Stellar Blade is a fascinating game that I feel hopelessly mixed about. On the one hand, it epitomizes everything I love about video game combat, serving up a dramatically flashy experience that is endlessly satisfying. On the other hand, it can feel like a hollow and lifeless experience, not one without passion and creativity but merely lacking the je ne sais quoi that makes video games the memorable works of art they can be. Simply put, Stellar Blade is an unremarkable spectacle, a game teeming with good ideas that never quite feel like they land.
“The story, or what little of it there actually is, could have been told across a two-hour movie, and even then, it would have felt stretched.”
Stellar Blade’s narrative is easily its weakest element, something that, as the credits rolled not once but twice as I foolishly pursued both endings, surprised me. From all the promotional material surrounding Stellar Blade, I assumed that it would have a relatively high-octane narrative, one peppered with exceptional cinematography, exciting cutscenes, and intense stakes. However, what you get is an inconsistently paced story, one marred by the overt sexualization of its female characters and its predictability.
Stellar Blade tells the story of EVE, a soldier of the Colony who is sent to Earth to rid it of the Naytiba, an alien force that has conquered Earth and sent the majority of humanity packing to the stars. Your main objective is to hunt down the Elder Naytiba, the head honcho, and helping you in your quest are two side characters, Adam and Lily. There’s plenty of intriguing lore surrounding the Naytiba, the Colony, and Mother Sphere, an omnipotent figure that sent you to Earth in the first place. It’s enough that, at least for the game’s first ten or so hours, you feel compelled to continue.
However, it doesn’t sustain what is otherwise a fairly mundane plot. The story, or what little of it there actually is, could have been told across a two-hour movie, and even then, it would have felt stretched. EVE is a fairly rote protagonist, one whose character development is dropped immediately in favor of telling a convoluted narrative that weaves itself into a series of groan-worthy predictable endpoints. Similarly, Adam and Lily are one-note, there to spout exposition about the world. By the time the game ended, I could tell you very little about any of these characters beyond some late-game reveals that did little to perk my interest.
“Outside of unlocking some outfits and a slight, inconsequential change in the game’s main story, side quests are mostly tedious and easily skippable.”
Outside of the main story, there are a handful of side quests to complete. There are your standard requests, which see you head to one of the game’s open areas to kill or fetch something. These come with a little bit of flavor text, but beyond the occasionally helpful reward can be skipped entirely. A step up from that are side quests given by random NPCs. These are a little more interesting but never extend beyond, once again, heading somewhere and killing something. Their merit lies in their lore potential, as they often explore some facet of the world that helps flesh it out beyond what the main story offers.
By far, the most interesting side quests are those tied to the shop vendors. There are a handful of these NPCs in the game, and each one has an affinity rating you’ll increase by buying their stock. Once you’ve raised it enough, you’ll unlock a unique quest, such as locating a girl’s sister or taking out a pesky turret that’s gone rogue. These tend to lead to a boss fight or a more cutscene-driven story, which is certainly a cut above the rest of Stellar Blade’s side offerings.
However, I can’t say that any of it is particularly worthwhile. It took me 25 hours to complete all but two side quests, which were just mundane requests, and the main story. If you want to breeze through Stellar Blade, then you can probably skip most of its side stories. Outside of unlocking some outfits (more on that later) and a slight, inconsequential change in the game’s main story, they’re mostly tedious and easily skippable.
“Outside of one particularly spectacular sequence I won’t spoil, Stellar Blade’s visual flair is seriously lacking, at least when it comes to its cutscene direction.”
I suspect, however, that some may find enjoyment in Stellar Blade’s narrative. There’s a lot happening behind the scenes, much like any good souls game, which players may find pleasure in dissecting. There is a genuine joy, at least early on, in figuring out what it all means, although you’ll have long sussed out the game’s various twists and turns before EVE even begins to understand what’s going on.
It doesn’t help that Stellar Blade’s cutscenes consist of little more than characters standing around waxing lyrical about far more interesting events you don’t get to experience. There are a handful of more action-packed sequences, but these tend to happen just before and after beating a boss. Outside of one particularly spectacular sequence, which I won’t spoil, Stellar Blade’s visual flair is seriously lacking, at least when it comes to its cutscene direction.
This results in a fairly unremarkable and forgettable 20-hour story, one that, while not mind-numbingly dreadful or without merit, feels less than worthwhile. Fortunately, it’s propped up by some rather excellent gameplay that more than makes up for the narrative shortcomings.
