Honkai Impact 3rd (Chinese: 崩坏3; pinyin: Bēng Huài 3), also called Houkai 3rd, is a free-to-play 3D action role-playing mobile game developed and published by miHoYo, and later ported to Microsoft Windows. It is the spiritual successor to Guns Girl Z (Houkai Gakuen 2), using many characters from the previous title in a separate story. The game is notable for incorporating a variety of genres, from hack and slash and social simulation, to elements of bullet hell, platforming, shoot ’em up and dungeon crawling across multiple single and multiplayer modes. It features gacha game mechanics.
In addition to the mobile game, the storyline of Honkai Impact 3rd spans multiple supplementary media including an anime series, multiple manhua series, and promotional videos.
The word “Honkai” is a corruption of the Japanese 崩壊(ほうかい, “collapse” or “decay”), pronounced “hōkai”, which is the direct translation of the Chinese 崩坏(bēng huài) used in the original Chinese title. The “impact” part of the title is absent from both the Chinese and Japanese versions, but adds context. Honkai Impacts, also referred to as Honkai Eruptions, are large-scale Honkai disasters that coincide with the birth of a Herrscher. The game starts out in the post-3rd Impact era. The word “impact” as well as the number 3 were likely chosen as a reference to Neon Genesis Evangelion, the plot of which revolves around the prevention of an impending cataclysm referred to as the Third Impact. Neon Genesis Evangelion was a major inspiration to miHoYo’s founders and is often referenced in their games.
