Stellar Blade Review | A Memorable Ride for Years to Come

Stellar Blade took the world by storm, with its promise of providing players with a great blend of Soulslike gameplay mechanics and the dystopian futuristic setting that plagues the game’s world. It is no wonder that on April 26th, Stellar Blade‘s release was highly successful, both critically and commercially, albeit with a slight issue with censorship, with some people expressing their doubts and concerns regarding EVE’s costumes.

Transitioning to the gameplay, the game puts us into the shoes of EVE, the dashing protagonist who is a part of the Airborne Squads with the sole mission of freeing Earth from the Naytibas. This highly dangerous and intelligent race has taken over our planet, forcing humanity into exile. Surprisingly, there is a lot to unpack within Stellar Blade beyond EVE’s attractiveness, and I have to say that I’m genuinely happy about how the game came out to be, which I will share the details in today’s article.

This Stellar Blade review will take a closer dive into what makes this game the main attraction of PlayStation 5’s April release, ranging from how we follow EVE’s journey tackling life and death themselves, followed by how the game challenges all kinds of players against different kind of bosses that will keep them on their toes, and finally, indulging on how Stellar Blade‘s musical and graphical departments have the potential to be the best of its kind for 2024. Let’s begin.

Stellar Blade has launched exclusively on PlayStation 5 for $69.99 on April 26, 2024.

Story | A Stellar Attempt to Reclaim Earth

While people might overlook Stellar Blade‘s story in favor of admiring EVE’s beauty, I suggest everyone who has bought the game truly looks into what the game offers us in storytelling, because my God, this game has an incredibly beautiful yet subtle story. The first major clue is in our protagonist’s name, EVE. Her name might not ring any bells, however, when you also look at one of the major supporting characters’ name, Adam, then you’d get the picture by now: Their names are an allegory to the biblical name of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman to ever grace Earth.

Although their similarity for most of the time ends there, it doesn’t discount EVE’s complexity as a character. Throughout the game, she keeps trying to figure out what and who she is and fights an internal struggle when she encounters and interacts with other characters, thus solidifying her position as a complex main character who must fight for humanity while also fighting on two fronts: Against the Naytibas and her own perspectives.

The story is one of the focal points of Stellar Blade that deserves at least some recognition. I will give credit where it is due, since the developer, Shift Up, never tackles a complex story development such as the one we see in this game. They managed to deliver and exceed my expectations, which, to be frank, wasn’t that high at the beginning, but I’m glad I was proven wrong.

Her Memories Will Live On.

EVE, Adam, and Lily

The stars of the show are the three main characters that we see in Stellar Blade, which are EVE, Adam, and Lily. While EVE and Adam’s interactions are very stiff and business-like during the early parts of the game, they do get warmer and build their friendship little by little throughout Stellar Blade‘s story.

EVE herself is particularly unique, as during the initial opening sequences, she is rather stoic and slightly shaken after she sees a shocking situation related to her friend. However, her character improves more after she meets the survivors of Earth at Xion City, where she tries to understand the survivors’ fate and more importantly, understand and be more honest with herself, something that I thoroughly enjoy. Meanwhile, Lily steals the show whenever she’s on-screen, she’s cute, and cheerful, and aids our journey by providing EVE with the necessary upgrades to battle the Naytibas.

Pressing Forward.

Gameplay | Battle of Timings

Now that I’ve dissected what I can find in Stellar Blade‘s story, it’s time to move on to how the gameplay holds up in this next part of the review. To summarize my whole experience: Stellar Blade can be unforgiving in terms of the necessary timing to effectively defeat the enemy.

The bulk of Stellar Blade‘s gameplay comes from its combat and boss fights, and I have to say, I thoroughly enjoy fighting every single enemy that is available in the game, from the lowest and regular enemies down to the tough bosses. The way we fight the Naytibas is also great, as we have to utilize mobility, strength, and cunning to battle them effectively, however, I find a slight issue with how Perfect Dodges work in this game, which I will explain more in the next sub-section.

