Stellar Blade is one of those games that was making waves before it was even released. It had wowed traditional gamers who were looking for a throwback, something that focused on fun rather than agendas, political correctness and other 21st century absurdities. On the other hand, it had annoyed a voval minority who was looking for excuses to be triggered, and didn't have any real world problems to solve. The reason? The protagonist EVE. Her voluptuous, feminine figure had brought out... all their insecurities about unrealistic expectations of feminine beauty (by the way, there is nothing here that can't be achieved with proper diet and exercise and for the record she is based on a real model from South Korea) and catering to male fantasies (from where I come from we call it escapism).
Despite its ridiculous origins, the seed of doubt had been planted. Was Stellar Blade made for male gaze purposes only and had little to no substance? Is it possible that more emphasis was placed on the sex appeal of the protagonist through marketing and the people at Shift Up forgot that supelative elements like this can only get you so far? No need to hold your breath any longer, that's why we're here.
Before we got a hold of the game, the impression I got was that it was a hack 'n slash, or character action, as we tend to call them nowadays. You know, one of those Devil May Cry and Bayonetta style games where you're hacking up all sorts of monstrosities, trying to look cool and based. Ultimately that's not the case, as in Stellar Blade the goal isn't to do stylish, over-the-top moves (it has some of those), stacking up successive hits and keeping the combo counter high. The title takes a more methodical approach to its combat, having more in common with the Souls-like, and the area design isn't as confined as I expected. We'll look at these elements in more detail below.
And to get ahead of the naughty ones among our audience - "bro I came here for the story" - Stellar Blade, unironically, has that too. To be honest, it starts off quite leisurely and vague, not providing enough background and information, but if we're patient, it gradually unravels itself. Earth has been destroyed and turned into a vast wasteland after humans have been defeated in the war against the Naytiba, monstrous creatures about which no intel was available. This resulted in the few survivors hiding in small communities and trying to organize and fight back. The more privileged ones were able to secure a place in the Colony in space, while the rest live with the dream of a better (?) life there and hope to leave our ravaged planet behind.
The adventure begins when the 7th Airborne Squad of elite Colony super-warriors lands on Earth to help reclaim the planet from the hideous monsters. Things soon take a turn for the worse, and EVE, with the help of some survivors, will try to carry out her mission. Her search for the elder Naytiba will bring her face to face with mysteries of human civilization and truths that will shake everything she has known up to this point. The plot in general - except for one instance - doesn't hide any staggering twists, although in occasionally may hint at one coming. However, it does have some philosophical implications about human nature and existence, which pose some interesting questions. Many of you will observe, during your playthrough, parallel thematics to Nier: Automata, while the more "inquisitive" will notice some similarities with the manga/anime Claymore.
Stellar Blade is an excellent port from PlayStation 5. Not only is it perfectly optimized for a wide range of setups, but it also delivers an all-around remarkable result in visuals. In terms of optimization, I believe part of it is due to the fact that the game runs on Unreal Engine 4 - what year is it - so it isn't taxing on hardware specs. It's been quite some time since I've tried a AAA game where I didn't have to lower a setting even a little bit, and at the same time have over 100 frames, without the use of any upscaling technique. It may not match the results seen in UE5 games (or on proprietary graphics engines), but as in the case of Callisto Protocol, the engine has been pushed to its limits.
The environments, with the exception of close-up textures here and there, are rendered with great detail. The remnants of human civilization seen in the various monuments, giant structures and ruined buildings, flooded areas, the Great Desert dunes, etc. provide some impressive vistas within the post-apocalyptic setting. Due attention has predictably been given to the character models, with EVE standing out prominently. For the teenagers among us, there are also plenty of costumes to dress her up as we wish and add another impressive sight to the aforementioned, if for some reason we feel that her contoured, alabaster silhouette isn't adequately outlined in her default. Finally, the soundtrack includes some great tunes from various genres, including pop, alternative, etc. (especially during the exploration) in which the ethereal female vocals are dominant and overwhelm you with a sense of nostalgia.
In contrast to the marble-like buttocks of EVE, the combat system is fluid so as not to be unreasonable in the expectations it sets for the player. Stellar Blade has done its Sekiro homework. The encounters are fast-paced and usually get pretty tough if you're up against multiple opponents. The protagonist responds to our commands with lightning speed. Bashing the keys like maniacs won't do us any good, and we'll get us decimated. We can find openings to attack, as is common in the genre, but the best moments are when we our opponents runs out of Balance (the equivalent of Posture in Sekiro). There's a silent assasin approach, but in many cases direct confrontation is unavoidable.
The battles seem simple at first, but along the way we unlock a large repertoire of moves. We only have one weapon, EVE's sword, but with it we can perform many actions consisting mainly of heavy and fast attack combinations. Memorizing them helps us get better, as does learning, of course, the patterns of each enemy. Parry and Dodge are crucial to our survival, even more so when executed with perfect timing (i.e. just before receiving a hit). This is because they are directly bound to some special skills (Beta, Burst), which are powered by this performance in combat and can make our lives much easier. Overall Stellar Blade has quite a bit of depth in this aspect. I won't go into further detail, as there is a very useful built-in manual (explaining everything through short descriptions and videos), and special moves can be tested at any time in a tutorial arena.
The other aspect of the gameplay that stands out, even more than the combat, is the exploration and structuring of the areas. As I mentioned earlier, it was a pleasant surprise how they were designed. I was expecting them to be more linear, in the style of DMC missions, with “once and done” objectives, but they ended up having quite a bit of meat to them. Within them you'll find various information that slowly builds the lore of the world, and there are many chests lying around that usually reward with materials to upgrade our equipment, expand our gear sockets, etc. The verticality makes exploration more delightful and we should keep our eyes open for the (quite) imaginative secrets around.
Stellar Blade messes with our expectations in the first few hours. Between the semi-open world areas, which are quite large, are interspersed some more linear ones (this is how the game starts), for which everything we mentioned in the previous paragraph applies. In these we will also find some platforming segments, without being anything too fancy. This alternation between these types of areas, contributes to the diversity of the gameplay. We can return to any map, at (almost) any time via the main hub, the city of Xion. From there we will also undertake the majority of quests (the other main way to get sp, besides battles, which we will invest in skills). The quality of their writing is average, but several are interesting in that they lead to an optional boss fight, ambushes, or a secret.
Having reached the end of this review, I can't say that I found any negatives significantly hampering the experience. The challenge is reasonable and there are no unfair spikes. Aside from the general writing that doesn't go above and beyond, it's annoying that most of our actions can be interrupted by even the simplest enemy attacks, which of course is more pronounced when we have engaged with multiple opponents. Stellar Blade may not be remembered as a genre-defining title, but on the other hand it's a game with enough quality content to keep you occupied for hours. The package includes a very well crafted combat system and a sense of discovery which is supported by level design that has been painstakingly put together. A solid foundation has been laid, and we hope it gave the developers the experience needed, to offer us an even better sequel.
We would like to thank PlayStation Greece for providing the review code.
CURVES APPRECIATION - 85%
85%
Almost stellar
All in all, Stellar Blade will not stir the waters in its category. But it's a very rewarding experience that can provide hours of entertainment with its addictive combat and elaborate area design.
