Honkai: Nexus Anima announces new closed beta test later this year

• Honkai: Nexus Anima has announced its latest upcoming closed beta
• A sign-up date is still pending but it promises the most up-to-date access
• MiHoYo have also shown off a few new additions and locations

If there's anything to be said about MiHoYo, it's that they've always got something new in the works. And in the case of the Honkai series, it's the upcoming Nexus Anima that has really caught people's eye. In fact, you may be able to get your hands on it sooner rather than later.

Honkai: Nexus Anima has announced its next closed beta, as part of a suite of new reveals that arrived at the end of last month. Named the 'Aspect Exploration Project' for whatever reason, it's yet to have a confirmed recruitment date, but more news is apparently on the way.

If you're not already familiar with Nexus Anima, then the best way to describe it is as a merging of the gameplay of open-world 3D ARPGs like Honkai: Star Rail or Genshin Impact, alongside the creature-collecting and ability use you see in Palworld and those like it.

Creature feature

The social media reveal on Twitter also showed off new nighttime lighting features and areas of Iia that you'll hopefully get to explore in the next closed beta. While the names somewhat confuse me, it is good to see that Nexus Anima is still moving forward with development.

But like Aniimo, another upcoming creature collector, I'm also concerned these are coming well after the surge in interest of creature collectors that Palworld prompted.

Which isn't to say the genre is dying or dormant, far from it as Cassette Beasts and other indies demonstrate, but is there really a hunger for a bona fide AAA or AA creature collector right now? We'll have to wait and see.

Still, speaking of indie, you may be wondering where we find all the wonderful niche hits that we regularly cover. Well, wonder no more and instead take a gander at Will's latest instalment of Off the AppStore as he digs into the grim and dark Forbidden Merge!