Last week, HoYoverse officially announced Honkai: Nexus Anima. This new game takes place in the same universe as Honkai: Star Rail, as you can surmise from the title, but swaps turn-based combat for a creature-collection adventure format that’s reminiscent of Pokémon, Palworld, and other similar games with its own unique twists.
So far, we know Honkai: Nexus Anima is coming to both PC and iOS devices, but there’s no definitive launch date or even launch window just yet.
Honkai: Nexus Anima—What Is It?
According to the official press release, this is how HoYoverse is describing Honkai: Nexus Anima:
“Honkai: Nexus Anima is a brand-new creature-collector adventure strategy game in the Honkai series. In this world, Nexus is the unseen bonds woven between paired concepts, such as Love and Hate, Light and Dark, Life and Death, among many others. However, this balance is unexpectedly shattered when a sudden rupture severs those connections, scattering their remnant powers across the land in the form of Anima. From this fractured order, players embark on a journey: through missions and combat, they forge bonds with these Anima, unlocking abilities that reflect the unique concepts each embodies. Moreover, these abilities can be combined to create diverse battle tactics and influence how players explore and engage with the expansive overworld.
In the game, players take on the role of a plane-hopping traveler who has escaped captivity, embarking on an all-new adventure. The journey begins in a tranquil town that opens into uncharted realms. As players advance, they encounter Anima companions with distinct personalities and forge bonds that carry through both exploration and combat. In Nexus Battles, these companions stand beside players as the story uncovers the mysteries of the protagonist’s past. As the latest major entry in the Honkai series, Honkai: Nexus Anima continues to deliver the franchise’s signature high-quality storytelling and artistic style, and it also marks a bold new chapter in both gameplay and worldbuilding.”
Honkai: Nexus Anima Closed Beta Test Details
We still don’t know when exactly the closed beta test will be, but they’re referring to it as The Nexus Bond Test and it’s available to try on both PC and iOS devices. When signing up, you’ll need to submit a questionnaire to secure your chance at getting access.
There are no dates or timetables known just yet, but hopefully we will find out more soon since the signup period is brief.
Honkai: Nexus Anima CBT—How to Signup
To sign up for The Nexus Bond Test, aka the Closed Beta Test (CBT), for Honkai: Nexus Anima you can head over to the official website. First, you’ll need to login on the main page in the top right corner, or create an account if you don’t have one with HoYoverse already.
Then just click the big orange “Join the Test” button, which will then prompt you to complete a questionnaire. The questions just involve your birth year, gender, iPhone type (12-16 seem to be supported for this test) and/or PC specs, and your gaming habits across platforms, genres, and specific comparable games. This is a necessary step for CBT consideration.
Once you’ve done all that, you should get some type of registration confirmation popup box. We don’t know the CBT schedule yet, but it will be for both PC and iOS. When the CBT concludes, all character data will be wiped so you won’t be able to continue that progress into the full release.
I’ve signed up for the Honkai: Nexus Anima CBT and definitely look forward to checking it out for myself. I’m especially intrigued by the combat system, as it doesn’t seem to be very similar to either Pokémon or Palworld, which has me intrigued about what they’ve done differently here. Between this and Blue Protocol, there’s some cool stuff coming up.
