Is Honkai Star Rail free-to-play (F2P) friendly?

sportskeeda.com:

Regarding free-to-play friendliness, Honkai Star Rail is on the more generous side of the spectrum, with MiHoYo's latest release quickly making a name. With titles like Honkai Impact 3rd and Genshin Impact under its wing, the studio has a certain pedigree in this genre. However, the gacha element in the new game is higher due to the emphasis on squad-based gameplay.

In Honkai Star Rail, you construct a team of four characters and train them to achieve their true potential. The primary way to obtain them is by opening banners using Star Rail passes, although there’s no sure-shot way of telling what you’ll get (unless you hit the pity) beforehand.

Naturally, you might be in a dilemma about how fair the game is if you don’t involve microtransactions. While you can spend real-life money in-game, your advantages will be reasonable and not overpowering.

It’s one thing for a video game to be free-to-play and another to be fair to all. Usually, players have certain advantages when choosing to spend real-life money. Some titles, however, can be predatory, making them “pay-to-win.” With Honkai Star Rail, this is not the case so far.

First, there’s no PvP as of writing, and players must complete a main campaign to unravel the storyline, although there are side quests, with some related to the characters you unlock. These missions allow you to improve your level and earn many in-game resources.

Finally, end-game content like the Simulated Universe adds to the overall sense of competition. However, there’s no situation where your progress depends on others. You can add friends and use their characters as support in certain game modes. But there’s never a point where you directly compete with another Honkai Star Rail player.

Hence,