HoYoverse: Best Games By miHoYo

HoYoverse, mainly known as MiHoYo, have been developing games for otakus for more than a decade. In their journey of 10+ years they have released a variety of games. While the core theme of the games remains the same, revolving around cute female characters as the playable avatars, each game is vastly different from each other in many ways.

MiHoYo has more than half a dozen games under their belt, and while most of these games do not belong in the same genre, a question arises nonetheless: Which game is the best? This list answers that question by ranking all the games by MiHoYo from worst to best.

9 Legend Of Saha

The Beginning Of The Journey

Having Legend of Saha on this list at all is a stretch, but the game deserves a spot as an honorable mention, as it kicks off a thrilling adventure for the founders of MiHoYo, the tech otakus who save the world.

The game was originally supposed to be a part of a bigger game, but a flash game was made with only one character by Cai Haoyu in 2010 for a student competition. The game won some prizes in the competition, which acted as a stepping stone for the eventual founding of MiHoYo.

Despite being a simple game where players are tasked with moving from one level to another dodging enemy attacks, it's rich with story, presented in the form of walls of text. Legend of Saha lays the foundation for the games eventually created by MiHoYo, and there is a chance that the story of Misei Nanatsuki, the main character of Legend of Saha, could be reused in Genshin Impact.

8 FlyMe2theMoon

Introducing The Poster Child Of MiHoYo

FlyMe2theMoon is the game where the character Kiana Kaslana was brought to life, who further served as the poster child for MiHoYo. This game revolves around controlling Kiana, equipped with a jetpack, as she has to navigate through obstacles to try and reach the moon. The game featured plenty of levels to play and came with a soundtrack made with VOCALOID software named MoonTrip.

The name of the game was inspired from the ending theme of Neon Genesis Evangelion, which also served as the basis for the game’s concept. This 2D side scrolling game features different modes, like adventure, puzzle, racing and exploration. It is moderately challenging, and it keeps players engaged over the course of 60 levels. With a nice art style and skill-based gameplay, even if the game is rough in the controls department, FlyMe2theMoon is a good game that can keep players entertained hours.

7 Zombiegal Kawaii / Houkai Gakuen

Even The Zombies Are Too Adorable To Shoot

Moving on from FlyMe2theMoon, miHoYo takes a leap when they create Zombiegal Kawaii, also known as Houkai Gakuen. This side-scrolling shooter takes the players on a zombie killing spree inspired by the anime manga series Highschool of the Dead. The shoot-em-up style gameplay paired with adorable art and cute voice work keeps the atmosphere of the game light. Players control Kiana once again, as she fights against large hordes of deadly yet adorable zombies.

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While at times upgrades become a necessity to make progress, and players can either use real money or grind for a few hours to steadily make progress, it doesn’t hinder the overall enjoyability of the game. The entire vibe of is fun and lighthearted, and with its simple gameplay, Zombiegal Kawaii attracted plenty of gaming otakus towards miHoYo.

6 Guns GirlZ / Houkai Gakuen 2

A Step Up From Its Predecessor

Soon after the first Houkai Gakuen was released, miHoyo worked hard and fast to release the second installment in the series. This is the first time the developers stuck with the same gameplay style as their previous game. Guns GirlZ takes over from its predecessor while telling a comprehensive story for the first time in any of miHoYo's games.

The narrative expands on the simple setting of its predecessor, as it depicts girls surviving the zombie apocalypse due to a Houkai phenomenon that occurs once in several centuries. GGZ makes gameplay more interesting by adding more characters and weapons, which can be further upgraded using in-game resources.

An additional multiplayer mode is also available for players to play with friends. GGZ also introduces a Guild system, where multiple players can join a guild to access more opportunities for events and rewards. With a proper story that expands with frequent game updates, along with many other additional features, Gun GirlsZ turned out to be a financial success, forcing miHoYo to increase their team size if they wanted to grow further.

5 Tears Of Themis

A Treat For Otome Fans

miHoYo has always explored different genres when developing a new title. Tears of Themis focused on a different side of otaku culture that was not yet explored by miHoyo. The game falls in the mystery romance genre, and almost plays itself via a visual novel format. With a self-insert character for players, the protagonist starts her journey as a rookie lawyer brimming with ambition and determined to help people.

The story involves players solving various cases and getting involved with the four main potential love interests. The game has a variety of stuff to do, ranging from completing cases and progressing the story to collecting characters from the Gacha system and completing time-limited events to collect rewards.

