POTENTIAL SPOILERS BELOW SPECULATING ON 4.3!!!!
Judging from the trailer it seems like they may be trying to sew some confusion or doubt about the current Himeko just like they did at the end of 4.0. This is making me think that the current Himeko is not 100% the Himeko during the last Phantasmoon games.
Himeko made a pact with Graphia/Aha as her winning the Phantasmoon games and that is why it seems like she got rid of the weathering curse.
Another theory could be that this is like an alternate timeline Himeko or something like Himeko merged herself with an Imagenae
I had a thought at the end of 4.2 of " Watch Graphia end up looking similar to Himeko in some way" and it sounds like that might be true, given the hair style...
Graphia is a former nameless and Himeko fixed the Astral Express that Graphia had crashed down on which explains her boarding pass in the trailer.
All that I know is that I don't want to hear anyone mention "Final Lessons" or hear anyone talk about Nightglow... (you know what I mean hi3 players...)
Will make a follow up post once I have finished 4.3 (which may be towards the end of the week with how much I can play per day...)
Okay, I finished 4.3 the Friday after I posted it but it's been been a bit... And I wanted it to review what I had put down and see how it went...
Also, creating a separate space for HSR Ramblings...
Discussion about speculation on 4.3 below!
Judging from the trailer it seems like they may be trying to sew some confusion or doubt about the current Himeko just like they did at the end of 4.0. This is making me think that the current Himeko is not 100% the Himeko during the last Phantasmoon games. <---- After going through 4.3 I'd say this was Partially correct as if we are to believe Asat, Himeko is an Imaginae. Especially from the last cutscene which seemed to be Asat trying to stir the destruction within Himeko like he did with Graphia but when it had no effect Asat knew that this was not the original Himeko.
Himeko made a pact with Graphia/Aha as her winning the Phantasmoon games and that is why it seems like she got rid of the weathering curse. <---- Unknown as of 4.3...I have a feeling we will get more details in 4.4...
Another theory could be that this is like an alternate timeline Himeko or something like Himeko merged herself with an Imagenae Another theory could be that this is like an alternate timeline Himeko or something like Himeko merged herself with an Imagenae. <--- Nothing specifically discussed in 4.3, will review in 4.4
I had a thought at the end of 4.2 of " Watch Graphia end up looking similar to Himeko in some way" and it sounds like that might be true, given the hair style... <---- Can call this true given 4.3
Graphia is a former nameless and Himeko fixed the Astral Express that Graphia had crashed down on which explains her boarding pass in the trailer. <---- Graphia does seem to be related to the express as she does have an express earring in her boss form and there are comments from Asat that the Astral express was what changed her.
All that I know is that I don't want to hear anyone mention "Final Lessons" or hear anyone talk about Nightglow... (you know what I mean hi3 players...) <--- So no nightglow or this mention in 4.3 but I swear if it or something similar pops up in 4.4 It's gonna be the waterworks!
Will post some 4.4 speculations when it gets closer to patch!
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