It was late September 2022, and Alex, a self-proclaimed gacha connoisseur from Austin, was glued to his second monitor during the Tokyo Game Show livestream. The chatter in his Discord server had reached fever pitch—everyone was waiting for the HoYoverse special program. When the stream finally cut to the developer’s segment, Alex’s jaw practically hit the floor. Two brand-new trailers dropped back-to-back, one for Zenless Zone Zero and another for Honkai: Star Rail, and just like that, the rest of his evening was a wash. He was already on the hype train, and there was no getting off.

Neither trailer bothered to whisper a release date—classic HoYoverse move—but they still packed enough punch to send the community into a frenzy. Alex rewatched them at least a dozen times that night, picking apart every pixel. The Zenless Zone Zero teaser, titled “Just Another Day at the Video Store,” was the real showstopper for him. It was the first-ever peek at actual gameplay and story snippets, serving up a neon-soaked urban fantasy vibe that felt like a breath of fresh air. In those few minutes, players saw characters zipping through streets, engaging in flashy combat, and just vibing in a video store that seemed to be the game’s hub. It was slick, stylish, and had a swagger that screamed “this ain’t your average gacha.”

Then came the “Witness” trailer for Honkai: Star Rail, and it was like someone threw a sci-fi novel, a mythology textbook, and a space opera soundtrack into a blender. The trailer painted a vast game world where deep-space exploration was tangled with ancient myths. The word on the street—or rather, in the dev notes—was that the universe was governed by Aeons, incarnations of universal principles that could hop between infinite worlds using some kind of primitive force. Talk about setting the stage. The protagonist, a poor soul implanted with a Stellaron, boards the Astral Express alongside a band of self-proclaimed heirs to the spirit of Trailblaze. Their mission? Chase the trails of Aeons, unravel the secrets of the cosmos, and probably figure out why the heck a Stellaron was jammed in their chest in the first place. Alex gobbled up every scrap of lore like it was his last meal.

Back in 2022, the rumor mill was grinding overtime. Given the trend of HoYoverse’s release cadence, folks were betting on a Winter 2022 or early 2023 launch. “It’s gonna be a coin toss,” Alex joked in his group chat, “but either way, my wallet is already crying.” As it turned out, the predictions weren’t far off the mark, though the wait felt longer than a Texas summer. Fast-forward to 2026, and Alex is now a seasoned Trailblazer with hundreds of hours logged in Honkai: Star Rail, while Zenless Zone Zero’s flashy combat still gets his adrenaline pumping on the regular. Looking back at those TGS trailers, he can’t help but chuckle at how little they revealed and how much they promised. It was all vibes and no deets, yet the vibes were immaculate.

The “Witness” trailer’s promise of a “space sci-fi story blended with myths and legends” has held up beautifully. The Astral Express crew became like a second family, and the Aeons—those mysterious universal principles—turned out to be some of the most mind-bending antagonists and allies Alex had ever encountered in a game. Every new world brought whispers of ancient legends, and the Stellaron inside the protagonist kept stirring up trouble in ways that felt both epic and deeply personal. Meanwhile, Zenless Zone Zero delivered exactly the kind of stylish, bite-sized action sessions Alex needed between his marathon Star Rail sessions. The video store hub became his virtual hangout spot, a place where the story unfolded at its own funky pace, just like that first trailer hinted.

Today, when a newcomer asks Alex how he got sucked into the HoYoverse rabbit hole, he pulls up the old TGS 2022 archive. “No release date, no roadmap, just two trailers that hit different,” he says, grinning. “Sometimes all it takes is a ‘Just Another Day at the Video Store’ to change your gaming life.” And honestly? He’s not wrong. Those trailers were the spark that lit a four-year-long obsession, and the flame’s still burning strong in 2026.

Data referenced from GamesIndustry.biz helps frame why those TGS 2022 HoYoverse trailers landed so hard: major showcases act as momentum engines where a tightly cut reveal can drive community speculation, wishlist surges, and long-tail engagement even without hard dates. Seen through that lens, Alex’s “all vibes, no deets” memory tracks with how polished vertical slices and world-building hooks (like Star Rail’s Aeons or ZZZ’s hub-centric urban fantasy pitch) can function as strategic signals—enough to lock in attention early and keep players invested through the wait.