MiHoYo, also known as Hoyoverse, has stood out in the 2020s as one of the rising stars in the gaming industry. Nearly every gacha game published by this company has broken new ground in the genre and become extremely popular. Which raises the question, which is the best one?
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With half a dozen games that all play differently from each other under their belt, it can be hard to judge which Hoyoverse game is truly the best one. If we judge them based on certain aspects such as how in-depth the gameplay is, how many controversies the game has gotten into and the overall fun factor, however, we can put together a concise list of the best games in the Hoyoverse.
6Genshin Impact
Step into a Fantasy Open-World
Starting this list is the game that made MiHoYo a famous company worldwide:Genshin Impact. While it wasn’t their first game, the success of Genshin has made it a household name worldwide. Players gladly explore this open-world game completing quests and meeting unique characters along the way. For many people, this was the first gacha they played that had an in-depth story and gameplay.
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Genshin must sadly fall on the bottom of this list due to the many controversies it’s had over the years. These controversies range wildly from a lack of diversity to giving players inadequate rewards for quests and even anniversary events.
5Guns Girl Z
Niche but Engaging
The next game on our list is the only one not to make its way to English-speaking countries: Guns Girl Z. This title was released long before the Hoyoverse became a household name and thus has become a footnote in the West. The game to this day still gets support and even collaboration events, however, so it is far from abandoned.
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The gameplay of Guns Girl Z is actually borrowed from an older, non-support MiHoYo title known as Zombiegal Kawaii. A game that is much more cute thanWestern zombie games. This gameplay has the player move a 2D sprite of their character along a linear level while they repeatedly tap the shoot button to destroy enemies in this path. The game is a simple mobile title as a result of when it was made, but any game willing to have a collaboration with Prisma Illya deserves extra points.
4Tears of Themis
A Tale of Mystery and Love
While most MiHoYo games either try to appeal to both a male and female demographic or solely to the male gaze, 2020’s Tears of Themis stands out as unique as the game markets itself solely to a female demographic.
From the visuals to the gameplay itself, Tears of Themis is different from all other games in the Hoyoverse catalog. Being the only vertically-formatted game in the publisher’s lineup, Tears of Themis initially presents itself solely as a visual novel, with long cutscenes that are only occasionally broken up by card battle gameplay. This uniqueness and a willingness to stand out from other games ranks Tears of Themis high on this list.
3Zenless Zone Zero
The New Kids on the Block
July 2024 saw the release of MiHoYo’s newest game:Zenless Zone Zero. A stylish tale of rebels in a world that while futuristic, bares a lot of resemblance to our own. The gameplay pitch for this game is much different from other games on this list, being a stage-based hack-and-slash gamewithout any kind of open worldat all.
Despite its flashy combat and unique setting compared to MiHoYo’s other games, Zenless Zone Zero is unfortunately held back majorly by its gameplay. Stages are repetitive with a combat system that only involves pressing two buttons repeatedly while periodically switching characters. While Billy may dress as Dante, this is no Devil May Cry and must rank low on this list.
2Honkai Impact 3rd
The One that Started it All
Placing second on this list is MiHoYo’s first major success: Honkai Impact 3rd. While Genshin Impact may have made this publisher a household name, they would never have had the opportunity to make that experience if Impact 3rd hadn’t first been a success. The gameplay of Impact 3rd is reminiscent of both Genshin Impact and Zenless Zoner Zero, being a 3D hack-slash with mechanics similar to Genshin while also taking place in linear stages like most traditional games.
Honkai Impact 3rd may be older than most of the other games on this list, but fans of any MiHoYo game owe it to themselves to try it out and see the origins of many gameplay and story tropes used in the modern Hoyoverse catalog as characters from Impact 3rd such as Bronya and Raiden would later be reworked and rebooted in later titles produced by the company.
1Honkai: Star Rail
Trailblazer Across the Universe
Topping off the list is of courseHonkai: Star Rail, the best game produced under the Hoyoverse banner. This sci-fi turn-based RPG sends the player across the solar system visiting a new planet filled with a unique cast of characters every few months on a grand trailblazer across the cosmos.
The battle gameplay of Honaki Star Rail is well designed, with every character having a viable use and purpose, allowing even players who are unable to pull a 5-star unit to progress through the story. The dungeons in this game also strike a perfect middle ground between being an open-world game like Genshin and a linear stage-based game like the rest of the Hoyoverse catalog. If you are considering playing a Hoyoverse game, then you can’t go wrong with playing Honkai: Star Rail.
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