Stellar Blade - Review

The Earth is on the brink of collapse. Humanity has been forced into almost complete extinction. The arrival of Naytibas has forced the remaining ‘humans’ to rely on an entity known as Mother Sphere to deploy ‘Angels’ to help eliminate the Elder Naytiba and bring humanity home again.

Stellar Blade is a high-pace action RPG that puts you in control of EVE, a 7th Airborne Squad member whose entire mission is to save humankind by reclaiming the Earth. EVE stands as the lone survivor of a botched assault and must now continue her mission alone. It is thus up to us to save humankind with razor sharp sword action, witty environmental puzzle solving and deeply engaging narrative beats. Plus, you get to play dress-up with your robot ninja and put her in a variety of pretty outfits. It’s the best of both worlds.

Stellar Blade is an interesting little blend of styles, mechanics, and gameplay elements. It is tremendously reminiscent of NieR Automata and Nioh, blended in a weird mixing pot with a plethora of other action RPG titles. Perhaps the most impressive part of Stellar Blade is that despite these very obvious comparisons and homages, the game manages to stand on its own and carves a unique identity all of its own, resulting in a game that is just Stellar Blade.

The main question people are going to ask of Stellar Blade, is how is the combat? Despite the flashy exterior and the obvious ninja robot trope, Stellar Blade is somewhat grounded with its approach to combat. Though it is significantly faster than the obvious comparison in Dark Souls, it is not as flashy and speedy as one might expect. The combat feels incredibly grounded, more a samurai style of fighting than a ninja one. There are positive parts of the combat such as the Beta and Burst abilities which allow you bust through enemy shields, control packs of enemies and deal big damage rapidly. Then there are less positive parts, such as you actively moving slower when locked on to an enemy. It feels almost counter-intuitive, as the free aiming is not particularly good, and you’ll often find yourself missing if you don’t lock on. But locking on slows you down to almost half of your normal movement speed which feels incredibly wrong with how speedy and flighty everything else in the game feels.

Further to this, there is the addition of ranged combat that comes in relatively early in the game. There are a few sections which are dedicated to only using the ranged weapon and would’ve been interesting to have seen this mechanic used more liberally throughout the game. An extension of the story alongside this mechanic would have been a great idea. The shooting feels mostly useless in the general world environment, and is mainly for opening areas hidden by explosive barrels. Also occasionally useful for taking down missile turrets that seem only to exist as a barrier to a collectible or a chest of items. It’s not a major issue, it’s just something that could have done with some further expansion upon it. As the areas in which are dedicated to purely ranged gun combat are interesting and some of the more atmospheric sections of the game. A shame, but nothing too upsetting.

Stellar Blade has a surprisingly functional and solid storyline. The biblical implications of the game are very clear from the word go, but the semantics of it may not stick out initially. The character you play, EVE is referred to as an Angel. You are partnered up with a character called Adam for a majority of the game. You are looking at a way to save Humanity, the angels being sent down by the ‘Mother Sphere’ who is an unknown figure of creation and wrath. You don’t need to know the intricacies of biblical stories to understand Stellar Blade, but the basics of its premise are rooted in a pseudo-religious form.

Obviously, there is a big focus on the idea of what makes humans, human. The idea of consciousness is explored, and whether or not the android like creations are truly human, or they are simply something created because the real humans had met their limits. This is weaved into a narrative about the need to save humanity from an unknown corporeal enemy in the Naytibas. The story is light enough that you could probably miss most of it and still understand the major beats and where the multiple endings are going, but for those who want the narrative experience it is there. Not on the same level as the comparable NieR Automata by any lengths, but more fleshed out and easily understood than the other comparisons in the likes of Dark Souls and Elden Ring.

Enemy variety is both substantial but somewhat lacking in Stellar Blade, a unique juxtaposition to be sure. You’ll never feel like you’re fighting too many of the same enemies over and over, which is impressive with a bonfire-like respawn system. Yet there is also clearly a lack of extensive enemy design. Bosses are interesting and cool the first time you fight them, but when they are reused a second time as a mini boss, they lose some of that unique charm. On top of that, there is almost a laziness in some of these boss designs being either a slight upgrade over a medium tough enemy type, or just simply a buffed-up version of one of these enemy varieties with a higher level of aggression when being fought. There are unique boss designs, but they are few and far between. The end stretch of bosses are easily the most enjoyable, unique and by extension that hardest in the game. Which puts a bigger cloud over the rest of the game as a result. There was an ability to expand upon the enemy variety here, that seems to have been looked over for the sake of almost a fan-service style of cosmetic gameplay.

The fan-service part of Stellar Blade comes into it with the dress-up options that you can do with your character. There is no armour or levelling in Stellar Blade, so almost all physical changes are a cosmetic thing alone. A lot of the game is spent solving puzzles to get collectible Cans or unlocking the ability to craft a new cosmetic to dress your Angel up in. With a lack of a NG+ this is also incredibly infuriating of a side activity, as it does not carry over to a new game of a higher difficulty. I personally think, if a little less time went in to making a collectible and fashion side activity, and more went into expanding upon the less favoured combat features and enemy design, Stellar Blade would be infinitely more enjoyable. That isn’t to say it’s not as a result, however it feels like there are some areas that are somewhat average and that could have been made good if they got a little more attention.

The major upside to all the time you’ll spend exploring the world looking for drink cans, fishing for different fish and collecting all the different fashion items is you’ll get to listen to more of the soothing K-Pop style background music. Reminiscent of games like NieR and Persona, Stellar Blade gives us an array of upbeat and poppy music to listen to as you explore the world. There aren’t any songs that standout in particular, the game feels soothing to play, despite the intensity of the combat as a result. Coupled with the good sound design of the combat itself, Stellar Blade does have an enjoyable music and sound direction that makes the thirty odd hours you’ll spend with it a joy.

Stellar Blade is an interesting and solid action RPG, a decently laid out story surrounded by a mostly strong combat system. The music design of the game keeps it from feeling too overwhelming and excluding the final three or four bosses, the game for the most part is far more approachable and accessible than it may seem on the surface. The story is a little weak, but it does enough of a job of explaining your place in the world and what is expected to progress onward. Whilst it isn’t a game that is going to change the landscape of the genre, it’s a solid entry into a somewhat bloated area of the gaming landscape that does enough unique to stand out amongst the pack. A genuinely enjoyable experience hamstrung by areas of oversight in pandering to a specific subset of gamers.