Perfect Parries and Dodges

Stellar Blade, just like the previous souls-like games, fully utilizes movements to help EV navigate the treacherous environment while battling the Naytibas everywhere. These movements are largely divided into two: Perfect Parry and Dodge.

The Perfect Parry system in this game is fairly simple and doesn’t require us to press two buttons at the same time. However, we still need to press the corresponding button, which is the L1 button, with precise timing right before the enemies land their attacks on EVE. If we press it earlier, the Parry becomes Guard, which just blocks the enemies instead of Parrying them and reducing their Balance. 

Meanwhile, the Dodge mechanic of Stellar Blade is dodgy at best. Even though Shift Up has patched the input lag issue, I still find this mechanic relatively unreliable. For instance, when I try to use either Blink or Repulse, which occurs when we press the corresponding buttons, the game instead only recognizes my movement as a Perfect Dodge, thus not granting me the chance to do a counterattack or stun the enemy. However, as I said previously, the combat remains fluid and dynamic throughout my playthrough. Hopefully, the developers can further improve on the Dodge system, because sometimes, Guarding or Parrying are not enough for fights against specific bosses.

The Battle Begins.

The Boss Fights

The boss fights in Stellar Blade are absolutely phenomenal. I find no issues whatsoever here. Sure, they might not be as hard as the bosses you can find in Elden Ring or Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, however, the difficulty scale is more than enough to warrant a tough challenge for all kinds of players while still being forgiving for those who seek to have a slightly leisurely Stellar Blade experience.

That being said, the bosses we can encounter in Stellar Blade are no jokes, either, as some of them challenge our knowledge about the game’s combat systems and keep us on our toes throughout the fights.

A notable encounter happens at the early stages of the game, precisely at Eidos 7, the first area after the Prologue. Once we reach the Parking Garage area, Abaddon will greet us on the rooftop. While Abaddon doesn’t have overly complex movements and attacking patterns, this Naytiba can exploit the player’s weak point, either their poor Parry timings or the late Dodge usage. As for myself, I found that the Abaddon managed to strike me whenever I failed to use Dodge. 

I won’t spoil the further bosses that will become available as you traverse through Stellar Blade‘s story and locations, however, I can say that the first notable boss fight of this game, Abaddon, teaches a lot of important things that we must expect in the subsequent boss fights.

Abaddon.

Graphics and Sound Design | Pure Beauty

The final part of this Stellar Blade review will highlight the game’s mesmerizing and wonderfully crafted graphics and musical designs. If I can only say two words about this game’s graphics, it will be: totally enchanting.

EVE’s character design is sleek, futuristic, and most importantly, beautiful and strong. She doesn’t shy away from doing whatever is necessary to finish her missions, and that’s highly commendable. Moving on, the environment within this game varies a lot, depending on which missions or areas we are currently in, and I love Xion City’s setting. It encapsulates the emotions of the remaining survivors on Earth, and those emotions are translated into the city’s structures. 

Meanwhile, another Stellar Blade aspect that I think deserves credit is the game’s soundtrack. My God, they are brilliant. Every music piece helps elevate any scenes we are in. Even when resting at a Camp, there will be a melodic classical piece that accompanies EVE during her downtime. And, what I also enjoy is the fact that the music is dynamic, depending on which enemies you are currently fighting, what area you are exploring, and many more.

In addition to the music pieces, the sound design of EVE’s movements, fighting noises, and enemies are also crisp. It’s incredibly satisfying whenever I get to land a Perfect Parry, and another satisfaction also arrives whenever I get to use Blink/Repulse before stabbing the Naytibas on their backs. Overall, there are almost zero faults at all with Stellar Blade‘s sound design, and I recommend everyone to search for any OST from the game online to hear the pieces clearer. Hats off to Shift Up for this one.

And that’s our review of PlayStation 5’s Stellar Blade.