Stellar Blade Is Solid, But It Is No NieR: Automata

By SHIFT UP CORPORATION - https://image.api.playstation.com/vulcan/ap/rnd/202401/2211/40e7cfd126a11fe5118310ebce6d9b3a23e7cabaca717217.png, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76319717

I just finished playing Stellar Blade, which is an action-adventure game developed by Korean studio Shift Up, and I want to address a controversy about this game right off the bat.

There has been some criticism over the perceived sexualization of the game's female protagonist, EVE. On a personal level, I am not someone who cares all that much or takes offense on how someone looks in a video game, and this is not a negative factor in my review of the game. It is worth mentioning that EVE is on the curvier side in terms of body type, and the developers make liberal use of the jiggle physics that accentuate her assets, so if you like that kind of thing, this game is for you. What I do find odd is that you can dress EVE up in costumes that you can find during your playthrough, and some of these costumes can get as skimpy as bikinis and other similar wear. It does take away from the serious nature of this game in my opinion.

In terms of Stellar Blade itself, there are some things about this game that I enjoy. Stellar Blade relies on mainly hack-and-slash combat, but the game's combat plays like a Souls-like game with its focus on parrying and dodging to create openings for attack, but does not have the feeling of unfairness that you would sometimes experience when playing a Souls-like game. You have enough health and healing to take a fair amount of damage from enemies, and you have a multitude of attacks at your disposal. The visuals and graphics on the PS5 look crisp overall, and the soundtrack was a joy to listen to as well.

When I was playing Stellar Blade, it was obvious which game Stellar Blade took most of its influence from, and that game is NieR: Automata. Even the stories of both games are eerily similar: you are a humanoid sent to Earth to eliminate a species that is threatening/threatened humanity. What is even more crazy is that Stellar Blade's DLC is a crossover with...NieR: Automata!

NieR: Automata is a video game that is near and dear to my heart, and the game is a masterclass in storytelling, writing, and narrative. What is so disappointing to me about Stellar Blade is that this game could not replicate the nuances of what made NieR: Automata a masterpiece. The story and the writing of Stellar Blade felt so derivative when compared to NieR: Automata. I wanted more from the characters of Stellar Blade, in terms of personality, and especially humanity. There were so many things that the developers could explore further in terms of emotion and humanity, but it is like they stopped short of that, and the game's story felt so generic because of it.

This is not to say that Stellar Blade is not a good game, as I had fun with the combat, and the soundtrack is solid. However, the game's story, writing, narrative, and voice-acting could be so much better when there was an almost carbon-copy game that came out in 2017 that did these things so much better. I feel like the developers want us to talk about Stellar Blade in the same way as NieR: Automata, but Stellar Blade is just going to be known more for its controversies than anything else.