{"id":1126671,"date":"2026-08-02T21:34:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T21:34:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1126671\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T21:34:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T21:34:25","slug":"hoyoverses-pokemon-rival-won-me-over-i-just-need-it-on-ps5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1126671\/","title":{"rendered":"HoYoverse’s Pok\u00e9mon Rival Won Me Over – I Just Need It on PS5"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Hands<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never played an auto chess game \u2013 or auto battler, as I think the parlance has settled upon.<\/p>\n

Despite this, I\u2019m fairly familiar with the format of games like Teamfight Tactics<\/strong><\/a>, because it\u2019s a genre one of my favourite developers HoYoverse seems utterly obsessed with.<\/p>\n

If you play Honkai: Star Rail<\/a> with any regularity, you\u2019ll be familiar with the endgame mode Currency Wars, which takes elements from auto battlers and repurposes them for its turn-based combat system.<\/p>\n

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

I\u2019m not sure whether the giant Chinese dev has been using these activities to gather feedback for Honkai: Nexus Anima<\/strong><\/a>, but it\u2019s sure helped me feel comfortable with a genre I\u2019ve never interacted with before.<\/p>\n

\"Hands<\/a><\/p>\n

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 Pok\u00e9mon<\/a>-esque creature catching.<\/p>\n

Having played the game\u2019s recent closed beta for a few hours, I think it\u2019s a compelling blend.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m tired of HoYoverse\u2019s nauseous overemphasis on proper nouns, so the narrative here has done little for me, even if there\u2019s clearly plenty of intrigue baked into the game\u2019s cutesy premise.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll already be familiar with some of the characters, like Blade from Honkai: Star Rail and Otto from Honkai Impact 3rd<\/strong><\/a>, so it\u2019s quite cool to see the universes converge. But if I see one more subtitle with smallprint explainers positioned within it, I might just explode.<\/p>\n

The world itself is vibrant, although it\u2019s not overly dissimilar to the busy blend of urban assets you may already be familiar with in Honkai: Star Rail\u2019s Planarcadia \u2013 the latest planet Trailblazers are exploring.<\/p>\n

\"Hands<\/a><\/p>\n

I think what sets this sandbox apart is its emphasis on creatures, which you can obviously capture a la Pok\u00e9mon and add to your team.<\/p>\n

The world feels a lot more alive and interactive than Game Freak\u2019s efforts, even though I don\u2019t think the creature or character designs are quite up to the same standard yet. Of course, that\u2019s an impossibly high bar for Honkai: Nexus Anima to clear.<\/p>\n

I do like the tactical auto battler gameplay, although I must concede I don\u2019t really feel like I\u2019ve extracted all of its depth just yet.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"Hands<\/a><\/p>\n

Placement feels important, as does synergising different roles and types. I suspect there\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

You can also pair your creatures with different Eidoses, or Trainers, who add extra layers to the team-building gameplay. These are what you\u2019ll pull for in the gacha system, alongside different critters.<\/p>\n

And this is perhaps the game\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

I wonder how much this is going to undermine the Pok\u00e9mon aspect HoYoverse is clearly trying to capture as well.<\/p>\n

My other big question is whether this game is going to even come to PS5 at all.<\/p>\n

\"Hands<\/a><\/p>\n

HoYoverse has had superb success with Honkai: Star Rail on Sony\u2019s console, but Honkai: Nexus Anima feels much more mobile focused than any of its other games.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s where the dev wants this game to be played.<\/p>\n

To be fair, all of the studio\u2019s titles feature cross-save, and I think it\u2019d 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.<\/p>\n

With several other gachas already in my rotation, I do think Honkai: Nexus Anima is different enough to get my attention. I\u2019m into the auto battler combat and colourful open world.<\/p>\n

\"Hands<\/a><\/p>\n

Judging by the quality of the beta test, I suspect it won\u2019t be long until this gets a release date, and HoYoverse confirms whether it\u2019s coming to the PS5 at all.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Are you interested in Honkai: Nexus Anima\u2019s auto battler gameplay? Have you tried any other titles in this genre, like Teamfight Tactics? Let me know in the comments section below.<\/p>\n

\"Sammy<\/p>\n

As the Editor of Push Square, Sammy has over 15 years of experience analysing the world of PlayStation, from PS3 through PS5 and everything in between. He\u2019s an expert on PS Studios and industry matters, as well as sports games and simulators. He also enjoys RPGs when he has the time to dedicate to them, and is a bit of a gacha whale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019ve never played an auto chess game \u2013 or auto battler, as I think the parlance has settled…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1126672,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7],"tags":[126,24524,306716,2076,53,16,15],"class_list":["post-1126671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-features","tag-hands-on","tag-honkai-nexus-anima","tag-hoyoverse","tag-technology","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117028068422787496","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1126671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1126671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1126671\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1126672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1126671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1126671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1126671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}