The subtitle depicts my thoughts before playing. But even though Eve is a stunningly beautiful character in my eyes, don’t let this fact make you think that the new Action-Adventure from the Korean studio called Shift Up, is just that (as I said before playing, don’t fall for in the trap).
Our adventure begins by going to a post-apocalyptic land, in which people lost the battle with some monstrous beings called Naytibas. Eve and her adorable squad (of girls who must have been born and raised in a gym since they’re unrealistically sculpted), enter the fray to fight off the alien invasion. And quickly the game wakes us up from the dream with two things. The “trap” I was talking about before.
The first thing is this, and let’s get this out of the way now that it’s early. Stellar Blade, although it has a protagonist who easily ranks in the top positions of a beauty ranking (which we will do soon on IGN Greece), is also a soulslike that does not forgive mistakes. Playing in Normal mode (it has Story and Normal at the beginning) between the most impressive and difficult enemies and the complex and demanding combos you can do, you hardly notice the beautiful Eve exclusively. As with Lara Croft who was and is beautiful, this has never been an “obstacle” in characterizing Tomb Raider as good games and has not prevented them from making history.
But miss Croft, unlike Eve, also had a mind, something that our protagonist and her company do not show us at any point in the adventure, apart from a few puzzles that you are asked to solve. No trace of humor or personality makes an appearance, which struck a chord with me. Unfortunately, unlike other female characters, Eve and her friends, as beautiful and well-built as they are, lack gray matter. I would appreciate it if the studio showed the player that while Eve is gorgeous, she can respond with some humor to what is said to her – at the very least, she’s a badass.
Returning to the battles, we immediately notice that Eve’s movement is accurate. It relies quite a bit on the dodges and parries you make to avoid incoming enemy attacks. With simple tutorials you fully understand the way you should deal with the enemies. The “small” and “simple” ones can be dealt with directly, but usually the battle requires a different approach, which players of Soulsborne and Soulslike games will find familiar. Move in circles around the enemy to “read” his movements, avoiding the attacks he makes to you. At the right moment you make your attack, in order to “break” his shield and his posture. “Sekiro smells in here” I said during the first boss fight… I didn’t fall out. Stellar Blade borrows, slightly changed and a little more player-friendly, some elements from the most difficult Soulslike ever, which is why it is perhaps classified as Soulslike, nevertheless I think it is similar to other games (such as Devil May Cry ).
During your mission in the post-apocalyptic land, you will come across the so-called camps which are divided into two categories. Simple Camps and Supply Camps. In both you can rest as well as buy supplies from the vending machine named “Perfect Shop” but in the second you can upgrade your weapon, craft, and upgrade your exospine as well as fast travel between in Camps.
The enemies are varied, which does not make the battle boring. It can take different turns depending on the enemies you face as well as your chosen Exospine, your “external skeleton”, which allows you to move differently in battle, changing your approach, depending on the upgrades you’ve given it of course. It would be good to collect all the materials after the battle, as well as to return to various side quests on the map, in order to finish them if you can’t at the moment you meet them. Fast travel will help you a lot with this “mission”! However, exploring Stellar Blade sometimes seems like a chore if there is a linear level quest. While most of the time seeing a new area will get you excited, going back to linearly designed tracks isn’t much fun. Also unfortunately, the specific missions are not very rewarding. They give Gold and EXP to level up but Gold for the most part is a useless currency. You can use it to buy materials at the beginning of the game but later, by breaking boxes, you will find the materials you need. EXP on the other hand is always nice to have in games, but it also feels a bit unnecessary in the last few hours of play.
The graphics, on the other hand, are impressive. The capabilities of the PlayStation 5, which is objectively a powerful console, allow Stellar Blade to go from being a simply enjoyable game, to a beautiful title that I really hope will improve a bit on its negative aspects (such as its linear tracks) and become a post- apocalyptic staple. The crumbling buildings and the indication that this planet was once teeming with life is my second favorite setting (first being medieval. I really like iron armor, helmets and horses sorry).
And we come to what I believe is the selling point of the game. I will give you a hint, but answer it without reading the paragraph below. What is Square Enix’s latest post-apocalyptic game with four letters and a robot girl as the protagonist?
I’m not telling you yet. It starts from N.
You guessed it right, its music is the most impressive aspect of the game and the answer to my little knowledge quiz is NieR. Keiichi Okabe who wrote the enchanting music of NieR: Automata, works his magic here as well. Stellar Blade is graced with around 100 tracks that I promise you will be humming along after your roughly 20 hour adventure is complete. The music of the game will take your breath away from the first moment. I didn’t think that from the opening “track” the music would magnetize me. From the very first battle with the simplest enemies you can hear Keiichi Okabe “whispering” to you that he has done a great job once again.
VERDICT
While Stellar Blade is an exquisite title at times, unfortunately in some areas, such as exploration, it falls short. It’s really a game that I wish had been “cooked” a little longer. As an idea it sounds amazing. A soulslike with a beautiful female protagonist who fights to free the Earth from the alien Naytibas. Unfortunately the lack of a meaningful story and only cute characters doesn’t make it as good as I expected. It certainly has its impressive moments, making me not consider it a bad game, but I feel like it’s missing something.