More than just a Soulslike with a protagonist to serve as eye-candy, Stellar Blade has far surpassed our expectations, offering varied gameplay, outstanding visuals, a sublime soundtrack and an engaging story. It's a must-play for action game fans.
During our preview, we decreed that Stellar Blade could become the new star of action gaming. Today, after more than thirty hours of play, we are able to confirm it as the clever mix of genres it offers us keeps us in suspense from start to finish, despite the multiple hiccups highlighted in our test . If we had had expectations about it for months and months, Stellar Blade easily exceeds them. The gameplay continues to get more spicy, the styles of play increase tenfold the way of approaching combat, the universe and the graphics carry us away and the joint work of Shift Up and Monaca on the music really makes it an adventure that has nothing to be ashamed of in the face of NieR: Automata or the other big names.
All in all, if you love action games, I think you’ll have a great time with Stellar Blade. You might find yourself zoning out during the cut scenes, but you’ll enjoy being in the zone during that flowing combat fun.
Though Stellar Blade draws some ideas from FromSoftware's games, it's immediately clear that Shift Up is following its own path. It's action-packed science-fiction served with a philosophical and... sexy sauce. A sauce that makes it taste like a dish you've never eaten before.
Since the action RPG borrows many mechanics from games belonging to very different genres, the risk that Stellar Blade would turn out to be a soulless "map" was very high. Paradoxically, however, the aspect of the product that more than any other has been able to convince us is to be found precisely in its solid combat system, which even without reinventing the wheel has given us great satisfaction. On the downside, the same cannot be said of the plot, which is insipid and affected by very predictable twists, and of the exploratory component, which reuses anachronistic and not at all stimulating environmental puzzles to the point of exhaustion. To the aforementioned problems must be added the frequent recycling of bosses carried out mostly by sidequests, a difficulty level that is not always electrifying and a questionable management of saves. In our opinion, these rough edges are attributable to the naivety and above all the inexperience of the SHIFT UP team, which until now had almost exclusively created titles for mobile devices. If nothing else, Stellar Blade gave us a substantial taste of the great potential of the Korean studio, which if it were to take advantage of the feedback could really surprise us starting from its next project.
Had Eve been a character with agency and personality, who actually responded to the drooling and leering that she’s meant to embody, well, she’d be Bayonetta.
back tracking and inconsistent fast travel making navigating the game difficult. Forced download of the update is annoying. Also, not having a map on some levels makes no sense.
A game with a lot of potential, but ruined by just 1 little detail: Censorship
I know people think this is not a big deal, but the thing is, they'll keep changing our games with these update patches, doing whatever they want, and disrespecting their customers with lies.
They promised an "uncensored" game in every country, and they lied, simple as that.
SummarySave humanity from extinction in this electrifying story-driven action adventure, made by Korean developer Shift Up, exclusively for PlayStation 5.
Experience blistering combat and a twisting storyline as you unravel the mysteries of Earth's downfall.