It's nice that there are so many demos again. And even better when they are as promising as the ones for Stellar Blade. I was eagerly waiting for this (and of course I still am), which is why I'm even more pleased that the futuristic action turned out so well. Despite the information in advance, I just didn't expect that there would actually be so much Nier in it.
Don't get me wrong: this isn't a criticism. This is fantastic! Exploring an overgrown metropolis to fight tough creatures – grotesque “mixed” figures that remind me of Silent Hill – while a melancholic song with a quiet swing sets the tone… There's a lot of Yoko Taro's role model there Platinum's second part inside.
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Well, the local heroine Eve doesn't glide around as nimbly as 2B does. It evades less elegantly and I don't find moving the camera to be quite as intuitive. When it comes to the feel of the game, only a few can beat Platinum. However, if I started the demo with the expectation that this difference would apply to the entire adventure, I now know that Stellar Blade could easily be in the top ranks, especially when it comes to action!
Of course, I have to ignore the exaggeratedly doll-like heroine. Well, so be it. 2B didn't come from an overly woke mind either. The adventure starts with a massive space battle in which Eve is shot onto an earth occupied by invaders, only to be pulled out of her landing capsule as if giving birth before she is rescued by a guy named Adam. Hmm… Let’s see where this goes. I'll throw Battlestar Galactica out there without really expecting to experience something similar here.
But story aside for now. Ultimately, the demo is about how the action feels. And for me, the first duels with bosses and other opponents were pleasantly varied challenges. In any case, they immediately captivated me – so much so that I can hardly wait to play the entire game.
After all, Eve doesn't just dodge in time to activate a counterattack. She can also teleport through or distance herself from an enemy to spot a weak spot and then shoot at it with a weapon. Now the focus is not on long-range combat; The ammunition is far too limited for that. But it expands Eve's repertoire and offers opportunities to take a quick breather.
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However, it is much more important that Eve blocks several incoming attacks at the right moment, because this causes the creatures to lose their secure footing. Because when that happens, you can execute a specially staged finisher. That's right: Sekiro greets you at the top of his lungs. Last but not least, these and other actions allow you to charge up the energy for particularly strong attacks that not only do a lot of damage, but also interrupt incoming attacks – even on bosses, which I think is great. It annoys me when big enemies simply ignore even the coolest maneuvers of their own.
Various grenades and another energy meter, which doesn't play a role in the demo, round out Eve's arsenal or are perhaps not even the end of the line. And none of this seems to be part of the system for its own sake. So far, the individual elements have created a pleasantly complex, but not unnecessarily complicated flow that requires good reactions and a clever offensive.
Especially since the sequence, which is reminiscent of a Soulslike, does not imitate the merciless harshness of the model. You shouldn't rush through the end-time world like a wild bull. But there are checkpoints before and after tricky situations and even though I had to tackle one or two places several times in the demo, even the final boss wasn't a merciless bouncer, but an entertaining duel with an elaborately animated futuristic nightmare.
Only the tough opponent in the separate Boss Challenge was really tough. However, you can fight it with advanced equipment and an almost fully grown skill tree, so the demo also gives you a good insight into the way in which you can develop and specialize Eve. Increased damage from combos, faster energy recharging, better protection from enemy hits, faster attack moves, and more – you get the idea.