Tears of Themis takes ideas from other otome games and puts its own spin on them, thus creating something new while honoring the familiar elements of the genre. While the gameplay might not be everyone's cup of tea, Tears of Themis will be loved by otome fans and players looking for mysterious stories, compelling art, and bold romances.

4 Zenless Zone Zero

The Latest Entry From HoYoverse

Zenless Zone Zero is the latest HoYoverse endeavor in their grand journey of making games for the otakus. Pivoting from the fantasy setting of Genshin Impact and the space adventures of Honkai Star Rail, HoYoverse moves to make Zenless Zone Zero a game set in an urban dystopia.

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This action RPG is by far Hoyoverse’s best work when it comes to fluid character animations and physics. Utilizing various characters in combat, parrying enemy attacks at the right time to trigger intro skills and performing various combos to defeat the enemies forms the core gameplay of ZZZ.

Zenless Zone Zero has more style and esthetic excellence than any HoYoverse game. Instead of featuring a vast open world with a grand story where the players are up against the gods, the game takes a more grounded approach, as players experience the story of two tech enthusiast siblings and their day-to-day adventures in a retro dystopia.

3 Honkai Impact 3

The Game That Established miHoYo

miHoYo have dabbled with a variety of projects since their formation, but it was with Honkai Impact 3rd when they found immense success. HI3 represents the evolution of miHoYo from a niche Gacha game development company to one of the biggest powerhouses in the Gacha market.

Taking a big gamble when developing the game, miHoYo’s plan for their next game was a 3D action RPG Gacha, and with constant support for the game, they have righteously taken HI3 to another level. There are a ton of reasons to explain the popularity of the game back when it was released in 2016. From smooth animations and fluid gameplay to the adorable playable characters, Honkai Impact 3rd is a treat for the otakus.

However, as that strong gameplay evolved with time, miHoYo also successfully created a compelling story with unique characters to keep players invested and, while the game is witnessing an end to its 7-year-long saga, it is still going strong with new content, characters, and gameplay to attract fans even after almost a decade.

2 Genshin Impact

Making Gacha Games More Mainstream

Genshin Impact made waves in the gaming space when it was launched in 2020. The open world RPG appealed to a vast audience, and acted as a gateway for players who were strangers to Gacha games. MiHoYo has always been focusing on new things and, with Genshin Impact, their newfound focus was on creating a breathtaking open world full of diversity came to life when they created the beautiful world of Teyvat.

The boundless world of Teyvat is divided into 7 unique nations, and each part of Teyvat offers a plethora of activities for players to take on. From exploring the beautiful world of the game to fighting monsters and bosses, collecting loot and new characters, and then upgrading them for use in combat, there is no end in sight in terms of content offered. The combat in the game is also unique, as it creates its own elemental reaction system, and players have to use a mixture of various elements in battle efficiently and string together some serious combos.

By creating a game that appeals to casual players who like to explore the world and immerse themselves in the lore of a game, and to the hardcore ones who like to build teams and characters to fight enemies as effectively as possible, this Breath of the Wild- inspired game is something special, making it one of the best HoYoverse games ever made.

1 Honkai: Star Rail

Going On A Majestic Interstellar Journey

After spending many years creating action RPGs, miHoYo moved on to try something different, and began the creation of Honkai: Star Rail. This turn-based RPG is by far miHoYo’s best game, as it learns from the mistakes of the previous games and creates something engaging and entertaining.

MiHoYo always had a reputation for creating intricate stories, and Honkai: Star Rail lives up to their reputation. Playing as an amnesiac protagonist, the players embark on a space odyssey, visiting different planets, meeting new characters, and unraveling the mystery behind their origins.

The gameplay takes the Gacha elements of the game into consideration, and creates a style that is suited to both possible scenarios: Manual battles where players have to carefully strategize, and an auto-battle option to grind stages quickly and effectively to level characters up.

Apart from this, the game features a big area to explore while playing the story, filled with surprises to discover. The worlds in Star Rail are lively, and players can interact with everything, even random objects, which is an amusing little detail. Fun interactions, quirky dialogue, and pop culture references are commonly found in Star Rail, and they balance well with the darker themes of the game, like loss, injustice, and suffering.

Paying attention to little details and learning from past mistakes, HoYoverse has created its best RPG yet. Star Rail offers dozens of hours of gameplay to keep players engaged, and with more content to come, that will only increase. It also features extremely player-friendly support for a Gacha game, which makes Honkai: Star Rail by far the best game created by miHoYo.

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