Stellar Blade Review - A Challenging Adventure That Doesn’t Stick the Landing

Stellar Blade is an action-adventure that offers a generally enjoyable experience with methodical combat and an intriguing post-apocalyptic world, but I couldn’t help but feel like it’s something I’ve played before. It’s a mixtape of the genre’s greatest hits, with a lot of familiar tropes and elements, some of which contributed to my enjoyment of the game, while others brought it down.

You play as Eve, a capable warrior sent with her squad from space to attempt to reclaim Earth, a world now lost to creatures called the Naytiba. Of course, your mission doesn’t go according to plan, as you end up the lone survivor of your squad and team up with other human survivors to continue Eve’s mission of ridding the world of these creatures.

The initial section of the game starts strong, as developer Shift Up does a good job at slowly easing the player in, not just with the game’s initial combat, but the world they’ve created. I couldn’t help but be swept into the story - each new mechanic and story beat was slowly introduced in such a manner that nothing felt forced or intimidating. I had the right amount of time to take it all in, absorb how the game handles side quests and vendors, and learn to slowly improve Eve’s combat abilities with the resources gathered from almost everything I’d kill or destroy. In today's gaming landscape, players are often either bombarded with information right off the bat, or left with too little guidance. However, Stellar Blade manages to pace every element nicely.

Good first half, middling second

Everything was shaping up pleasantly as the first 10 hours of the game flew by in a flash. I was enjoying every bit of it, but in the second half, things fell apart from a story perspective. The strong setup quickly dwindled into a pool of messy plot holes and typical twists. In the end, the gameplay was the saving grace that kept me invested enough to appreciate the final boss fight. 

The final act felt rushed, as I was thrown from one boss fight to another, and the last hours before the credits felt like a gauntlet, a trial by fire with challenging encounters that left little room for error. With one revelation after another, there’s no space for the twists to breathe, as if the whole narrative was running late and a stagehand was signaling for them to wrap up.

It didn’t help that there wasn’t any true character development to flesh out each of the game’s key characters. Eve is a typical heroine who only shows some semblance of personality thanks to her constant displeasure at getting herself wet. 

Additionally, there wasn’t any attempt to flesh out her character, and the same can be said for the other key characters. Adam, the group’s pilot and guide through the world of Stellar Blade, felt devoid of life thanks to the character’s voice actor, as even in the most intense scenes it felt like every ounce of energy within him needed to be expelled just to express lines such as “LOOK OUT, EVE!”

Lilly, who assists the group through her engineering expertise, upgrading equipment, and whatnot, is a bubbly individual who does bring some sort of life to the party, but not enough to balance things out when she’s placed in the same room as the rest of the cast. From antagonists to characters in Xion (the game’s main city hub), Stellar Blade struggles to deliver interesting characters. It mostly failed at piquing my interest to know more about the world the further I progressed - this in turn hurt the side quests, which felt more like fetch quests and additional fodder. It’s a shame, considering the amazing character designs all around.

Most of the side-quests are fodder, sending you on simple tasks such as finding a particular person or item out in the world, helping track a lost cat, or revisiting locations you’ve previously cleared. These tasks surround the hidden gems that give more depth to the world, as there’s only a handful of these meaningful side stories. I sadly wished there was more to it. In one quest, you’ll help an android who can’t move, but sings to patrons drinking their problems away at a local bar. It was a compelling side arc that was sadly enshrouded by all the white noise, but it’s worth sticking with it to see how it concludes. This showed the potential of Stellar Blade’s world, but the quality content is few and far between, so the attempted magic failed to materialize into something impactful in the long run.

My feelings about the characters and most of the side content carries over to the open-world segments. As much as I enjoyed exploring these open areas where you can engage any monster roaming the desolate land, for the most part, this section of the game felt dull as well. After a couple of attempts to spend time with the game’s later regions, I felt very little need to explore them and instead focused on the main objectives. But while the open-world segments were lacking, Stellar Blade also features isolated levels with no guiding map. These sections are designed with a Soulslike touch, with shortcuts to unlock and hidden chests and pathways only the curious will find. 

Stellar Blade’s environments all look fantastic, but they especially impress in these more focused levels. The open-world areas only deliver a brown and dead space, while the underground facilities, lost urban cities, and many other locales make it feel like there’s a story to uncover. The level design shines here, and I much prefer these focused sections for their engaging traversals and entertaining set pieces.

