Leaked Honkai: Nexus Anima images suggest that it’s an auto-chess game

Things are getting louder around HoYoverse’s two upcoming games, Petit Planet and Honkai: Nexus Anima, ahead of their expected reveals later this year. HNA was widely guessed to be something of a Pokémon rival after it was teased earlier this year, but leaked images that will supposedly be shown on mobile storefronts suggest a different direction: It seems like HNA is an auto-chess game.

An in-game screenshot shows a rectangular field with the chibi versions of characters standing in opposite corners. Smaller rectangles above and below them hold creatures and items. In the main square, fantasy creatures are battling each other, showing levels, health, and energy bars.

However, there appears to be an open-world component as well, since other screenshots show characters – not in chibi form – exploring a city on foot as well as on the back of creatures. As was already made clear in the initial teaser, the game contains original characters alongside established characters from various HoYoverse properties.

As usual with leaks, take this information with a grain of salt, since we’re seeing these images without any context and could therefore easily misinterpret them.

Following the original auto-chess custom game’s success in Dota 2, several takes on the genre have been released by various developers — some being very successful, such as Riot Games’ Teamfight Tactics. TFT is especially popular in China and it’s probably no coincidence that several HoYoverse games – Honkai Impact 3rd, Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, and Zenless Zone Zero – have recently featured auto-chess-inspired game modes as part of events.

Earlier this week, DBLTAP learned that Petit Planet will come to Nintendo Switch.

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