(First published on Hoyolab on 29/07/2025)
I don’t think I’m being too controversial by saying that, one consistent strength across Hoyo games is the soundtrack. I’ll admit, I’m one of the people listening to the available EPs here and there. One thing which very much fascinates is the attention to detail in many tracks and, particularly when it comes to the character trailers, this very conscious effort to tell a story in and of itself through musical language. (I have described some of Hoyoverse’s game soundtracks as companion works in their own rights in the past.) To kind of explain what I mean, I’d like to discuss and analyse a number of tracks, mostly from Honkai: Star Rail, and explore why I find them so fantastic.
The first track I’d like to discuss is ‘Got a Date?’, the theme of Silver Wolf’s trailer, and more particularly its Chiptune intro. The reason this chiptune section is so interesting to me is that, more than just borrowing the timbre of old-school soundchips, this section is also written with the limitations of said soundchips in mind.
Specifically, the Gameboy soundchip feels very fitting here. Now, full disclaimer, I’m not that well-versed into the technical aspect of things, so feel free to correct me in the comments if I get something wrong. With that said, if you try to compose for the Gameboy using something like Little Sound DJ, you’ll find yourself having four channels to work with. Two Pulse channels, a Wave channel and a Noise channel. This affords us four channels in total to compose with.
Now, listening to ‘Got a Date?’, the tune starts with the melody and bassline, which seems to me like they could be occupying the Pulse 1 and Wave channels respectively. This goes on for three measures, until the fourth, where what I presume to be the Pulse 2 channel kicks in, doubling the bassline. Then we loop, with the melody being doubled this time, and the Noise channel used for drums, until we return to the fourth measure, where I believe we have a bit of liberty taken, the Pulse 2 channel being used to double both the melody and bass. (Each channel, as far as I am aware, is monophonic; Though as mentioned previously, I could very much be wrong on that.) Then a few more notes of the melody by itself, and the rest of the instrumentation starts to kick in. Fitting for a gamer, ‘Got a Date?’ is a track that could be recreated almost note for note on an actual Gameboy with a little know-how.
Moving on to the soundtrack for Kafka’s trailer, ‘A Dramatic Irony’, I want to focus here on another key aspect I mentioned: the effort to characterise Kafka through purely musical means, specifically in this case through an intertextuality of sorts.
‘A Dramatic Irony’ samples two pieces by Vivaldi, both from his Four Seasons concerto: It takes excerpts from the third movement of Summer, and from the first movement of Winter. The choice of those pieces is, for one, significant because of they imagery they invoke. Both the third movement of Summer and the first movement of Winter are about storms: The former depicting the loud cracks of thunder and the cultivated fields ruined by hail beating upon the earth; The latter depicting the harsh winds and biting freeze of a snowstorm. By referencing those scenes, their imagery is associated to Kafka as a character, painting her as a force of nature, destructive and unfeeling, inspiring both awe and fear. I believe, however, that there is another layer to these references, somewhat related to Kafka being a musician in lore herself. Vivaldi, as a Baroque composer, has a certain aura associated with his pieces. It is my understanding that one of the components of Baroque is the emphasis on the performer’s skill and talent, and indeed, both the movements used in ‘A Dramatic Irony’ are famous for seeming particularly difficult to play. This offers another perspective on Kafka, one which is very much an important part of her character: Control. By associating her character with those Baroque pieces, it gives the character the aura of a virtuoso, especially, as I mentioned before, since Kafka does play the violin, which makes the connection seem even more natural. Extending this beyond simply her musical talent, it calls back to her Spirit Whisper ability, placing her as someone who is capable of holding pretty much everyone and everything under her control, manipulating her victims with the same virtuosity as is demonstrated by the violinist playing her theme.
Another interesting example is Blade’s theme, ‘Death Approaches’. As a disclaimer, I am not Chinese, I don’t know much about the history and theory of Chinese classical and folk music, and as such there might be references I don’t have to properly interpret this specific track. As a result, please take this section with a grain of salt. With that being said, I feel like ‘Death Approaches’, in relation to Blade’s character, is particularly interesting for its use of the suona, the reeded instrument which gives the track its powerful and foreboding feeling. As I understand it, the suona’s particular sound mirrors its uses in a lot of music as well as its connotations: It marks important events, births, deaths, festivals, so on and so forth. In the case of Blade’s character, it seems pretty obvious that it evokes death specifically. In this way, it evokes Blade’s relationship and proximity with the death that he so desperately seeks, as well as the more symbolic death of becoming Mara-struck, which hangs heavy above him. But interestingly, I believe it also serves to juxtapose Blade to this macabre connotation, making him a figure of death in himself, giving an interesting perspective into the title of the track: it feels like it is the suona itself announcing Blade with the words ‘Death Approaches’.
