Honkai: Nexus Anima: Story, Gameplay Mechanics & Review

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HoYoverse just dropped a curveball and it’s not another open-world RPG like Genshin or Zenless. Instead, they’ve entered the creature-battling arena with Honkai: Nexus Anima, a tactical RPG that mixes auto-chess strategy, deck building, and companion bonding in one shiny package. Cute pudding dogs? Check. Jelly bunnies that sell cursed donuts? Yep. But behind the whimsy is a surprisingly strategic system that could carve its own niche in the gacha world.

With the Nexus Bond Test (closed beta) live until September 12, 2025, we’ve finally had a proper look at what the game offers and it’s already shaping up to be one of HoYoverse’s most experimental projects to date. Scroll down to find out what Honkai Nexus Anima is!

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Table of Contents

Honkai Nexus Anima Lore So Far

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The story setup is actually peak HoYoverse: after a cosmic disaster called The Sundering tore apart the Nexus, its fractured energy manifested as creatures known as Anima. These beings embody Aspects like Light, War, or Memory, and they’re more than just fighters, they’re living extensions of the world’s broken balance.

Players step into the role of an Animaster, a figure who can bond with these Anima, summon them in battle, and restore harmony by mastering the Nexus’ fragmented powers. It’s classic save-the-world storytelling, but the flavor comes from the quirky Anima companions and the bonds you form with them.

Gameplay: How Honkai Nexus Anima Works

At first glance, it looks like Pokemon meets Genshin. But dig deeper, and Nexus Anima is closer to a tactical auto-chess deck-builder with companion exploration!

1. Nexus Battles – Strategy First

You bring up to 9 Anima into battle.
Each Anima belongs to an Aspect (like War, Love, Memory) and has roles such as Blaster, Protector, or Controller.
Place them on a grid-based battlefield, where positioning, synergy, and timing all matter.

Once deployed, combat is kinda semi-automated. Your Anima fight on their own, but you can swap out your Animaster mid-battle to apply different buffs and ults. It’s less about button mashing and more about creating the right lineup and reacting with the right synergies much like other auto chess games.

2. Deck Building & Upgrades

Unlike traditional auto battle games where you roll random units, here you pre-build a deck of Anima before going into combat. During the battle, you’ll get choices for buffs, economy boosts, or synergy upgrades, letting you adapt strategies mid-game.

This gives it a roguelike deck-building kind of flavor where you’re never just repeating the same setup and actually make strategic calls that shift the outcome.

3. Honkai Nexus Anima Exploration & Mini Games

Outside of combat, Honkai Nexus Anima leans heavily into exploration and world interaction, making sure your time isn’t just spent jumping from one fight to another. The game’s world, known as the Planes, feels more alive because of how the Anima are woven into everyday activities. They aren’t just fighters, they double as companions that help you move, explore, and play. Some Anima transform into mounts, letting you traverse wide open areas faster, while others act as living gadgets like jump pads launching you into the air to reach rooftops or gliding with you across floating islands. It’s actually a cute and clever way of making every creature feel like a true partner and have uses more than just fighting.

But the world isn’t all about utility. There’s a surprising amount of life packed into towns and social hubs. You can interact with your Anima in super cute ways like feeding them, hanging out in plazas, or joining them in mini games that range from racing challenges to demolition activities where you tear through buildings just for the fun of it. And don’t get it wrong folks, these activities aren’t just to pad the experience, they give Nexus Anima a playful charm that separates it from more serious gacha titles. Even the downtime feels intentional, like when you’re customizing your Animaster with a character creator deep enough to tweak facial details or even spending time in towns that feel designed for social interaction and roleplay.

This balance between sweaty battles and chill casual world activities makes the game feel more holistic in a way. You’re not only strategizing for your next Nexus Battle but also bonding with companions. Kinda like that game we play about pocket monsters.

Honkai Nexus Anima Review: First Impressions from Closed Beta

We talked about the mechanics, funny little companions, and lively towns and environments. And from the closed beta, we were able to get a good feel of how the Honkai Nexus Anima plays. Here’s a quick Nexus Anima Review:

What Works

Unique Hybrid Gameplay: The auto-chess + deck-building mix works way better than expected, keeping battles fresh and strategic without being overwhelming and is such a refreshing experience.
Cute Companion Collection: The Anima themselves ooze personality. And i’m definitely a sucker for these creatures. I mean how can you not love watching a pudding pup wagging its jelly ears?
HoYoverse Polish. Smooth animations, beautiful art design, and cinematic flourishes carry that premium feel the studio is known for.
Depth of Strategy. Between deck choices, synergy management, and Animaster swaps, there’s a surprising amount of depth here for competitive players.

What Could Improve

Story Depth. Right now, the lore feels more like a formality. There’s promise, but compared to Genshin’s relatively heavy story arcs, Nexus Anima feels a lot lighter.
Gacha Anxiety. HoYoverse hasn’t fully revealed monetization yet, but given it’s a hero/creature-collection RPG, expect banners and star ratings. The balance between F2P and whales will make or break it.
Platform Limitation. Closed beta is PC and iOS only. Android and console players are left waiting for confirmation.
Pacing Concerns. Mini-games and exploration are fun, but sometimes they do feel like padding between core battles.

Verdict So Far

I would say that Honkai Nexus Anima isn’t just a Pokemon clone, it’s an ambitious hybrid that mixes strategic depth, playful companion design, and HoYoverse charm. It may not hit Genshin’s storytelling highs, but it nails the “easy to pick up, tough to master” loop.

If HoYoverse can balance the gacha model without squeezing too hard, Nexus Anima could end up being one of their most addictive side projects yet.

With closed beta running until September 12, now’s the perfect time to get a taste of what Nexus Anima is cooking. It’s clear that HoYoverse wants Nexus Anima to be more than a combat simulator, it’s meant to be a living, breathing ecosystem where players form attachments not just to the creatures they summon, but to the spaces they inhabit together.

If you’re craving a creature-collector with brains, beauty, and just enough chaos, keep your eyes on this one. Honkai: Nexus Anima might just be HoYoverse’s boldest experiment yet!

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