Stellar Blade Review

The moment is finally here, Stellar Blade is getting released. It feels like I first heard about it eons ago. A lot of things have changed since then, including even the name (used to be Project EVE), but one thing didn’t change — my desire to play this game. 

Unlike some other companies/blogs/people (that we won’t name), we do things properly here. We actually play the game to the end (most of the time) not just a demo before making any judgment. So without further ado, let’s dive into the game.

Story 

A long time ago in a galaxy not so far, far away… 

Actually, it was this galaxy where humanity was forced out of Earth after losing the war against monsters known as Demogorgons — oops, I mean Naytibas. To take it back, EVE and other humans are sent back to Earth to reclaim it and set it free from the Naytibas. 

Shortly after her arrival, everybody is defeated except EVE, who is miraculously saved by Adam, one of the last surviving humans on Earth. I found the story of the game very intriguing and I gotta admit, I just had to see what the hell happens in the end. To be perfectly clear, I’m not saying it’s a masterpiece of the story. It’s more that I got invested and got too curious.

Graphics and audio

Before going into the gameplay and the rest of my experience let’s talk about the graphics.

Stellar Blade features a visually stunning open-world environment set in a post-apocalyptic Earth filled with vast wastelands, underground research facilities, and cities in ruins. The game’s graphics are filled with rich detail, vibrant colors, and atmospheric effects, creating an immersive and visually striking experience.

The characters are carefully designed, with lifelike animations and detailed textures which makes it just another out of many things done brilliantly by developers.

Stellar Blade not only did a wonderful job in the graphics department but also delivered an exceptional audio experience that complements the game’s fascinating world.

Gameplay

As someone who completed everything in the game, I am qualified to talk about everything Stellar Blade-related. So let’s start from the basics and move on to more advanced stuff. 

The first thing to mention is the movement. You have the basic walking, running, jumping, and of course, dashing. The only minuscule issue that I had is against dashing, which at times feels kinda weak if you take into account all the stuff you can do.

Now, moving on to fighting — you have a light and heavy attack, which kinda falls in the basic spectrum of everything but can be fun especially if you learn some of the combos and then combine it with some of the skills. 

Without going into too much detail, I would say that there are two sets of four skills that you can use separately but need to be recharged while fighting various enemies. One thing that I love to do is save up those skills during boss fights and use them when I mess up, in case I fail to dodge/parry. 

If you time your skills perfectly, you won’t take any damage. That one probably wasn’t an intended mechanic in the game but it sure did help me a lot in tough situations. And of course, you have an ultimate skill, which transforms into your fallen comrade for a certain time period and gives you a new set of skills. 

This is another skill that I love to save for rainy days when I get myself in a real pickle. Even sometimes when I knew I could finish the boss within the time limit of the skill, which I did less and less as I progressed deeper in the game because some of the bosses either had multiple life or regenerative powers.

One last thing when it comes to fighting worth mentioning is the drone. It’s a very useful tool for exploring the map and it can be used as some sort of gun. The gun can fire different kinds of ammo, which I found very useful when it comes to fighting difficult enemies. At times it felt like a cheat, but hey — it’s in the game so I might as well use it.

The only things left to talk about are map exploration and side quests. Most of the time you can explore different regions freely but occasionally you’ll have to work for it to unlock some parts of the region. 

This involves finding a passcode, finding a missing part to open, or solving some kind of “puzzle”. Across all the regions there are loot boxes that can be found which contain different materials for upgrades, gold, and skins. They also sometimes require a password or to do “puzzles/challenges”. 

After completing all side quests, I have to admit that they get pretty weird most of the time. But I guess dealing with humans in a post-apocalyptic world filled with monsters isn’t an easy task, things are bound to get weird. On the other hand, I found some of them interesting and most of them had decent rewards. So I suggest doing them occasionally when you want to take a break from the main story and also it’s a great gateway into the lives of people living through hard times.

Final thoughts

It’s safe to say that I’ve enjoyed my time playing the game. If you didn’t get a chance to play it, I highly recommend that you set some time on the side to play. Another thing worth mentioning is that during my playthrough I haven’t run into any bugs or anything similar. And I believe I’ve tried more than the rest to find some. For this reason among others, Stellar Blade gets my stamp of approval.