I went into the Honkai: Nexus Anima beta expecting a cutesy Pokémon clone, maybe with a HoYoVerse coat of paint. Instead, I got a character creator that let me choose between being an "Evil Genius" or a "Muscle Master," and it actually mattered in conversations. That's not something I've seen in a creature-collecting game before, and it caught me off guard.
The game opens like many others: pick an avatar from two premade options. But then it throws a curveball. You assign stat points across Intelligence, Charisma, and Strength by choosing a preset build. I went with Evil Genius (high INT, low everything else) because that's how I roll in RPGs. Those numbers then affect how you interact with NPCs. In one early scene, you can challenge a friend to a trivia contest, a food challenge, or a portrait drawing. My genius picked trivia, and my stats lined up. It felt like a tiny Fallout moment in a monster-catching world.
Not Just Another Gotta Catch 'Em All
Let's be clear: you do catch creatures (called Anima) with a "Nexus Skein" after battles. The basic loop is the same. But the combat is where things get weird in a good way. Instead of issuing turn-based commands, you position your Anima into one of three lines — Frontline, Midline, or Backline — and they fight automatically. Your job is to choose the right units and formations before the fight, then watch them unleash their abilities.
It's real-time strategy lite. I borrowed a starter Anima named Umpurrella, which was a ranged Backline unit tied to the Beauty Aspect. She'd automatically fire area-of-effect attacks whenever her bar filled. Meanwhile, a healer-type Nomnom sat in Frontline, tanking damage and healing itself. You don't click "Tackle" or "Growl." You set the lineup and trust your strategy. For someone who has fat-fingered one too many wrong moves in Pokémon, it was refreshing.
The beta also introduced a trait system called Aspects — Beauty, Courage, Hate, Joy, Love, Memory, and Strength. Matching Anima of the same Aspect in your party grants buffs. I tested a pair of Competition-type Anima (Hoppelon and Pomparrot) that both shared the Competition Aspect. Placing them together boosted their attack speed. It's the kind of synergy puzzle I could spend hours optimizing.
Why This Matters Right Now
HoYoVerse has been on a tear — Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, Zenless Zone Zero. They know how to make visually stunning gacha games with deep systems. Honkai: Nexus Anima is their take on the creature-collecting genre, but it's not trying to clone Pokémon or Palworld. The stat-based dialogue choices and auto-battle RTS combat feel like deliberate moves to stand out in a crowded field.
Timing is interesting, too. Creature-collecting games have seen a renaissance lately, thanks to indies like Cassette Beasts and the explosion of Palworld. Players are hungry for twists on the formula. HoYoVerse is betting that adding character RPG elements and squad positioning mechanics will hook the same audience that loves Genshin's elemental reactions.
The Combat That Makes You Think (But Not Too Hard)
I spent the bulk of my beta time doing what any sensible person does in a creature collector: ignoring the main quest to find new monsters. I stumbled across a Corvariatio, a Blaster type tied to the Change Aspect. Its Battle Skill is a gamble — it can trigger different effects depending on a random card draw. That variability kept fights from feeling like a solved puzzle.
The auto-battle part might scare off some players. I get it. It can feel like you're not directly controlling the action. But the strategy happens before the fight — building a team that counters enemy compositions and positioning your heavy hitters safely behind tanks. It's more like a tactics game than a traditional turn-based RPG. For me, the trade-off worked. I'd rather plan a squad than spam "Flamethrower" for the thousandth time.
There's also a quality-of-life touch called the Peeker system. Before making a dialogue choice, you can see your current stats and the success thresholds for each option. No more guessing if your low-Charisma character can bluff their way through a conversation. It's a small thing, but it makes the stat system feel fair — you always know what you're getting into.
A Grain of Salt
I should pump the brakes a little. This was an "Evolution Test" beta, meaning it's early. The world I explored (starting town of Iia) was small, and the number of Anima on offer was limited. I couldn't get deep into endgame systems, gacha mechanics, or monetization. HoYoVerse titles tend to be free-to-play with heavy gacha elements, and this one likely will be too. How that impacts the creature-collecting loop remains to be seen. If rare Anima are locked behind random pulls instead of in-world encounters, that could sour the experience.
The auto-battle could also be a dealbreaker for players who want direct control. Positioning matters, but once the fight starts, you're a spectator. That's a philosophical split in the genre — some people love micro-managing each turn, others prefer the macro-level strategy. I lean toward the latter, but I know plenty of friends who'd bounce off this system hard.
What Comes Next
The beta left me optimistic. The blend of stat-based roleplaying, squad positioning, and creature collection feels distinct. It's not a Pokémon killer (nothing ever is), but it doesn't need to be. If HoYoVerse can deliver a compelling world, a generous progression system, and enough variety in Anima designs, Honkai: Nexus Anima could carve out its own space. I'll be watching for the next test — and hoping they let me bring my Evil Genius and her misfit monsters into more trouble.
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