The Stellar Blade demo doesn’t instill confidence
After being accidentally uploaded for a 20-minute window last month, the demo for Stellar Blade was finally released on March 29, 2024. Since spending a couple of hours with it over the weekend, whatever hope I had for the title has disappeared like a fart in the wind.
I don’t know what I expected, yet I am still disappointed
The demo consists of a brief opening section that culminates in the first boss fight against a creature called Abaddon. A boss fight mode is unlocked upon completion of the former mode. Boss fight mode consists of one fight utilizing a more robust talent tree and new abilities like ranged attacks.
The demo removes all doubt regarding questions of the gameplay saving the title, because let’s face it, Stellar Blade isn’t treading new ground and is greatly borrowing from Nier: Automata and other post-apocalyptic stories.
Eve is an overtly sexualized character in a beautifully rendered world where she is one of a few surviving cyborgs coming from space to reclaim Earth for humanity. The Earth is in shambles after creatures called Naytiba have taken over and I’m suspecting the big twist is that the Naytiba are former humans due to their designs.
Eve’s squad is pretty much obliterated, aside from another soldier, Tachy, who appears to fall at the hands of an Alpha Naytiba, but I suspect will come back later on with a viewpoint that will cause Eve to question her mission and purpose.
Despite being a trained soldier, Eve displays none of the qualities one would assume are necessary to survive contact with the Naytiba. As such, she must be rescued by a man with another not-so-subtle biblical name, Adam. Together, with Adam operating a device similar to 2B’s Pod 042, they explore the incredibly generic ruins of Earth’s former capital city.
The voice acting is incredibly monotone with only the faintest hints of emotion coming from Eve upon seeing her fellow Angels being slaughtered. I can’t comment on the other supported languages as I don’t understand them, but if you’re listening in English, prepare to have a bad time.
All of the presentation issues that have been present in prior trailers aside, the demo’s big draw is allowing players to finally experience the combat and other core gameplay elements. It’s…rough.
I wasn’t able to gauge the gameplay when watching the leaked playthroughs as the moves suggested it would be over-the-top action similar to Nier: Automata or Bayonetta, but instead, seemed stilted as Eve was pitted against single foes.
It turns out, that’s just how the game plays. It feels like you’re driving a car with a very powerful engine that has every restriction possible on it. You can hear and see the potential, but can never break free of the chains.
Anything beyond the smallest of foes (terrier-sized) is a one-on-one encounter. There is a lot of emphasis placed on blocking and performing perfect blocks. Dodging is an option, but since Eve can’t perform multiple dashes, you’re almost guaranteed to be hit with the inevitable follow-up hit.
Once knocked to the ground, Eve takes her time standing back up, which leaves her incredibly vulnerable to quick and aggressive foes like both showcased bosses. The same delay applies to the healing ampules as Eve must complete the animation of pulling them out and using them for any effect to be had.
As someone who prefers to dash around in a fight, there was a rough learning curve to the blocking, specifically the timing. However, once I had it down, I literally didn’t have to do anything aside from block and counterattack. Simply put, it wasn’t fun.
Outside of combat, Eve treads through the equivalent of hallways as the world design isn’t very open at all. There are chests and doors that require codes to open, boxes to be smashed, and anemic platforming.
Playing Stellar Blade, I can only think that the development teams at Shift Up know what components make for a fun game, but don’t have the understanding as to why. The pieces are all there, but are never fully utilized.
Stellar Blade looks great in the visuals department, but that’s the only thing it has going for it. Unfortunately for the publisher, visuals aren’t going to be enough to convince me to drop $70 on it. Maybe once it goes on sale, but until then I can always go back and play Bullet Witch.
