Star Rail 4.0 Story - Himeko's past revealed! Skott?! What happened?

February 13, 2026 · 6:07 PM

Patch 4.0 of Honkai: Star Rail has been released, and it was an amazing rollercoaster ride of emotions. I played the entire story in one sitting, and I believe it is around 10 hours long in total, excluding all the side content available on the map. I tried to focus primarily on the main story as much as possible. You can check my real-time reactions while I was playing on the dedicated Star Rail stream page. You can use the "Read from Start" to have a better view (especially on desktop)

The story serves as an introduction to a new world that features a modern urban style with Japanese themes that are visible everywhere. This includes everything from Super Mario-style minigames to the architectural style and many other details found throughout the city.

Sunday got quite a bit of screentime this time around, but I feel his main role won't start until the next patch now that he's a player

Yao Guang's true motives and actions haven't been explained yet, she even silenced Stelle in that scene. What is she hiding?

Sparkle acts as our first guide and is the most prominent character in the entire story, along with her alter ego, Sparxie, who acts as an antagonist. She basically carries the entire narrative on her own, both because of her amazing voice acting (I am playing with Japanese voices) and because she is in nearly all the scenes involving Stelle.

There are various other actors in the story, and I have to give credit to HoYoverse for doing a great job of using existing characters and blending them into the current narrative. Seeing Fugue (Tingyun) back was extremely appreciated, and I hope she continues to have a role in upcoming patches. Even Skott returns, although he apparently dies at the end of this patch. I say "apparently" because I still believe it is a fake.

Yao Guang's vision seem to lead to destruction. Will she able to avoid this fate?

This was an heartbreaking scene. Is the Star Rail team trying to get hints from the ZZZ one?

The goal is to win the Phantasmoon Games, which apparently grant an audience directly with Aha, the Aeon of Elation. This is the only occurrence in the universe where there is a certain way to speak with an Aeon, even if only for a single minute. We do not have many more details about how this works, but everyone is certain it is the real deal.

Assuming that Stelle will eventually be the one to talk with him, what is she going to ask? There are so many questions that could be answered by Aha, but will he answer truthfully? I would be interested in knowing more about Terminus and its connection to Stelle that was hinted in the previous patch.

The final showdown scene against Hanabi / Hibana. Quality of the animations have been increasing steadily since the release. This is pure marvel to be honest. View video page

We also learn about Himeko's past, as I mentioned in the title, although the story does not go into full detail yet. It seems Himeko was a student 15 years ago when the last Phantasmoon Games took place, and an incident occurred at her high school causing over a hundred deaths, 22 of which were students. This was caused by a mysterious participant in the games who was eventually arrested and executed.

The issue is that Skott's death mirrors the details of the events from 15 years ago, which makes you wonder if it is a copycat or if the original person has returned, as Ashveil suspects. Plus, what is the deal with the "Himeko died 15 years ago" line from the mysterious guy who appeared in the classroom? Himeko rebutted his claim, but it is definitely a worrying thought.

It's a rabbit! A cute rabbit! Quickly Stelle, take Evanescia home.

Yao Guang is more of a femme fatale character, but I like her character design too.

At the same time, it seems the Stellaron Hunters have a hand in this planet too. Silver Wolf is very keen on participating in the game (to the point of negotiating with Pearl) and I guess this is all about Elio's script. The question is, how does she end up with that super form we saw in the promotional video for this patch?

Judging from the final scene with Evanescia (Yae Sakura), it seems all the participants for the Phantasmoon Games have been selected and the first game is about to begin. Interestingly, the Sparkle and Sparxie mask did not technically disappear from the map. Does that mean she is still a player? Also why did Sunday's bird appear near Evanescia?

Sparkle and Sparxie really stole the spotlight. I ABSOLUTELY adore her voice in JP, could listen to it forever.

In the end they merged back into one and seemingly still in the game. What will they do next?

I am really excited about the return of Star Rail to its usual patch cycle after the absurd drought of the last two months, and I can safely say that they are delivering quality content so far. Hopefully, there will be fewer reused assets compared to Amphoreus as well.