The release of Amphoreus in Honkai: Star Rail is an uncharted planet that is enveloped in mystery.

Also known as The Eternal Land, Amphoreus has heavy inspirations from Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman mythologies and civilizations, which go from its world design down to its narrative design, too. The characters, from the lowly NPCs to the Chrysos Heirs, also draw inspiration from them, helping build a solid and consistent new destination. Version 3.0 is also responsible for the introduction of Remembrance as a playable Path, the first new addition since the game’s release in 2023. Remembrance in Honkai: Star Rail revolves around using special summons called memosprites, and a bit of it was shown with Version 3.0.

Amphoreus’ Story Kicks Off In Style In Honkai: Star Rail 3.0

Exploring The Eternal Land Feels Dangerous

While there is still so much mystery surrounding Amphoreus, its characters, and where the story is heading, it’s safe to say that the first Amphoreus Trailblaze Missions introduced with Version 3.0 kicked off the new narrative arc with immense style. Unlike previous destinations where a select number of Nameless arrived at a hospitable destination, Amphoreus greets the Trailblazers with a load of action, putting them into a hostile and suspicious location. This sense of thrill upon being introduced to a new location has been absent since the game’s prologue, where the Trailblazer awakens in a battle-ridden Herta Space Station.

As the campaign in Amphoreus progresses, the narrative arc tends to flex back into what we’re used to when it comes to being introduced to a new world in Honkai: Star Rail. Players soon meet a roster of characters who quickly become allies, despite some increased suspicion about their intents and personalities. What is remarkable, especially when put side-by-side with other planets, is that Amphoreus is in a state of constant danger and awareness, which creates a lingering effect of not knowing what is to come – which is precisely what makes Amphoreus so fun to progress through.

The story of the Version 3.0 missions takes several twists and turns and takes its time when detailing the new characters that the Trailblazers meet. It is not unlike the way characters have been presented in previous areas, but it seems like it’s possible to get to know these characters better almost immediately, which helps with immersion. From an initial standpoint, the story of Amphoreus can seem somewhat confusing with all of its Chrysos Heirs, Titans, and Coreflames, but that is almost immediately addressed once players have a special reunion with Aglaea in Honkai: Star Rail.

As such, players lose little time pondering what is going on and, instead, start working toward a solution while trying to actively decipher the many different personalities and intentions that the Chrysos Heirs have. It’s a great way of avoiding bumps in the narrative progression. Combining the journey with exploration across the new maps, the story starts strong, especially with the great new boss battle at the end of the quests and the immense cliffhanger set to be explored in Version 3.1, the patch that should see the releases of Mydei and Tribbie in Honkai: Star Rail.

Honkai: Star Rail Has Never Felt So Big With Amphoreus’ Maps

Okhema & Other Areas Are Gargantuan

HoYoverse lived up to what it had said: Amphoreus is set to be the biggest destination in the game so far. While not all the maps planned for Amphoreus have been released as of Version 3.0, the ones that were introduced with the update are immense. Okhema, the capital of the planet and the last safe haven for humanity, feels larger than the already huge Golden Hour Dreamscape in Penacony. The map’s design stands out as it is not only large in a horizontal sense, but even vertically. There are rooftops to explore, secretive areas, and much more to explore.

Even corridors leading from one place to another tend to have some interactable element.

The other maps in Amphoreus are a bit more set to standard when it comes to scale, but they come filled with new enemies to defeat and puzzles to resolve, including ingenious time-rewinding activities that extend from elaborate progression-based puzzles to minor aesthetic fixes in the scenarios. These new maps in Honkai: Star Rail 3.0 offer players a lot to do, much like the previous regions, but there is a sense of enormity applied to them that is a beautiful product of the destination’s design.

The maps in Amphoreus make the game feel much larger than ever before, even if they offer a similar (yet still outstanding) amount of content, but these areas never feel too large and, with its rewards and activities, too widespread. With its gargantuan scale, the Amphoreus maps are able to convey why the destination is the biggest in the game so far without ever making players feel like there is too much or too little to do in each zone. The design of the maps themselves looks beautiful and unprecedented with new assets that never cease to amaze.

Honkai: Star Rail 3.0 Characters & Remembrance Don’t Feel As Groundbreaking As Amphoreus

The Herta Doesn’t Feel Like A Necessary Pull

Version 3.0 introduces three new playable characters: The Herta, the Remembrance Trailblazer, and Aglaea. While most of these characters were set up and marketed to be game-changing units, from their importance in the lore down to gameplay value, they are a bit lackluster. Surely, The Herta is a strong Ice Erudition character, capable of dispatching large groups of enemies with the immense amount of damage she can deal. However, The Herta’s power doesn’t feel that much different from other DPS units, such as Acheron or Firefly.

It’s worth noting that Screen Rant did not have access to Aglaea before the writing of this review.

Even by having access to the character at E6S5 for a week before Version 3.0’s release thanks to HoYoverse’s preview access, and thus being capable of also using The Herta’s best builds and team comps, nothing really convinced me about pulling for her with the release of Version 3.0. As one of the most important Ice DPS units in the game, she didn’t really stand out to me, which ultimately resulted in a definitive skip, as good as she may actually be. The Remembrance Trailblazer is not too different, but I have more hopes for them.

The protagonist’s new form is the first playable Remembrance character. This is a groundbreaking feat and all players have access to them if they progress sufficiently through the Amphoreus campaign. The Remembrance Trailblazer in Honkai: Star Rail offers players a glimpse into what the Path could feel like in the form of a unit that works in a variety of team comps. Although they contribute to the team’s damage output, the Remembrance Trailblazer stands out by ing allies. The buffs they provide are immense and should not be disregarded, such as the constant CRIT DMG applied to all allies.

The risks are more tangible than ever, and Honkai: Star Rail 3.0 is putting the game on track for another successful year.

When it comes to gameplay mechanics, despite being capable of summoning the memosprite called Mem into battle, the rotation with the Remembrance Trailblazer doesn’t feel too different from other units. Surely, they do a great job within their role, but players shouldn’t go in expecting the Path of the Remembrance to drastically alter the structure of combat because it simply won’t. I’m more excited about the Remembrance Trailblazer’s future than I am with their current state, as the future release of Amphoreus characters in Honkai: Star Rail could show just how vital they will become in team comps.

The future will also show if they can match the power level of the Harmony Trailblazer, who shook up the meta in 2024.

It’s impossible to determine exactly how the Path of the Remembrance is without having access to Agalea during HoYoverse’s preview period and the first few weeks of Version 3.0 (since Aglaea’s release is set for Phase 2 banners). It’s likely that her arrival as a team’s main DPS unit will help showcase the versatility of Remembrance characters, being capable of operating as s like the Trailblazer, or as damage dealers. Based on what’s been shown so far, I’m not expecting much, but only time will tell how Aglaea performs in Honkai: Star Rail.

Overall, Version 3.0 is one of the best patches the turn-based RPG has seen in a while, especially following the annoying yet important story arc in Penacony Paperfold University. Amphoreus takes on a more serious approach to its story without too many ludicrous and comical elements that were previously made possible by Penacony’s dreamscapes. Here, the risks are more tangible than ever, and Honkai: Star Rail 3.0 is putting the game on track for another successful year, even if the new playable characters are not as game-changing as we’d expected.

Screen Rant was granted a preview test for the purposes of this review.