The developers from Studio Shift Up are bringing their first console game onto the market with Stellar Blade. We'll tell you whether their debut game on the PlayStation 5 was a success or whether they would have been better off sticking with mobile games.
A notice: We tested Stellar Blade on the PlayStation 5 for around 30 hours. During this time we had four crashes. No further technical problems occurred.
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What makes a human being human?
In the futuristic world of Stellar Blade, humanity lives in a colony in space. You play Eve, who is sent back from the colony to the post-apocalyptic Earth. Your mission is to free the planet from the Naytibas. These are powerful and sometimes grotesque creatures that have driven human civilization into the abyss and taken over the earth. The future of humanity is therefore at stake and to ensure this, you must wipe out all Alpha Naytibas.
During the reconquest you get to know the destroyed world through the eyes of Eve, who is on Earth for the first time. Step by step you will learn that not everything is as it seems. By revealing the secrets of the past, the story no longer deals with the fight against the Naytibas, but instead asks central questions such as: What defines humanity? What makes a human being human? Can and should the human components be exchanged? It doesn’t matter whether it’s physical attributes or personality and character traits.
Stellar Blade's story creates a vibe that resembles a fusion of The Matrix, Nier Automata, and Detroit: Become Human. The story gives enough motivation to want to follow it and see one of several possible endings. However, it still doesn't manage to captivate in the long term. This is mainly because the above-mentioned questions that the game raises are never answered and treated in sufficient depth. The resolution of the whole thing is a bit mushy, regardless of the ending. Unfortunately, Stellar Blade remains on the surface of the topic.
Nevertheless, the story can sometimes provide one or two surprises and offers consistently good entertainment. Just don't expect a sweeping emotional journey or a story that will leave you sitting on the edge of the sofa with wide eyes and sweaty palms. Because Stellar Blade's greatest strengths definitely lie in the action.
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A quick side note, Since there will certainly be a lot of discussion about this: The eroticism presented, which also includes camera angles in video sequences, only serve a specific purpose. The question often arises as to whether this really should have happened. By the way, I think it's completely okay that Eve has a corresponding body type. Attractive protagonists are nothing new and in my opinion there is nothing wrong with them. The resolution of the story even provides arguments as to why Eve looks the way she does. At least if you're willing to think outside the box. However, I won't reveal the arguments now because I don't want to spoil anything. As with everything, however, the dose makes the poison. Playing with charms here and there can definitely be part of it and can sometimes also be used as a stylistic device. However, in Stellar Blade this is exactly the opposite. The mass of near-NSFW costumes and camera angles only serve one obvious purpose. Stand by it as you like, but in my opinion the fan service offered is set too high and doesn't serve any deeper meaning.
Almost flawless action that makes the heart beat faster
If you've ever played any Soulslike, you know what to expect when it comes to leveling up Stellar Blade. You are either in a semi-open world or in a complex section into which you gradually advance and secure your progress through manually activated checkpoints (here camps). You can also unlock paths and shortcuts that make your progress easier.
The action offered is the game's greatest strength. Since there is no stamina bar, the fights are determined by your reflexes and are characterized by high speed. You can also cancel some combos by blocking, parrying or dodging, which makes the fights even faster. New skills are also unlocked at a reasonable pace, so battles never get boring and your repertoire is constantly expanding with useful skills.
Nevertheless, the gameplay also has flaws that show that the development studio still has a lot to learn when it comes to console games. This also includes the steep increase in difficulty, which is clearly noticeable towards the end of the game. Not every player will like him. I welcomed him, but the sudden increase was very strong. It could have been integrated into the action more smoothly and evenly.
As mentioned above, you can also parry enemy attacks. After each parade, time slows down for a brief moment. It actually sounds like this makes the action easier. However, the opposite is true. When enemies, especially bosses, perform many quick hits in a row, slowing down time has more negative effects than positive ones. Since recognizing the rhythm of enemy attacks is the key to success in parries, slowing down makes your timing difficult. Successful consecutive saves were therefore more difficult for me than in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, for example. The rhythm of the attacks would be easier to grasp without the slowdown. Nevertheless, this is the only significant weakness that Stellar Blade has in its combat mechanics.
Other flaws may not bother every player and are more of a “quality of life” feature that would round off the experience. So the fast travel function is a bit clumsy. With their help you cannot travel to all the camps found, but only to certain ones. In addition, you cannot travel back and forth between the different regions/levels, but always have to take an intermediate step to your ship.
There are also a number of “invisible walls” in the semi-open world where there shouldn’t be any, which of course reduces the fun of exploring. In addition, jumping feels imprecise and spongy during the first 8 hours of play. As soon as you unlock the double jump, this mechanic improves, but even after that, Eve's hopping still appears to be a discrepancy from her smooth fighting skills.
Test conclusion
Stellar Blade ticks all the boxes that a good action adventure should have. However, developer Shift Up's console debut also has a few flaws that could have been avoided. Especially when it comes to exploration and “quality of life” features. Nevertheless, Stellar Blade definitely satisfies the craving for fast, exciting and challenging combat. Hopefully there will be a sequel because Shift Up has now proven that they have great potential to deliver more action hits.