Honor of Kings: World Hands-On — Flow Combat Slaps, Monetization Raises Flags

Hands-On at Gamescom: Why Honor of Kings: World Caught My Eye

Honor of Kings is a juggernaut in China, but its global aura doesn’t match League of Legends. That’s exactly why Honor of Kings: World grabbed my attention at Gamescom 2025. It’s TiMi Studio Group taking a swing at a full-fat open-world action RPG-PC and mobile, free-to-play, with an ambitious combat system called “Flow” and a heavy dose of Chinese myth. After an hour with the demo, I’m impressed by the feel of the fights and the art direction. I’m also very aware of the red flags that could drag the whole thing down.

Key Takeaways

• Flow-based dual-stance combat is fast, flexible, and genuinely fun.
• Presentation and worldbuilding draw from Chinese culture in a way that feels distinctive.
• Early hints suggest gacha tied to Flows-potentially a big balance and value concern.
• PC demo ran on an RTX 4080 Super; mobile performance and parity are big question marks.

Breaking Down the Demo: Flow Combat Actually Slaps

The setup drops you in as a student from Jinxia Academy in the realm of Primaera, with the usual amnesiac-hero hook and a silver-haired villain intro that screams “Sephiroth energy.” The onboarding is slick, the avatar creator is better than I expected, and the opening has a whiff of Breath of the Wild’s sweeping scale-though the broader shape is closer to Genshin-style roaming, gathering, and instanced challenges.

Combat is the star. Flow lets you equip two combat styles at once—each with three abilities plus a special, its own HP bar, and a defined role (melee/ranged DPS, support, or tank). You can swap Flows mid-anim without a hitch. It’s as fluid as it sounds, and the depth comes from weaving two kits together for constant pressure and survivability. Think stance dancing in Devil May Cry meets MMO role synergy, but tuned for ARPG immediacy.

We fought a puppeteer boss—one of several enemies inspired by Chinese folklore (they also name-dropped Bifang, a mythical firebird). This isn’t a Souls-like, but the fight demanded clean dodge timing and pattern recognition. The dual-HP setup threw an interesting wrinkle into risk management: when one Flow’s health got sketchy, swapping essentially gave me a second lifeline and fresh options. It’s a clever way to encourage experimentation without punishing players for trying new kits.

Another smart move: TiMi is porting over iconic kits from the MOBA for recognizable heroes. If you’ve dabbled in Arena of Valor (Honor of Kings’ global cousin) or the original HoK, you’ll clock how abilities translate into ARPG space. Newcomers aren’t left behind; the tutorial is direct and readable, and I never felt lore-locked despite not living in the HoK ecosystem.

TiMi’s AAA Ambition, Without the PR Gloss

On paper, this is TiMi stepping beyond “mobile titan” into a true cross-platform tentpole. Remember, this is the studio behind Call of Duty: Mobile and Pokémon Unite—huge, polished, and monetized to the hilt. Honor of Kings: World wants to stand next to premium ARPGs on PC while still shipping day one on phones. The art direction nails a high-fantasy Chinese aesthetic that’s both lavish and readable in motion, which makes sense given TiMi’s production muscle.

But here’s the thing: the PC demo was running on an RTX 4080 Super. That’s top-tier hardware. If the target is simultaneous mobile parity, expect heavy concessions—aggressive dynamic resolution, simplified shaders, cut crowd density, and pared-back animation LODs. That’s not a deal-breaker on its own, but it does raise the real question: will the PC version aim higher than “mobile-first plus toggles,” or will we get a one-size-fits-all experience that underserves high-end rigs?

Monetization: The Gacha Elephant in the Room

The biggest pause for me is how monetization ties into Flow. The studio hinted that Flows themselves could be the gacha axis. If the core of your combat—those dual styles that define your kit—lives behind banners, that’s a slippery slope. We’ve seen this play out in other F2P ARPGs: power becomes fragmented across limited-time drops, balance gets flattened to sell the new thing, and co-op content quietly expects the latest pull.

To be fair, the team hasn’t laid out the full model yet. If cosmetics are the primary money-maker and essential Flows are earnable through play at a reasonable clip, great. But TiMi’s history leans toward aggressive monetization, and the second you gate roles (tank/support/DPS) behind luck, you risk kneecapping build freedom and co-op viability. Consider this a flashing yellow light until we see the gacha details and rates in black and white.

Co-op, Endgame, and What Players Should Watch

Co-op dungeons with puzzles are on the roadmap, which could be a sweet spot if the Flow system encourages complementary roles instead of meta tyranny. The boss tuning in the demo hints at an approachable baseline with a skill ceiling—promising for long-tail endgame, raids, or time-limited events. The real tests will be:

• How deep is the endgame loop beyond daily chores?
• Does PC get a proper high-fidelity preset beyond mobile parity?
• Are Flows build-defining or just flavor—and how are they earned?
• Is co-op matchmaking role-aware, or a free-for-all?

If TiMi threads that needle, Honor of Kings: World could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Genshin Impact, Wuthering Waves, and the rest of the open-world F2P club—while actually bringing a combat identity of its own.

TL;DR

Flow combat is the real deal: fast, flexible, and satisfying against demanding bosses. The art direction sells a distinct world rooted in Chinese myth. But gacha tied to Flows and the mobile-first tech target could undercut the PC promise. Cautiously optimistic—now show us the monetization and performance receipts.