Stellar Blade

It’s amazing how positively this game surprised me. I started playing expecting it to be just a mid asian game for “gooners,” but wow — Its a really great game. The world is genuinely immersive, and the music is absolutely top-tier. Honestly, it’s a robbery that this game wasn’t even nominated in this category at The Game Awards. The combat system is fairly difficult and a bit repetitive at times, but it becomes very satisfying as you get used to it. The locations in the game are beautiful, and the world is designed in a way that never feels empty, making it easy to truly immerse yourself in it. The story is surprisingly engaging, the characters are well written, and Eve herself is great — it’s hard not to like her. The photo mode in is quite extensive, so if someone enjoys taking screenshots, will definitely feel at home here (and there are plenty of things worth capturing). This is how games should be made. I highly recommend giving it a try.

Husband bought me the game, played with no expectations, no prior knowledge whatsoever. After playing the game for 48 hours it is one of the best games I have ever played, the details, the lore, the characters all are just so interesting. It's a game I would recommend first when people ask me what single player story game they should play. Best valentines gift yet! ♡♡♡

[h1]A Stellar Audiovisual Experience With The Highest Highs and Lowest Lows[/h1] [i]I want more of what this game does well, and less of what it does poorly.[/i] Stellar Blade is a weird experience. For the majority of the game, you are absolutely amazed at how good the game looks and plays. However, there are times when you are extremely bored because of some poor choices the developers made in favor of padding and fillers. The combat in this game is simply top tier. It is right up there for me with the likes of Bayonetta, DMC, Ninja Gaiden, God of War, Ghost of Tsushima etc. What Stellar Blade does best is balance. Some games play great but look just okay, others look great but play just okay. Stellar Blade manages to play and look incredible while being a challenging soulslite that offers a good amount of depth. That is a combination pretty much no other game managed to have at this level in my opinion, it is one of a kind in this regard. I have a criticism regarding the combat though, I find the complete lack of aerial combat kind of a missed opportunity. If I were to make a wishlist for the sequel, aerial combat would be at the top. I trust Shift Up won't let us down. The enemy variety is pretty good and enhances the already great combat loop. There are a total of 64 enemy types and it never feels like you're fighting the same enemy over and over again. Stellar Blade is no joke, some boss fights took me around 15-20 times to beat and I loved the learning curve most of the bosses provided, especially the bosses in the final act. My oh my...the final act of this game is unbelievable. The last couple of boss fights were generational in my opinion and really the highest point of the game. The visuals and art are a core part of why I love the gameplay so much. Yes, the combat is good from a mechanical standpoint but the animation work is honestly industry leading. Each move has such incredible feedback in terms of animation and sound that the satisfaction the game provides lasts for the whole run. Another thing the game did exceptionally well is the character progression. Up until the last few hours, the game kept throwing more and more mechanics in the mix at a great pace. And the already great combat was kept fresh thanks to this. Gun drone, burst skills (oh how I loved this), Tachy mode and so on were all introduced at the perfect time to let the player master what they know and give them enough time to learn new mechanics. For the negatives, I really didn't care for the build crafting side of things. I mixed and matched a few gears and exospines to get a playstyle I enjoyed going but the lack of depth really made me uninterested about this aspect for the most part. Following this, I didn't really interact with the side content and itemization side of things. Side content itself is pretty bad if I'm being honest. Most quests boil down to "go to this location and get this thing" and I didn't interact with them after a certain point. The optimal and fun way to play Stellar Blade is definitely ignoring most if not all side content. The game has a hard time making the main missions feel interesting already, but it miserably fails to do so with the side missions, apart from a few examples maybe. The writing is extremely bland and some characters are just kind of cringeworthy in my opinion. The overall story is serviceable but the way it is presented is very unfocused and therefore subpar. Now for my biggest criticism. As I mentioned at the start, Stellar Blade is a bit of an inconsistent experience when taken as a whole. Some missions felt like obvious fillers that I didn't enjoy one bit playing. The platforming mechanics are pretty weak but the game kept throwing more and more platforming sections during mid game. Also, the game has some hilariously easy puzzle systems that it kept reusing, which again contributed to the unfun filler sections. It should've focused more on what it does best and less on these gimmicks. All in all, Stellar Blade is a stellar audiovisual experience that excels in the gameplay side of things, but fails at core game parts such as writing and mission design. Even with the negatives in mind, it was an absolute joy of a game for almost the whole runtime. I have genuinely played some of the best boss fights I've ever seen in the final act of the game. The difficulty spike in the final act is also very well appreciated. The soundtrack is top tier and the camp songs are incredible, definitely enhancing the vibe of the game. I can't wait for the sequel and I'm sure we're in for another stellar experience.