Stellar Blade

Listen to this post:

In an age of cross-platform play and a slow but gradual shift to the PC as a ubiquitous gaming device, it’s a little weird to still see console exclusives, but they haven’t gone anywhere. In 2024, there’s still some games that you might or might not be able to play depending on which plastic box you bought, which is both a bit nostalgic and a bit archaic. Games like Stellar Blade, a rock-solid hack-and-slasher exclusive to the PlayStation 5 (for now) that should definitely satisfy those who opted for Sony’s platform.

via YouTube

The future looked pretty bright, what with the advent of cybernetic and biological upgrades that brought humanity to a new stage of evolution. Then, well, it started looking a little less bright all over again, what with the arrival of the monstrous Naytibas and all. Years of Naytiba infestation has left Earth largely uninhabitable since it’s tough to get by if you’re getting nommed by monsters whenever you go out. In an effort to get things back in order, the Airborne Squadron is sent to deal with the Elder Naytiba, a leader of the Naytiba forces, but all of them are slaughtered in battle save for EVE. Now, armed with flashy outfits and a fancy sword, EVE’s going to take the fight to the Naytibas and help out the last vestigates of humanity along the way.

Stellar Blade is a Soulslike action-RPG with a heavy emphasis on properly-timed defensive maneuvers. It’s probably most similar to something like Lies of P with its focus on parrying and perfectly dodging incoming attacks as a way of both keeping EVE safe and shoring up her offense. The Naytibas’ attacks hit pretty hard so you’ll want to avoid damage to the greatest extent possible, plus after repeatedly parrying a few attacks EVE can use a Retribution finishing move to really lay down the hurt. Combat often becomes a matter of learning how each enemy attacks and the proper parry strings you’ll need to use against them as opposed to a more Devil May Cry-style experience that concentrates on taking the initiative.

It’s reasonable to compare Stellar Blade’s gameplay to another recent Sony exclusive, Rise of the Ronin, which is equally focused on carefully-timed parrying as its central mechanic.

On the offensive side of things, you’ve got the aforementioned fancy sword, a variety of combo attacks to mix together and, later, an expanded set of options including grenades and a gun for ranged attacks. You can enhance EVE’s abilities using a skill tree containing a variety of interesting options. Skill points tend to flow freely so you won’t often be faced with difficult decisions here, but it’s nice to see that the upgrades don’t fall into the “single-digit-percentage damage upgrade” silliness that infests many action-RPGs. You can further fine-tune your experience by gearing EVE up with a variety of equipment options, some of which are themselves upgradable, and naturally there’s numerous cosmetic options to maximize your combat rizz. You won’t be hurting for build options here.

Outside of combat, Stellar Blade leans on the classic open-world tropes of waypoints, towers and sidequests to keep things going. It’s trendy to dump on this sort of gameplay these days, but increasingly I’m coming around on the idea that a solid basic gameplay loop is all an open-world game needs to make its piles of content seem worthwhile. Rise of the Ronin again shines here thanks to its fantastic combat, and Stellar Blade works in much the same way – no matter what you’re doing you’re probably going to be fighting stuff, and that’s definitely the best part of this game.

Stellar Blade is all about spectacle, so it should come as no surprise that this is one of the PS5’s better-looking games. EVE, the Naytibas she battles with and the supporting cast all look and sound fantastic, and there’s very little to complain about with regards to presentation. Stellar Blade even runs well, which is a point that increasingly becomes a concern as rumors of a mid-generation upgrade start to course around the industry ecosystem. Voice acting isn’t too bad either, though admittedly I played this one with Korean voices and found the experience to be delightful.

Between Rise of the Ronin, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and now Stellar Blade PS5 owners are a little spoiled for choice on the open-world action-RPG side of things. That’s hardly a complaint, of course, and Stellar Blade’s similarity to those titles doesn’t stop it from being a solid experience in its own right. Stellar Blade is a stylish, action-packed adventure that’s sure to please action fans who don’t mind a little exploration, and we could be witnessing the birth of a new superstar in real-time. For those complaining there’s nothing new out there, here you go.