Stellar Blade is a game that has already caused a lot of conversation way before it's release. Mostly because the main character Eve is smoking hot. I won't look into this whole so called "controversy" any further because it was just stupid. A main character looking good is no valid reason against a game because it's nothing abnormal. Anyway what happened after that is quite interesting. The game started selling really well during it's pre-order phase even without people knowing what the gameplay would consist of. It was the best-selling game in the PSN store and other platforms like Amazon in many countries, even before Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Of course now you could say sex sells and everyone is just horny, I do agree but Stellar Blade sold even better when Shift Up released a playable demo that showed that the gameplay is also really fantastic. This leads me to the next question, who even is Shift Up. They are a rather small studio which has only released a few mobile games. So this makes Stellar Blade their first big game and that makes the game even more impressive.
The gameplay is a mix between Nier Automata and Devil May Cry with a few soulslike elements sprinkled in. Like the camps which are similar to the bonfire mechanic and that enemies are respawning when you rested at these camps. Let me calm you down before some people now might not want to play it because they think that the games is too hard or because they don't like soulslike games. Stellar Blade is not a soulslike game, yes it has a few elements but it's not overly difficult. You can also always change the difficulty without any consequences. So rest assured you can still buy the game even if you don't like soulslike games.

One of the biggest strength is the combat, it's just fantastic, feels really good and it makes so much fun fighting Naytibas. The design from all of the enemies which you encounter are very unique. There is a vast variety of Naytibas, 67 different variations to be precise and all of them have different abilities and a unique design. This resulted in me always being excited when I encountered a new type of Naytiba. There is also the same variety for outfits 30 outfits and other cosmetics that you can collect. I'm glad that this game was published by Sony and not EA or Ubisoft which means that the outfits aren't tied to grind or money. Besides fighting enemies there are also a few mini games like fishing and sometimes the game shifts to a jump and run or a shooter like in the levoire segments where you can only use your gun, I really liked that gameplay is so varied. The problem is that the controls for the jump and run segments are too sensitive or Eve simply glitches through ladders or ropes when you try to jump on them. Fighting groups of enemies can also be quite a hassle because the combat is more 1v1 focused. The story is good, nothing special but I enjoyed the lore surrounding the Naytibas and Andro-Eidos. Sadly the bulletin board quests are mostly fetch quest and not that interesting. The best side quests are the ones from Enya and Kaya which were both really emotional.
The story really picks up in the finale segments and the game asks some interesting philosophical questions like what does it mean to be a human. My favorite character by far is Lily as you can see by my profile picture. She's so cute and must be protected at all costs. Eve is also great, of course I appreciate the eye candy but I like her dynamic with Lily and I enjoyed their scenes together. The fish out of water part from both characters was also kinda cute. Eve also gets most of the character development in the last third of the game. Small details like character dialogues that changes depending on what you are doing. Like for example when Adam said "don't look down", of course I looked down and Adam reacted to that and said something like "oh come on", which was a cool detail. I also recommend you to use the Korean dubbing because from what I've experienced it's the best version.
Stellar Blade has a incredible set pieces and a beautiful soundtrack which underlines the impeccable combat and thanks to a vast variety of different enemies the game never gets boring. Lily and Eve are fantastic characters, Adam is alright but he serves more as a plot device and the resolution of some of the textures in the desert is a bit low but that doesn't hurt the game much.

As a first game it's really impressive what Shift Up managed to create and what happens it the last segment of the game makes me really excited for the future. This is already one of the best games this year and deserves every praise it gets. I suffer under post game depression so I will start a NG+ run now while I patiently wait for a photomode( Yes I have way too many screenshots don't judge me) and DLC in which I can play as Lily.

Games I finished in 2024 Ranked

Platinum trophies exhibition

My physical collection