Stellar Blade is an at-times serviceable action game that I have a LOT of issues with, the biggest one being that it is honestly pretty boring, outside of some of the combat. The visuals and, in particular, the animations, are impressive, but that's really the extent of elements of this game that I would consider as such. The pacing is pretty odd; for about 2/3 of the game, you have access to the hub city that gives you a number of mind-numbing side quests, and the rest of the game is equivalent to a point of no return, locking you out of the hub, and with the final 10 or so hours being an exhausting boss rush of four of the game's most difficult fights, one after the other. Most of these are decently designed, but the decision to have them back-to-back-to-back-to-back is questionable at best.

Stellar Blade's narrative is again, serviceable, but not much more than that. The voice acting is pretty great but the characters themselves are whatever. I liked Eve but that's about it. I really did not feel engaged by the story at any point, and there are a number of post-apocalyptic narratives that do a much better job with the twists, such as the obvious comparison to Nier: Automata, and even something like Horizon Zero Dawn.

The biggest issue with this game is that the only real draw is the combat, and anytime you are doing anything but that it becomes a real slog. I did not enjoy nearly any of my time with these other sections, particularly the ones that disable your sword, forcing you to only use your gun, which has some of the least satisfying gunplay I've ever experienced in a game. There are also a number of platforming sections that I hated, as the game's movement is not at all balanced for precision platforming.

Stellar Blade's combat is good but not great. My favorite part of it was the flashiness, but as a parry-based system, it is far inferior to something like Sekiro or Lies of P. The parry timing is weird; it is a lot earlier than you'd think, and I never quite got used to this even by the end of the game, and determined it just did not feel good. This is especially an issue in fights against bosses with very fast combo attacks, as you have to predict the timing, instead of reacting to it, which is not really feasible in most cases. As I said before, the gunplay sucks, and is very poorly integrated into the actual combat loop. The only time you really want to use it is when you are 'supposed' to, like when an enemy weakpoint is exposed after doing a certain defensive action. There is also a sort of 'super' mode that you unlock about halfway through the game called Tachy Mode, which unfortunately is pretty miserable to use. It looks cool but you deal effectively no extra damage compared to your regular for while it barely lasts 10-15 seconds, doesn't heal you, and gives you no i-frames upon de-activation. I ended up only really using it as a way to absorb hits from boss attacks that I could not understand the dodge/parry timing of, as you are invincible during it and it charges relatively quickly.

I do think there's plenty of people that will enjoy Stellar Blade more than I did, but I feel as though most aspects of a game like this that are really important to maintain player engagement were quite hollow, forgettable, and at times miserable to get through. Not the worst action game I've ever played, but generally one that I would consider a disappointment.

6/10

Stellar Blade is an at-times serviceable action game that I have a LOT of issues with, the biggest one being that it is honestly pretty boring, outside of some of the combat. The visuals and, in particular, the animations, are impressive, but that's really the extent of elements of this game that I would consider as such. The pacing is pretty odd; for about 2/3 of the game, you have access to the hub city that gives you a number of mind-numbing side quests, and the rest of the game is equivalent to a point of no return, locking you out of the hub, and with the final 10 or so hours being an exhausting boss rush of four of the game's most difficult fights, one after the other. Most of these are decently designed, but the decision to have them back-to-back-to-back-to-back is questionable at best.

Stellar Blade's narrative is again, serviceable, but not much more than that. The voice acting is pretty great but the characters themselves are whatever. I liked Eve but that's about it. I really did not feel engaged by the story at any point, and there are a number of post-apocalyptic narratives that do a much better job with the twists, such as the obvious comparison to Nier: Automata, and even something like Horizon Zero Dawn.

The biggest issue with this game is that the only real draw is the combat, and anytime you are doing anything but that it becomes a real slog. I did not enjoy nearly any of my time with these other sections, particularly the ones that disable your sword, forcing you to only use your gun, which has some of the least satisfying gunplay I've ever experienced in a game. There are also a number of platforming sections that I hated, as the game's movement is not at all balanced for precision platforming.

Stellar Blade's combat is good but not great. My favorite part of it was the flashiness, but as a parry-based system, it is far inferior to something like Sekiro or Lies of P. The parry timing is weird; it is a lot earlier than you'd think, and I never quite got used to this even by the end of the game, and determined it just did not feel good. This is especially an issue in fights against bosses with very fast combo attacks, as you have to predict the timing, instead of reacting to it, which is not really feasible in most cases. As I said before, the gunplay sucks, and is very poorly integrated into the actual combat loop. The only time you really want to use it is when you are 'supposed' to, like when an enemy weakpoint is exposed after doing a certain defensive action. There is also a sort of 'super' mode that you unlock about halfway through the game called Tachy Mode, which unfortunately is pretty miserable to use. It looks cool but you deal effectively no extra damage compared to your regular for while it barely lasts 10-15 seconds, doesn't heal you, and gives you no i-frames upon de-activation. I ended up only really using it as a way to absorb hits from boss attacks that I could not understand the dodge/parry timing of, as you are invincible during it and it charges relatively quickly.

I do think there's plenty of people that will enjoy Stellar Blade more than I did, but I feel as though most aspects of a game like this that are really important to maintain player engagement were quite hollow, forgettable, and at times miserable to get through. Not the worst action game I've ever played, but generally one that I would consider a disappointment.

6/10