I’ve been out of the loop on Honkai: Star Rail for a few months. I’d finished the main story as far as it went at the time with the intention of jumping in on the next update. That didn’t happen, but I did finally return in December 2023, and it seems like it was the best time to do so. This is because the Stellar Shadowseeker quest turned out be a fun way to get reacquainted with the game.
In Stellar Shadowseeker, the premise is simple. March 7th discovered that a bunch of her photos have been corrupted, with the subjects now concealed by mysterious shadows. She instructed you to go out and take all these photos again, restoring them to their former glory. This requires you to head back to locations on the Herta Space Station and Jarilo-VI based on the shadowy shapes in the original photos.
On one hand, this quest has proven to be a great refresher for past locations in Honkai: Star Rail. Revisiting parts of Boulder Town or the Administrative District of Belabog reminded me of past story beats and allowed me to reacquaint myself with the game’s systems in a relaxed way. It even has some fun little story elements, such as almost getting yourself run over by a tram. Which, of course, is fully in character for the chaos gremlin that is our Trailblazer protagonist. But I can’t help but feel it’s missing something.
For a start, the photos you take don’t really matter. While the quest slots gradually fill up with pictures, these are not the ones you take. It removes a significant degree of personalization from the process. You spend time making sure to get the right shot, only for the game to toss it out in favor of one it made earlier. This makes the quest feel hollow, as it boils down to going to an obvious location, pressing a button in the right place, and then getting handed some Stellar Jades. Don’t get me wrong, the Stellar Jades are nice, but it feels like there should be more to all this.
The Stellar Shadowseeker quest was the perfect opportunity to lean into the creative aspects of photography. Build a quest entirely around the act of framing, composition and timing that makes actual photography such a fine art. I believe they could have made this better by looking at the greatest photography game ever made. That game is, of course, Pokemon Snap.
If you’re somehow unaware of the concept of Pokemon Snap, it’s an on-rails 3D shooter, except slowed all the way down and with the gun replaced with a camera. As you trundle along a pre-defined track, Pokemon will pop out of bushes and bodies of water, and you must take pictures of them.
What makes Pokemon Snap so compelling is the ranking system. In the original N64 game, Professor Oak would assess your photos on how a Pokemon was framed in the shot, how large it was and how it was posed. The Switch sequel expanded on this, with four tiers of shot for each Pokemon based on special things they could do, and each tier awarded its own points. It was a fun system that encouraged you to push Pokemon to do fun things on camera, like throwing an apple in a Meowth’s face so it would get mad at you.
This kind of ranking system would have made the Stellar Shadowseeker quest in Honkai: Star Rail much more interesting. After all, we’re taking pictures for March so she can replace her corrupted photos. Having her assess your work to ensure it’s as close as possible to her own would not be out of character for her. It could have even added some fun dialog based on her reaction to how adorable your photo of Peppy turned out. And, of course, better photos could have brought more Stellar Jades and other rewards.
What’s more, the quest already shows other ways this system could exist. The Wubbaboo in the Supply Zone of the Herta Space Station constantly wants you to retake its photo because it’s not happy with it. If this dissatisfaction was based on your actual photography skills, it would have given the player more agency and an extra layer of challenge. Other NPCs could have similar reactions, such as the busker on Belabog requesting her picture look more like an album cover, for example.
Admittedly, implementing a full ranking system like the one in Pokemon Snap might be difficult. Honkai: Star Rail doesn’t have a built-in ranking system for photos so building one from scratch for a limited time event might be seen as a waste of resources. However, MiHoYo managed to incorporate entire side quests built around management of a museum and a shopping district, so it’s not that inconceivable to imagine something similar here.
We’re living in the golden age of video game Photo Modes. They’ve led to an explosion of virtual photography communities, with even companies such as Sony hosting Instagram contests built around the best results. For Honkai: Star Rail to feature something as barebones as the Stellar Shadowseeker quest is disappointing in contrast. If I can get Professor Oak to yell “wonderful!” because I made a Pikachu roll on an Electrode in 1999, surely we can get something similar in 2023?
Honkai: Star Rail is available on PC, PS5 and mobile devices. The Stellar Shadowseeker event will run until December 11, 2023.
