After what felt like an eternity, I finally got to try out Stellar Blade– the long-teased action game that also marks the console debut of NIKKE developers Shift Up. Admittedly the bar was pretty high going into this- from the trailers the game is objectively gorgeous, and the supermodel-plus-robo-sidekick combination draws a lot of comparison to NieR Automata.
Thanks to the Demo launching this weekend, I finally got the answer that I’d been looking for: but how does it play?
Surprising enough, the biggest mistake you’d make for Stellar Blade was assuming it was a character action game. Not that it’s entirely your fault- the game’s trailers tend to focus on quick cuts of action just like you would market a character action game.
Learning the Truth About Stellar Blade
Yet, once the game put me in control of Eve and set me out in front of some enemies, the experience was quite the opposite. Eve’s movement is quite more sluggish than your typical character action, and the game tends to not throw more than three enemies at you at once (though considering the demo covers the start of the game, it might just be a difficulty slope).
It doesn’t come together until you reach the game’s boss encounters, though. The boss starts telegraphing its attacks, with some attacks that can be dodged or parried, and some that can only be dodged, and then it hits you.
I’m playing anime Sekiro.
It’s not just the combat either- there’s definitely a whiff of Souls energy in Stellar Blade, with campsites that regenerate enemies and top up your healing items and a much larger focus on pattern recognition than execution. It certainly takes some gear-shifting to get used to- it wasn’t until I’d done the demo’s Boss Challenge that it really sank in for me, if only because I wasn’t being bombarded in tutorials and cutscene.
Managing Expectations
Still, even as far as Souls-likes go this has the potential to be a good one- just as there’s a splash of Souls DNA in here there’s also a splash of character action, with parries and combos filling up your meter to do Beta Skills- AKA special moves. Having your reward for creating an opening be cool combo moves is a nice touch, but it’s definitely something you’d only experience fighting the bosses compared to regular enemies.
I do think it’s important to discuss the expectations you’d have for Stellar Blade’s combat, however- on one hand, it has a lot of premium character action features like Delay Combos. On the other hand, at least in the demo, there’s an insane lack of air options- no launcher, no juggling.
Still, it’s best to check out Stellar Blade for yourself via the demo launching this week. Once you get over the shellshock from the genre switch its combat feels really good to get into. Between that and your ability to play dress-up with main character Eve you’re probably going to have a good time with it.
