From the second the mysterious swordswoman Acheron was revealed in Honkai: Star Rail, followers had an inkling that there was extra to her than developer HoYoverse was letting on. The discharge of model 2.0 in February confirmed they had been right, displaying her to be a semi-amnesiac who barely is aware of herself. However with the discharge of model 2.2, Acheron has given followers some extra info to work with within the type of her true identify—Raiden Mei. For followers of HoYoverse’s different video games, it’s a doozy of a reveal.
To be extra correct, Acheron reveals that her full identify is Raiden Bosenmori Mei. Relating to HoYoverse’s video games, that’s a reasonably loaded identify. Honkai Affect third, Genshin Affect, and Honkai: Star Rail now all have characters which are some model of one another and who bear the identify Raiden. Genshin’s model, Raiden Ei, is the Electro Archon whose visible and preventing types all pay homage to Honkai Affect third’s Raiden Mei. HI3’s model of the character is of essentially the most curiosity to followers of Honkai: Star Rail.
This isn’t the primary time a personality in Honkai: Star Rail has alluded to HI3. Welt Yang, one of many residents of the Astral Categorical, bears the identical identify and look as a personality from HI3. In reality, they’re really the identical character, with Star Rail revealing that Welt has in some way crossed into the sport’s universe after leaving HI3. Along with different multiverse constructing in Star Rail, Welt’s existence establishes that characters can cross over between video games in some kind.
That’s one of many causes followers had been already theorizing about Acheron upon her reveal, as her visible type riffs on each Genshin Affect and HI3’s Raidens. But it surely wasn’t till gamers encountered her in sport that they began to suspect she could be HI3’s Raiden Mei. Dialogue between the Trailblazer and Acheron alluded closely to the occasions of HI3. These theories had been confirmed with Acheron revealing her true identify. However issues aren’t as easy as they may initially appear.
To make issues extra sophisticated, whereas Acheron is Raiden Mei, she will not be the Raiden Mei from HI3. But there are loads of similarities. Whereas Star Rail has established there are completely different universes, which embrace different HoYoverse video games, there are additionally alternate timelines to those universes. Acheron is an alternate model of HI3’s Raiden Mei, or not less than that’s how I perceive it. Even earlier than the reveal of her true identify, Acheron has a dialog with Welt through which she says she isn’t who he thought she was—implying she will not be the Raiden Mei he is aware of. However the dialog between the 2 nonetheless alludes to occasions from HI3, with Acheron revealing they happen in barely alternative ways than in Welt’s timeline.
Along with the affirmation that Acheron is a few model of HI3’s Mei, a climactic cutscene exhibits her reaching out to catch the Trailblazer as they each fall by means of the air. It references an iconic shot from HI3 through which Mei equally caught protagonist Kiana. Mei and Kiana’s relationship is likely one of the central items of HI3, and Acheron alludes to her model of Kiana being lifeless or lacking ultimately. That lacking a part of her life appears to be a significant factor in her uniquely pessimistic view of the world in Star Rail.
Regardless of the reality could also be, Acheron, or quite Radien Bosenmori Mei, has main implications for the place the story of Star Rail could possibly be going. Whereas she’s not the primary alternate universe character (once more, Welt exists), her story and id are getting middle stage within the narrative. Star Rail has been a pleasant sci-fi RPG thus far, however as the sport ventures deeper into its intricate multiversal world, who is aware of what could possibly be in retailer?
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