A fine-tuned difficulty scaling system

With Stellar Blade’s heavy influence from the Soulslike subgenre, it’s worth noting that Shift Up’s tweaks to the difficulty are well-paced. Genre-wise, Stellar Blade sits comfortably in the middle of a Soulslike game and an action-adventure similar to NieR: Automata, as the first half is reasonably easy. It felt like the game understood that players need time to warm up to the combat systems, as those who struggle with parry and dodge mechanics in the beginning can still find success in the early sections. The difficulty slowly ramps up, showcasing more complex bosses with ever-trickier move patterns. I saw myself gradually utilizing more of Eve’s arsenal in the latter parts of the game. Despite the new combo extensions and skill upgrades, and simply growing a more expanded tool kit, I felt the pressure slowly building up, until I eventually got stuck on a boss for a couple of hours, dying in just a couple of hits, as I felt I was transported into an entirely different hellish game. 

The slow ramp-up in difficulty felt great and appreciated, not sudden or abrupt, and not stagnant compared to other Soulslike games where the difficulty spikes in just the first hours. The built-up pain felt justified, worthwhile, and thankfully not cheap for the sake of making it feel impossible. I always felt capable, but player mistakes happen. I didn’t feel cheated when beaten. It’s a challenging learning process, and Shift Up impressively emulates the joy that can be found in tackling such difficult content. After finally beating the most difficult bosses in the game, what I felt echoed the feeling I had upon beating the notorious Melania from Elden Ring for the first time. 

Bosses in Stellar Blade are frightening and impressive, as the design and concept of each of the bosses delivers a unique experience, and they serve as the game’s main attraction. They’re designed to grab a player’s full attention with their appealing yet grotesque visual design, but keep you locked in, as the assaults in these encounters are relentless, and at times, unforgiving.

The bosses might provide Soulslike difficulty, but Stellar Blade is not even close to being an action RPG in terms of character progression. One can’t simply grind to increase stats or find better gear to increase your chances of success. You’re left with the consumables available to you at the time and the abilities you’ve unlocked. Eve’s combat ability is limited to a few gear slots that could  increase attack speed, combo attack damage, and reduce melee damage, but they’re not greatly significant to the point of being the sole reason why an encounter was easier than usual. It still mostly comes down to enemy patterns and your ability to utilize the game’s parry and dodge mechanic. They serve as both your best form of offense and defense, as mashing your way to victory isn’t as effective as one might think.

What are you trying to be, exactly?

Stellar Blade is a reasonably good game, but this title struggles to be multiple things at once, as some segments ruin the momentum from a gameplay perspective. In one section, you’re deep into Souslike level design, while the next is an open space populated with things to do if you pick up side quests back at Xion. Melee combat is the primary focus, with Eve’s only weapon of choice being her trusty blade, but two level sections completely strip away her ability to use her sword, and you’re left with your ranged attack, turning Stellar Blade into a third-person shooter for that area. It’s a weird mix that kind of pauses your enjoyment with one section and then throws you into something different. Stellar Blade will prove it can excel in one aspect, but then immediately spend time to show you how it can fail in another.

Stellar Blade is a fun action adventure, as combat was always a thrill to engage in, even with the smaller encounters. The highs are filled with flashy cutscenes and appealing eye candy, but the lows are frequent enough to make the game flow inconsistent. Stellar Blade’s potential was clear, but as its ambitions expanded into something greater, it lost focus. As soon as Stellar Blade tries to bring everything together – its story, side quests, combat, boss encounters, level design, and world-building – it merges into a single figure that looks deformed and uneven. The quality is unquestionable, and there is weight to Shift Up’s biggest title, but it wasn’t the final product I was slowly building in my head as I went through the game’s first half.

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Verdict: 3 / 5 (Great)

PROS

• Enjoying combat that is slow and methodical in most encounters

• The difficulty ramps up nicely, reaching Soulslike challenge towards the latter parts of the game

• Appealing post-apocalyptic world-building and creature design, especially the bosses

CONS

• Lackluster personalities across almost all key characters accompanied by poor voice acting (English)

• A story filled with numerous plot holes and confusing twists

• Dull side quests

What I’ve Played 

• Finished the game after 25 hours

• Engaged in side quests as new regions are unlocked

• Unlocked almost all abilities and skill upgrades

*This review is based on a PS5 review copy provided to the reviewer

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