cashew | Tuesday, September 30th, 2025

(Am sick, so brain rambling.)

D&D and TTRPG design thoughts

Honkai Star Rail - quick thoughts

And speaking of lore... Well, what can I say? It's been a while since I've dipped into HSR but what I've read has not filled me with much enthusiasm. Such is the unfortunate fate for those of us who have a tendency to prefer side characters. It's really a bit dispiriting to see HSR drop the opportunity to push more Chinese-cultural framing into their storytelling. If you can't rely on a Chinese company to incorporate Chinese themes, then...well.

And I'm also a bit annoyed at the Wuxia/Xianxia genre becoming the international "representation" of Chinese culture. Mostly because for me, I always found the political imperial dramas (such as the Three Kingdoms/Water Margins in the classics and 《汉武帝》/《唐太宗李世民》 for the more modern representatives) to be more defining of Chinese media. And I don't mean that it has to be a period piece, but political maneuvering and machinations always makes its way into most Chinese stories, regardless of whether the story is modern or a period piece or futuristic science fiction.

So I was really hoping to see more political machinations, deal making, treaty negotiation (but y'know, on a stellar level given HSR's sci-fi setting), yet we keep getting the same old same old "adventurers on a journey and beat up baddies" type of story. And the abandonment of the traditional aesthetic for the bog-standard "Western" aesthetic when it comes to basically well...everything.

Anyway, am disappointed in HSR. Not sure what else to really say at this point.