“Combat in Stellar Blade is an exciting and flashy blend of precise, pattern-learning, soulslike strategy, and ability-mashing arcadey action that feels as rewarding as it does satisfying.“
Combat in Stellar Blade is easily the highlight and largely the reason many players will want to pick it up. It’s an exciting and flashy blend of precise, pattern-learning, soulslike strategy, and ability-mashing arcadey action that feels as rewarding as it does satisfying. As a soulslike newbie, I found Stellar Blade to be perfectly approachable and the right level of challenging, with most major boss fights only requiring a handful of attempts. This is outside of the final few boss fights where it feels like the difficulty takes a steep upward curve, and there’s little you can do to combat it outside of try and try again.
In Stellar Blade, you have access to four abilities, which are later expanded to eight, that are tied to your Beta Energy meter. This is filled by attacking, parrying, and performing a timed dodge when the enemy flashes a certain color. These are all upgradeable, and the upgrades are not insignificant. One I came to rely heavily upon could be upgraded to add a follow-up attack, which removed a notch from the opponent’s stagger bar. This completely transformed combat, as once an opponent is staggered, you can perform a powerful attack that drains a huge chunk of their health.
Additionally, combat is easy to get your head around, as most enemies, outside of a few frustrating examples, telegraph their attacks fairly obviously. It’s enough to allow you to react, but not so trivial that you’ll succeed every time. I’m certain that souls-enthusiasts may find Stellar Blade a little easy, and the default Normal difficulty may not be enough. Fortunately, a Hard mode is unlocked after beating the game, although a lack of New Game Plus (at the time of writing this review) made it so there was little incentive to return.
“Combat is consistently fun across the game’s entire runtime.”
Fortunately, Stellar Blade’s various combat gauntlets pose enough challenge and require enough strategy that even if you found it a little easy, you’d still have fun. That’s not even mentioning just how spectacular it looks and feels, with every attack, parry, and well-timed dodge supplying you with adrenaline-filled feedback that never gets old.
There were also a handful of particularly memorable boss fights, including a rather spooky one in the late game. However, Stellar Blade has a tendency to repeat boss fights, especially in side quests, so be prepared to fight the same great hulking enemies twice over. Fortunately, the enemy variety is plentiful, ensuring that every encounter feels remarkably fresh.
That’s all to say that combat is consistently fun across the game’s entire runtime. It’s constantly refreshed with new mechanics, such as a gun with a variety of ammo types, as well as new enemy types to defeat. There’s more than enough variety here to keep you feeling entertained throughout, and the approachable mechanics make it so that most players with decent reflexes can feel like a nimble super soldier while playing.
“More often than not, my deaths were attributable to EVE flying off a cliffedge as opposed to being defeated in combat.”
Surprisingly, exploration in Stellar Blade is also rather excellent. The game is split into several areas, each one accessible via a loading screen. You have the starting location of Edios 7, a linear urban environment that will evoke much of the game’s soulslike influence. However, there is also a vast open area called the Wasteland, an arid desert filled with side content, collectibles, and NPCs. The game switches between linear and open areas throughout its runtime, giving players the opportunity to wrap up side content whenever they enter an open area and then focus on the story during the more linear sections.
Traversing these landscapes is a little tedious, however. This is largely due to the difficulty of controlling EVE. Unfortunately, she can be a little floaty, especially when, in the open areas, she breaks into a full sprint. More often than not, my deaths were attributable to EVE flying off a cliff edge rather than being defeated in combat. It can be hard to judge certain jumps, and even when you do get it right, EVE can slide off the narrow platform anyway.
“The lack of a map in some areas is a truly baffling decision, and one that gives further credence to the idea that side quests are simply not worth pursuing.”
Fortunately, the game has plenty of respawn points, known as camps in Stellar Blade, which are rarely far from where you last died. If you die to a boss, it’ll even respawn you directly outside of that encounter, which is refreshing. Unfortunately, another issue that plagues exploration is the lack of a map. In certain areas, such as the large open spaces and the game’s hub world, Xion, you do have access to an area map but not a minimap. However, in the linear sections, there is no map at all.
