The Laughing Cephalopod
My experience with:
Stellar Blade
Posted June 2024
Introduction
Stellar Blade is the best action game I have played since Sekiro. It is a glorious fusion of energetic music and excellent combat that makes for an experience I would highly recommend.
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The game has been a smash hit for Sony and developer Shift Up, garnering strong sales and the highest user score of any PS5 title on Metacritic. Whilst critic reviews were mostly positive, I feel that they failed to capture the key reasons why this game has been such a success, which compelled me to do my own review.
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For a bit of background, my enthusiasm for this game went from mild interest to obsession as soon as I played the free demo, which neatly packages the main three elements of this game into a couple of hours. These are: cinematic set pieces, exploration, and boss fights. What I didn’t expect is how the game builds upon these elements as it progresses.
Stellar Combat
Shift Up know how to make combat fun, and nowhere is this more apparent than in Stellar Blade’s boss fights. These moments are the high points of the game and are significantly elevated by the soundtrack and visual presentation, especially in the final third of the game. Whilst many have brought attention to this in their reviews, I want to focus specifically on the underlying systems in combat, which I think have been overlooked because of how strong the presentation is.
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To start, it’s important to know that all Naytibas (the enemy faction in this game) share the same design features. From the smallest enemy to the final boss, everything has shields, health, balance, and suite of attack types.
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As a player, you have a response to everything that a Naytiba can throw at you. This proactive design choice is an absolutely key element of Sekiro that so many other games don’t replicate, even From Software’s own Elden Ring suffers from lacking this design style. Naytibas have a wide range of attacks which clearly telegraph what response is required form the player. These are not binary responses however, as players can choose to respond in other ways that fit their playstyle and their build.
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There blink attacks, repulse attacks, attack flurries and unlockable attacks, which are indicated by blue, pink, red and yellow indicators respectively. This design style frees the developers to make the craziest attack patterns they can think of, safe in the knowledge that a skilled player can turn all Naytiba attacks to their advantage.
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Naytibas are defeated by reducing their health to zero, but there are 2 additional elements that the player can consider. Firstly, the balance metre indicates how many deflects are required for a Naytiba to be thrown off balance and become open to a retribution attack from the player, which deals heavy damage. Showing the exact number of deflects required incentivises the player to keep pushing to defeat difficult boss fights and reduces frustration through clear communication – ‘if I learn the timing to deflect that combo, I’ll only need 2 more deflects for a retribution attack’ – for example.
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Secondly, the shield metre significantly reduces the damage that Naytibas take until that metre is depleted. Shields recharge if the Naytiba stops taking damage for a brief period, so passivity is discouraged. The protagonist Eve even has a charged dash skill which closes the distance when a Naytiba goes on the retreat, so players aren’t left to chase bosses around the arena.
Another key element of combat is beta and burst skills, which are special attacks that are charged by deflecting and perfect dodging. All 8 skills (4 beta, 4 burst) can be accessed at any time as long as they are charged, and can be upgraded with additional effects such as stunning or knocking down Naytibas. In my first playthrough I tended to lean heavily on the ‘triplet’ ability, which damages Naytiba balance when fully upgraded.
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Then on my second playthrough I experimented a lot more with combos, which can be augmented by holding down the attack button at the end of a combo chain to gain additional affects, such as increased damage for a short window. Each combo also has its own use, such as knocking down Natyibas or closing the distance between you and your opponent. That’s not to mention dodge and deflect follow up attacks which have their own combos to master. Needless to say, Stellar Blade is the sort of game where there is much more depth under the surface the more you look into it. After my first playthrough, I watched ONGBAL on YouTube and thought to my self – ‘did I even play this game?’
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All of these elements combine to make a combat system where the more you engage with the boss fight, the more you will get out of it. Sitting back and playing defensively is best used as a learning exercise, then the more comfortable you get the more proactive you can be. If you aren’t convinced then I strongly advise you try out the demo which allows you to repeat the ‘boss challenge’ as many times as you like (I spent 10 hours in this demo before the full game released).
Exploration and Puzzles
One thing I wasn’t expecting to enjoy so much was the exploration in this game, which is split into nonlinear levels and small open world zones. Many of the game’s bosses return in the open world zones as upgraded versions with new move sets, there are new enemies in every region, there are quests relating to most of the locations, and there is a surprising broad suite of puzzles with mechanics that rarely repeat.
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Variety and pacing are the words that comes to mind when I reflect on my 2 playthroughs of Stellar Blade. The shift between condensed urban areas and open natural landscapes means you don’t get stuck doing the same thing over and over (although it’s a shame that both open world zones are desert themed). The game even throws in some third person shooter segments to shake things up, which even introduce new enemies and bosses specifically designed to be fought at range.
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As mentioned, puzzles often have unique solutions and mechanics. Be it finding prayer shrines, rolling spheres or time based platforming sequences, you never know what you’re going to stumble upon. Although a caveat to this is that many puzzles in the great desert zone involve pushing boxes at some point, even if the puzzles solutions are quite different.
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The rewards for exploration never disappoint. Cosmetics for Eve have no stats tied to them, so they are always a welcome reward. Exospines and equipable gear have no stat requirements, so players can try whatever they find as soon as they find them, which can make it feel like a new build is always just around the corner. Upgrade items are big rewards that can make certain stretches of the game significantly easier, so it’s always worth taking the time to explore if you are struggling.
