Stellar Blade

Narrative nitpicks and shortfalls aside, Stellar Blade is an action RPG that excels where it matters most: Looking gorgeous and facilitating supremely satisfying combat interactions. Bolstered by the capable fusion of its inspirations, its weaknesses keep it from transcending them. But those willing to make their peace with those disappointments will find a nearly stellar experience.

There's not that much wrong with Stellar Blade, but there's not that much that's great either. The predictable story and empty characters are offset by exciting and fluid combat. Hopefully our imagination will be stimulated a little more in a possible sequel.

A video game where it is more about the appearance of the female protagonist than about the game itself, and that even before its release. No, we are not talking about Lara Croft from Tomb Raider, but about Stellar Blade. And that's a shame, because under that thick layer of controversy lies a fine game.

Stellar Blade loses comparisons to the masterpieces that make up its identity, but that doesn't make it a bad choice: action fans will enjoy a fun combat system, respectable scope and nice things to do.

Although it has some flaws, Stellar Blade is nonetheless a remarkable effort by Shift Up, which has had its biggest challenge to date here. Fundamentally, Stellar Blade is well realised in its core elements, with the only flaw being its inconsistent execution, which translates into boring open-world areas and an uninteresting story. The studio promises that Eve's story won't end here and I personally look forward to seeing what she can achieve in the future.

Stellar Blade is a solid action game that blends rewarding exploration and mesmerizing visuals to create an enjoyable experience, even if the story and world leave a lot to be desired.

Stellar Blade is more ambitious and varied than expected, but also about as clunky as expected, resulting in a stilted action RPG with a level of jank that you just have to accept. Meet it on its terms, and either tune out or embrace the odd sexual veneer, and it's a solid 20 to 30 hours of fun.

I'm as conflicted about Stellar Blade as it seems to be about itself. It's competent and occasionally interesting with combat as unique and rewarding as it is repetitive and frustrating. Less style over substance than it is beauty over brains, there is a good time to be had in Stellar Blade, but it comes at the cost of knowing there are better versions of this game that will never be realised.

Stellar Blade is great in all of the most important ways for an action game, but dull characters, a lackluster story, and several frustrating elements of its RPG mechanics prevent it from soaring along with the best of the genre.

It all contributes to Stellar Blade being a bit of a mixed bag, checking off boxes for what constitutes an action RPG in this modern age. That is not exactly a bad thing per se, but it is most certainly a missed opportunity for positioning the game as the leader of a new generation of experiences that build upon the successes that have come before. This title might not be the sharpest blade around, but it still has an edge that players can enjoy. Come for the visuals, stay for the combat, and try to ignore the suboptimal portions of humankind's latest attempt to take back the Earth.

I often found myself lost for hours in the world of Stellar Blade, but I was also pining for what the game could’ve been. The world-building is excellent, but the dialogue is not up to the same standard, and the story’s illusion of choice funnels you down the same path. There is a lot of promise here, but it fails to convert that into excellence.

Stellar Blade is a pretty enjoyable game to swing your hairband sword at, so long as you don't mind the obvious sexualisation. There's a few rough areas, but nothing to spoil things overall and there’s plenty of interesting story to uncover as you fight your way through giant monsters with circular saws for heads and weird tentacles for legs.

While discussion is sure to be dominated by the sexualisation of lead character Eve, looking past that, Stellar Blade provides a solid action experience for fans of the Souls-like genre.

From beginning to end, Stellar Blade remains consistently wonderful from a presentation perspective, uneven but perfectly well from a gameplay perspective, and lifeless and poorly executed from a narrative perspective. Stellar Blade consistently shines in many areas, but any recommendation must come with a heave “your mileage may vary.”

A game that copies the ARPG masters – but isn’t as interesting. Souls-infused combat and a massive unlockable wardrobe are what keep us coming back. [Issue#41, p.76]

There are flashes of brilliance in Stellar Blade, still, most often sparked by the titular weapon. But it's too broad and with that a little underdone. If only Eve's initial clarity of purpose had been more contagious. [Issue#398, p.106]

Stellar Blade is a masterclass in style, but it's lacking substance.

Stellar Blade is a hard game to pin down in the end. The combat really sings in its moments and the boss fights are some of the most memorable you’ll encounter in this genre, but it’s bogged down by a bland story, uninteresting characters and the need to make boobs wobble in every second of every cutscene. There’s some fun to be had in there if you can look past its issues, but in an age of games costing £70 or over, whether it’s worth that is entirely questionable.

If you take just the combat and the music from Stellar Blade, you’ve got a fantastic game. Sadly, this is not the whole package.