Honkai Nexus Anima Preview: HoYoverse Bets on Auto-Chess
2026-07-22
Everything we know about Honkai Nexus Anima, HoYoverse's new auto-chess creature collector. Gameplay details, Anima roster, beta status, and release date speculation for the next Honkai game.
Honkai Nexus Anima is HoYoverse's most unexpected project. A studio known for action combat and turn-based RPGs is making an auto-chess creature collector. Not a spinoff. Not a minigame inside an existing title. A full standalone release set in the Honkai universe with its own world, its own cast, and a gameplay loop that borrows more from Teamfight Tactics than Genshin Impact.
Honkai Nexus Anima Gameplay Breakdown
The Core Loop: Explore overworld → discover and collect Anima → build teams → auto-battle on grid → evolve Anima → explore more.
Each segment feeds into the others. You can't just queue for battles from a menu: you need to go find new Anima in the world. And you can't just explore forever: your team strength gates which areas you can survive.
Auto-chess combat: Battles happen on a hexagonal grid. You place Anima before combat begins, then they fight automatically. Positioning matters: frontline Anima absorb damage while backline Anima deal it. The strategy comes from:
- Which Anima to include (12+ confirmed types, each with elemental affinities and roles)
- How to position them (frontline, backline, flanking)
- Synergy bonuses (matching elemental types activate team-wide buffs)
- Evolution paths (Anima change forms and gain new abilities as they grow)
Anima collection: This is where HoYoverse's art budget shows. Anima aren't generic sprites: they're fully modeled 3D creatures with idle animations, attack effects, and evolution forms. Early footage shows plant spirits, lightning wolves, stone golems, and phoenix-like fliers. Each has a distinct silhouette and personality.
World exploration: The open world isn't as large as Genshin Impact's Teyvat, but it's not a lobby either. Think mid-sized zones with Anima habitats, resource nodes, puzzle mechanics, and story NPCs. The art direction is softer and more pastoral than Honkai Impact 3rd's sci-fi aesthetic: closer to Genshin's Liyue or Star Rail's Xianzhou Luofu in tone.
Anima Types and Team Building
Confirmed Anima categories from trailers and the official website:
| Anima Type | Role | Elemental Affinity |
|---|---|---|
| Flora spirits | Support / Healing | Nature |
| Storm wolves | DPS / Flanking | Lightning |
| Golems | Tank / Frontline | Earth |
| Phoenix fliers | Ranged DPS | Fire |
| Water spirits | Control / Debuff | Water |
| Shadow wraiths | Assassin / Backline | Dark |
Team building revolves around two axes: role balance (tank + DPS + support) and elemental synergy (matching elements gives team bonuses). Evolution adds a third axis - the same Anima can evolve into different forms, so you make choices about which Anima to field and how to develop them.
How It Fits Into the Honkai Universe
Honkai Nexus Anima takes place in a new region of the Honkai universe, separate from the main Honkai Impact 3rd storyline and Honkai: Star Rail's galaxy. The shared "Honkai" branding signals it's part of HoYoverse's interconnected multiverse, but the game stands on its own narratively.
Key characters revealed:
- Sovereigns: Powerful beings who rule over different Anima domains
- Novarchs: Human characters tied to the story and Anima research
- Companions: The player's allies who accompany you on exploration
The story appears to focus on the relationship between humans and Anima, with themes of coexistence and ecological balance, a shift from Honkai's typical "humanity vs. cosmic threat" framing.
Beta Status and Release Timeline
- Evolution Test CBT: Currently active (July 2026)
- Next test phase: Likely late 2026
- Full launch estimate: 2027
- Platforms: Android, iOS (confirmed)
- Official Site: https://hna.hoyoverse.com/
HoYoverse registered the Honkai Nexus Anima domain in 2025 and launched the global website in mid-2026. The App Store image leaks that appeared before the official announcement showed autochess-style grid layouts, which turned out to be accurate. The development timeline appears to follow HoYoverse's standard multi-CBT approach.
Pre-register Now
Honkai Nexus Anima is available for pre-registration and will be downloadable on APKPure once the full version launches.
The Evolution Test should answer some of these as more players get access and share footage. For now, Honkai Nexus Anima looks like HoYoverse's most ambitious genre experiment, and one of the few auto-chess games trying to be more than a chessboard with characters on it.
NEWS
REVIEWS
HOWTO
