The modern gaming industry rarely surprises me with anything new. We’re living in the age of sequels and cash grabs, and that’s why Stellar Blade from Shift Up was a big shock to many. A new IP from a previously unheard-of developer, backed by Sony? It immediately generated a lot of buzz — for various reasons. Some were just excited about a new game that closely resembled Nier, while others were outraged by some of the outfits Eve, the protagonist, was wearing. One way or another, everyone had something to say.
I don’t follow outrages and generally don’t care about them. I can agree that the design of Eve is a bit unorthodox by modern Western standards, but it’s nothing the fans of the Japanese games haven’t seen. Stellar Blade is from South Korea, but it borrows a lot from games from Yoko Taro and others.
Let’s start with the positives. Stellar Blade is a fantastic debut by any standard. The game is incredibly polished, with no technical hiccups right from the start. Such a feat feels incredible in 2024, and overall, the game looks and feels as triple-A as they come.
The story is interesting, too, telling us about a future Earth that’s been devastated by war with monsters. We play as Eve, the sole survivor of the 7th Airborne Squad. With the help of a friend, she attempts to do some good.
Eve is hardly the most well-written character, but there’s nothing to dislike about her either. The game has a few introspective moments where she looks at the ruins of the old world and wonders how it had looked before. She’s a soldier with a big heart and wondrous outlook, and I immediately liked her. Now, why does a battle-hardened soldier look like she just attended a burlesque show, I have no idea. Then again, what do I know about the fashion of the future?
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Stellar Blade is not an open-world game which I find refreshing. Instead, it takes a more linear route, without feeling too limiting. It reminds me of a few game series. I mentioned Nier, but there’s also a healthy dose of DmC which is also welcome. Manual checkpoints are limited, but without them, you cannot save your progress. That leads to a lot of backtracking as well as other inconveniences, but, well, it’s trendy now. Rise of Ronin — another PS5 exclusive — was similar.
The game is brimming with options for every type of player. The combat is brutal and satisfying, and there are plenty of ways to dispatch with over 50 enemy types. Once again I have to voice my amazement at the level of complexity from the newcomers to the big leagues. It’s a joy to play.
Not everything feels fresh or polished though. The world, while incredibly vibey and wonderfully post-apocalyptic, doesn’t offer anything we haven’t seen a lot of times. Exploring it can be both rewarding and painful due to half-baked platforming elements. Controlling Eve is usually fine, but she does have a knack for jumping in the wrong way.
Stellar Blade feels like a blast from the past, taking inspiration from modern titles but also feeling quite retro in places. Its characters’ stilted delivery might turn off some, but it reminds me of the PS2 days in more ways than one. The game offers good pacing and can be completed in about 30 hours, which is pretty great when so many modern games take too long. Eve’s story is hardly the most captivating one, but it moves at a brisk pace and delivers some okay lines in the most awkward matter possible. But I am a sucker for this stuff. It’s nostalgic in the weirdest way possible.
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Verdict
Stellar Blade is a joy to play on the PS5. It’s a stylish and beautiful game that hardly has any technical issues. Its impeccable pacing and tight combat make it the game to buy in the first part of 2024.