Comparison to Nier and other inspirations
For this review I played Stellar Blade to completion twice, once on normal and once on hard mode. I did all quests, found all collectibles and nanosuits, fought all of the bosses, and completed the boss rush mode which was added after launch. I also replayed Nier Automata up to ending A, and good chunk of God of War 3. My desire to play these games was brought on by the long wait between the Stellar Blade demo being released and the launch of the full game.
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Many have talked about this at length, but I feel I should briefly mention the obvious inspiration from Nier Automata. I definitely hold the aforementioned title in higher regard overall, but Shift Up have released a game of frankly astonishing quality for their first AAA title. They also clearly understand what makes Automata so much fun, and have injected this sense of fun into Stellar Blade.
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First up there is the soundtrack, which dynamically switches between calm and high octane versions of the song playing in reaction to what the player is doing. This is so much more seamless than a new song playing once combat starts. Stellar Blade’s soundtrack was partially composed by Okabe Keiichi’s studio, which also composed the soundtrack of Neir Automata, so the quality is definitely comparable, but Stellar Blade also introduces a range of other artists and genres which results in a varied soundtrack which is full of surprises. It is quite simply the best game soundtrack I’ve heard in years and perfectly fits the exciting combat sequences.
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Next up there are the small intricacies in gameplay. Eve is animated beautifully and moves fluidly both in and out of combat. For example, she continues to run at full speed after jumping or falling which makes exploration much more streamlined. Also, the well-designed hitboxes mean that player attacks can be used as a method of dodging enemy attacks, such as jumping over a sweeping attack to land a burst attack without taking damage. This is very reminiscent of Automata where main character 2B zooms around the environments and possesses lots of personality in her animations.
When playing a game where you can deflect attacks, the first comparison that comes to mind is usually Sekiro. However, I think that Stellar Blade is a lot more comparable to God of War Ragnarök, which happens to be the only other game I’ve reviewed on this site as of yet. Whilst the story of Ragnarök is much more engaging, I can’t help but notice the myriad of ways that Stellar Blade improves on the Norse God of War games in both combat and exploration:
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You naturally progress in power in both games by upgrading your weapon(s), health and additional energy metres. However, Stellar Blade has no character level system, so you are never discouraged from exploring by stumbling upon something a higher level than you. You might find a boss that deals heavy damage to Eve, but never quite to the extent that you would if you fight a boss in Ragnarök that is a higher level than you are.
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Both games have excellent cosmetic options, but in Stellar Blade there are no stats associated with those cosmetics, so everything you find can be equipped if you like the look of it. Instead, all stats are tied to a separate system which is exactly what I asked for when reviewing Ragnarök.
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Both games have small scale open world zones to explore, but whilst in Ragnarök you are restricted to moving with context sensitive button presses, in Stellar Blade you are free to jump around all you like. This also applies to platforming, which takes the on rails nature of Ragnarök and replaces it with mechanics that are similar at a glance but actually allow for much more freedom. There are even time trial sequences that encourage you to skip sections with well-timed jumps and air dashes.
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Both games have powerful abilities that must be recharged after use, but in Ragnarök the player only has 2 available at any time, whereas in Stellar Blade there are 8. Abilities also recharge passively in Ragnarök, whereas Stellar Blade uses a proactive system where abilities are charged by interacting with enemies in specific ways.
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If you die in Ragnarök, you regain all of your health when you respawn. You also have no way of recovering health between combat encounters. This results in an awkward loop where you can be on low health after a fight and then start the next encounter only to be killed very quickly, then to respawn at full health and breeze through it. In Stellar Blade, you respawn at camps which are dotted around the environments. If you are low on health with no healing items, then you always have the choice to retreat to a camp and rest up or push on and search for healing items.
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On the negative side of things, it must be said that Stellar Blade’s equivalent of ‘spartan rage’ looks amazing but does not feel very powerful as it does minimal damage when compared to beta and burst skills. I found it most useful in hard mode as a way to learn boss attack patterns without the risk of taking damage.
Closing Thoughts
Stellar Blade made such an impression of me because of one simple reason, it’s fun. It is easy to watch some gameplay and see that the game looks and sounds fantastic, but actually interacting with the game is the main attraction here. This is a very polished experience that keeps the player engaged throughout by introducing new mechanics, locations, enemy types and reasons to replay.
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I never felt bored playing Stellar blade. Exploring is always fun and the rewards are always worth it. Combat is always enjoyable. The story is not the focus of this game but presents just enough to keep the plot moving forward and it does present some interesting scenarios with the 3 available endings.
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Not only did this game launch practically bug free, it also launched with a new game plus mode (which took months after launch to implement in both God of War 2018 and Ragnarök). This NG+ mode is particularly well designed because it adds new gear and cosmetics to encourage exploration upon repeat playthroughs.
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The developers have been quick to update the game based on feedback, with some of my minor criticisms already being addressed at the time of writing (the option to keep your lock on to an enemy after using the gun for example). It also has many quality-of-life features, such as new items being highlighted in the menu after finding them (something that was just announced for an Elden Ring update over 2 years after it launched).
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On 24th May (just under 1 one month after launch), Shift Up added a boss rush mode that allows you to repeat boss fights with preset builds or with your stats from the main game.
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All of this combined has made me respect Shift Up and I look forward to the inevitable sequel to Stellar Blade be it a PS5 exclusive or multiplatform.
Sources
All images taken on Playstation 5 (Stellar Blade).
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I have also referenced ONGBAL - a Youtuber with a talent for action games. You can find his channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@_ONGBAL
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As an extra, here is a video of ONGBAL defeating the games penultimate boss and beating the developer record (in boss rush):