(As a more personal aside, if you’re curious about what suona can sound like in a more Pop context, the song ‘Fairy Temple’ by G.O.F uses a suona in its hook and is a great, catchy tune.)
One reason why I particularly love Honkai: Star Rail’s soundtrack is the freedom it is afforded by being a very freeform sci-fi adventure, veering at times into science-fantasy. This allows the composer to draw inspiration from plenty of different musical sources, and play around in very interesting ways. A perfect example of this, in my opinion, is Huohuo’s trailer theme, ‘Night of Thrills’. (As an aside, for this piece and the next, I will have to refer to specific time stamps to illustrate what I’m talking about. I will be using the versions of the official EPs available on streaming platforms, in this specific case, ‘Honkai: Star Rail – Experience the Paths Vol. 2’.)
I say Huohuo, I should specify Huohuo and Tail. ‘Night of Thrills’ plays around with the idea of duality via its use of both erhu and synth. Right after the intro, we are presented with the theme at 0:14 minutes, first on piano. Then at 0:26 starts a call and response, with the erhu calling with the theme, and the synth answering, before switching around with the synth doing the call and the erhu doing the response at 0:38. The melody is, for a moment, carried by a pipa (if I’m not mistaken), before being rejoined by the erhu at around 1:24, then by the returning synth at 1:34 for a crescendo which culminates in the synth overtaking the melody once more at 1:38.
The interplay of the erhu and synth, in this context, is particularly interesting in the way the specific sounds of both characterise the dual character of Huohuo and Tails. I believe that, here, the erhu is symbolic of Huohuo, and the synth is symbolic of Tails. Huohuo’s meeker nature finds an echo in the erhu’s sound as a bowed instrument. The attack of notes is more subdued, even with the (what I believe to be) spicatto-style playing when the erhu calls during the call and response section, while the synth is much sharper in its attack, a lot more similar to a plucked string instrument like the guitar, if we had to compare. The synth is also a lot
This call and response format is also an important part of probably one of my favourite Hoyo tracks to discuss: ‘Duel in the Mist’, off the ‘Genshin Impact – Realm of Tranquil Eternity’ album.
While ‘Night of Thrills’ used two distinct timbers to evoke duality, ‘Duel in the Mist’, as the combat theme for Inazuma, instead opts to have much of its melody carried by two shamisen (From the beginning to about 0:52,) and two kotos (from 2:12 to 2:25) in stereo to replicate the feeling of a duel. This is particularly clear with the dual shamisen section which opens the track. (For the sake of brevity and clarity, we will designate the shamisen recorded in the left ear ‘Left’ and the one recorded in the right ear ‘Right’.)
Left opens with the theme, the call, and Right responds by repeating it. Left plays the theme again, while Right adds an embellishment. While Right repeats to the theme, Left responds with the repeated embellishment. Then Left calls with an embellishment of its own, repeated by Right, so on and so forth, until the rhythm picks up. Percussions progressively come in, then the koto, splitting into two, playing sixteenth notes which escalate the rhythm and intensity even further, until the drop. The flute, front and center, cutting through the mix and overtaking the track.
This is more of a personal reading, and not necessarily as clear cut as the other cases we’ve looked at so far, (which were somewhat easier to apprehend given they were explicitly written for specific characters,) but I believe that this flute is once again a way to tell the game’s story using musical language. In this instance, I believe the flute represents the Raiden Shogun, for a couple reason. Its place in the mix is quite unique, while the other instruments through which the melody is carried, the aforementioned shamisen and koto, have moments of ‘facing off’, the flute remains a steady, unique driving force, reflecting both the Shogun’s status as uniquely powerful within Inazuma, and her foundational role in possibly all duels in her nation, as the one illustrated by the track, given that if memory serves, both swordsmanship schools and techniques, and weapon forging techniques are originally inherited from the Electro Archon in lore. It’s also worth noting that, after the preceding escalation, the flute’s shorter, staccato notes feel (if we keep with the metaphor of the duel) much more deliberate and precise, echoing once again the lore in that it evokes a worrisome calm amidst the storm (possibly echoing Ei’s apathy and retreat into her Plane of Euthymia in the pursuit of Eternity,) and the image of a swordsman who needs very few strikes to bring down their opponent (possibly echoing the notion that almost no one has ever managed to blowk one of the Shogun’s blows.)
Obviously, there’d be much more to discuss, much more to find across Hoyoverse’s entire body of work. This was probably a bit messy, perhaps a bit unclear at times. But I hope I managed to, maybe, help even one or two people to appreciate the work of Hoyo’s composers in a different light. Anyway, take care everyone, much love!~