You’re reliant, then, on a scanner feature that pings nearby chests as well as the vague direction of your objective. However, it can be incredibly frustrating when revisiting these linear locations for a side quest, as you’ll start from the beginning and must guess which fast travel point to go to and then walk from there. Conversely, when in an open area, you can pinpoint exactly where you need to go for a mission on the map and then pick the fast travel point closest. It’s a truly baffling decision and one that gives further credence to the idea that side quests are simply not worth pursuing.
“Outside of the visual aspect of EVE’s unlockable outfits, there’s no real benefit to them.”
Fortunately, venturing off the beaten path is worthwhile, as you are always rewarded in abundance. You’ll find crates full of limited resources needed to craft and upgrade your equipment, new outfits for EVE, and more. At one point, I even unlocked an entirely new area once submerged in water that was just as content-rich as the rest of the game.
However, while most of it is worthwhile, there is some that is not. The worthwhile content includes drink cans you find in the wild, which, after finding a certain amount, unlock additional potion slots or grenade slots. You can also get upgrades to your health and Beta Energy bars by finding dead bodies, materials to upgrade your Estus Flask-esque replenishable healing item, and new pieces of gear that incrementally improve your stats and can be upgraded further to offer better buffs.
However, I found the outfits that you can unlock for EVE a bit of a wasted opportunity. Much has been said about the certain appeal of EVE’s outfits, and I’m not here to judge those who enjoy that aspect of the game. However, outside of the visual aspect of EVE’s unlockable outfits, there’s no benefit to them. They don’t influence gameplay at all, such as by unlocking new abilities or increasing your stats. Outfits in Stellar Blade are entirely cosmetic and exist purely to increasingly reveal as much of EVE’s skin as they possibly can.
It’s a shame, as if they had some form of gameplay benefit, it would be easier to overlook their rather blatant purpose for existing. However, in their current state, they make a large part of Stellar Blade a frustrating ordeal, as unlocking a bikini is neither enjoyable nor fulfilling unless your desire is to get EVE as naked as you can.
“The game’s remarkable soundtrack remains a triumphant and masterful component all the way to the end of the credits.”
Of course, regardless of where you stand on EVE’s outfits, it’s hard to deny that Stellar Blade is a gorgeous game. From the densely detailed city of Xion to the vast rolling dunes of the Wasteland, Stellar Blade’s environment design is phenomenal and rarely disappoints. Additionally, the game’s creature design is incredible, with every grunt and boss fight standing out as a grotesque yet endlessly fascinating encounter.
Unfortunately, without spoiling every location you visit, there is perhaps one too many deserts. That’s not to say there isn’t a lot of variety, as the game’s more linear sections are teeming with unique locales and interesting areas to explore. However, the more open areas tend to lack the same originality, although they aren’t without merit. Additionally, the character designs, from both the main and side characters, are a little lifeless and unoriginal, with their faces rarely emoting. It’s a shame, as it drastically brings down the overall quality of both the story and the visuals despite the otherwise fantastic art direction.
Fortunately, the game’s remarkable soundtrack is not affected by the occasional faults of its visuals and remains a triumphant and masterful component all the way to the end of the credits. It frequently amplifies the tension, raising the stakes in a way that the game’s lackadaisical cutscenes never could. The action, adventure, sense of mystery, and more reflective moments are all heightened or improved thanks to the ingenious soundtrack, which I can envisage myself listening to well after the game’s launch.
“I do think that Stellar Blade will be forgotten, certainly by myself, and I doubt it will be remembered as fondly as the games it takes inspiration from.”
I suspect that I may be in the minority when it comes to my impressions of Stellar Blade. Of course, I don’t doubt that everyone will fall in love with the game’s effortlessly exciting combat, but I feel that they may find more endearing qualities in its less-than-stellar story and perhaps will overlook the inconsistencies in its exploration and visuals. To that end, I feel that if you want a game with satisfying combat and a largely vibes-based story, then you’ll likely find a lot to enjoy in Stellar Blade. After all, despite appearances, I didn’t hate it.
However, I do think that Stellar Blade will be forgotten, certainly by myself, and I doubt it will be remembered as fondly as the games it takes inspiration from. Nevertheless, as a debut attempt from developer ShiftUp, it is certainly admirable. Were they to take the game’s best elements and perhaps ditch the unnecessary fan service, I believe they could easily become a household name alongside FromSoftware and Capcom.
If you want more Stellar Blade content, including in-depth guides and news, then be sure to check out our Guide Hub.
Disclosure: Game Crater was provided the game for this review.
