Stellar Blade Review
Less Than Meets The Eye
Stellar Blade opens both boldly and confusingly. Without context, the main character Eve is sent to Earth to join in the battle against the Naytibas, monsters that have overrun most of the planet. Immediately after the end of the opening cutscene, the player learns the basics of combat and the story begins. This intro sequence is Stellar Blade in a nutshell. Stunning visuals, interesting narrative ideas that feel at best undercooked, and extremely polished gameplay that fails to mesh with the tone and narrative. These problems, combined with Stellar Blade’s lack of originality, make the game fall short of greatness.
Stellar Blade’s visuals get a true chance to shine in this moment, as not only does the on-the-ground action look impressive, but the backdrop of the larger battle happening in the distance is breathtaking. Not much time is spent establishing who all of the factions are, what Eve’s goal is beyond fighting for humanity, or any character’s personality for that matter. From a gameplay perspective, this feels intentional, as it mimics an important element of the Soulslike genre which Stellar Blade fits nicely into, that being the world feeling alien and hostile to the player. However, the narrative handles this clumsily at best, as the screen fades to black before any character can explain what exactly is happening.
After the intro, the player is thrust into the first major area of the game. It becomes clear quickly that Eve moves faster than the average Soulslike protagonist, but she is still slow enough to feel at the mercy of the enemy’s attack patterns. Eve gains skill points upon defeating enemies or clearing quests, which the player can spend for new abilities including but not limited to simple damage increases, new attack combinations, or even new mechanics like perfect dodging. Other upgrades and equipment can be found via exploration, which helps to incentivize the player to spend more time in each area.
On paper, these gameplay elements function well enough. However, when all put together, Stellar Blade’s gameplay systems begin to lose their luster. Eve is consistently presented as a fairly typical action heroine, complete with flashy attack combos and quick-time events. However, the player is seldom able to experience Eve’s abilities to their fullest. The ability to use special moves is rare enough that they don’t feel like a proper tool at the player’s disposal, and most of the combo attacks the player can unlock feel slow and are thus almost unusable given how quickly the normal enemies die and how fast the bosses move. Without much customization of Eve’s move set or variation in playstyles, combat can become a chore. However, those who enjoy the general design sensibilities of Soulslike enemies and bosses will find a lot to enjoy here.
If only Stellar Blade’s combat was as stunning as its visuals.
A welcome shakeup to the gameplay occurs a small number of times with small, linear survival-horror-esque sections. In these moments, Eve only has access to a laser gun with limited ammo, and the areas aren’t as bright or colorful. Initially, it might seem unnecessary to take away most of Eve’s tools, but these sections end up as a highlight because the gameplay finally ends up matching the game’s overall tone. Unfortunately, the bosses at the end of these sections are at best underwhelming and don’t come close to the spectacle provided by the rest of the game’s bosses.
Stellar Blade features four categories of level design, including the aforementioned survival-horror sections. Fairly typical Soulslike areas make up the majority of the game. These are competently designed, complete with unlockable shortcuts, secret areas that are off the beaten path, and campsites where Eve can be fully healed and restocked on her healing items at the cost of all enemies respawning. While not pushing any envelopes, these areas are varied and contain interesting enough ideas to last throughout the game’s runtime.
These areas are joined by more open areas that are used for getting to the next main story section or to accomplish side quests that Eve can obtain in Xion, the game’s main hub area. These areas aren’t offensively bad, but they feel distinctly lacking in purpose and structure compared to the other areas of the game. Most of the time spent is just running around toward points on the map, and enemy placement is a bit haphazard. Ultimately it is hard to justify the game’s inclusion of these areas as they primarily feel like meaningless padding rather than meaningful content.
Finally are the linear levels that take up most of Stellar Blade’s final hours. These are the most likely to feature high-octane set pieces, such as Eve skating down a large tube at high speeds or platforming at deadly heights. While visually these moments are incredible, at times they also feel hollow due to a lack of investment or buildup. Eve can be thrust into a deadly situation at the drop of a hat with next to no warning, and suddenly the player is in the middle of a brand new set of problems. These rarely come as welcome surprises and are more likely to fall flat.
Stellar Blade features beautiful post-apocalyptic areas that feel appropriately mysterious.
Stellar Blade is no doubt top-notch in the presentation department. The visuals are drop-dead gorgeous throughout, animations in both the gameplay and cutscenes are smooth and clear, and the game maintains a steady frame-rate on performance mode. If there’s anything truly notable for the game to take away, it’s that the visuals are some of the best in recent years. The soundtrack is equally strong, boasting everything from soft melodies over calm moments to bombastic metal tracks set to intense bosses.
Unfortunately, this presentation is wasted on an at best underbaked and poorly executed narrative. A lot of events happen without apparent reason, characters are robotic and lack any real sense of personality, and moments that are meant to feel emotional fail to do so. Lily, the game’s resident lighthearted, semi-comedic relief character, is the only character throughout the main story that displays anything beyond a cold stoicism, and even she lacks the charm required to pull off the role effectively.
It doesn’t help that Stellar Blade is incredibly derivative. Down to some of the narrative’s themes, much of Stellar Blade‘s narrative feels like a remixing of NieR: Automata. While not a direct copy per se, it is hard to look at most of the main story beats in Stellar Blade and not draw a direct line to NieR: Automata, which developer Shift Up confirmed was a major source of inspiration. While taking inspiration is not a cardinal sin, Stellar Blade fails to carve out any identity of its own.
Lily feels less like comedic relief and more like the only sign of life in a lifeless cast.
It’s a real shame too, because some of the ideas and reveals, while not wholly original, still have the potential to be interesting, and if they had been executed better Stellar Blade’s narrative wouldn’t have fallen nearly as flat. The finale of the game is the perfect example, as it has all of the makings of an excellent finale on paper, but a lack of emotional stakes and poorly executed dialogue make everything feel like a first draft.
From beginning to end, Stellar Blade remains consistently wonderful from a presentation perspective, uneven but perfectly well from a gameplay perspective, and lifeless and poorly executed from a narrative perspective. Stellar Blade consistently shines in many areas, but any recommendation must come with a heave “your mileage may vary.”
Incredible presentation
Solid combat
Fun linear level design
Poorly executed narrative
Total lack of originality
Completely uninteresting open world
Fortunately, the game performed well enough to prompt the developer to make a sequel. It will be hopefully the opportunity for this studio to do better.