Stellar Blade Review – Stylish Action Above All

Stellar Blade on PlayStation 5

When it comes to console exclusives, the PlayStation 5 certainly hasn’t been short of them. In fact, it is this particular avenue that has allowed the platform to build upon its successes in recent years. Following the likes of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Rise of the Ronin in 2024 comes Shift Up’s Stellar Blade, an action role-playing extravaganza that prizes aesthetics above all. A stylish adventure awaits, even if there’s room for improvement in many other aspects.

With Earth now desolated in the aftermath of a great war, humans are no longer the masters of the planet. In their place stands the Naytiba, alien creatures that are as deadly as they are intimidating, and it is up to the 7th Airborne Squad to try to wrestle back control by slaying the Elder Naytiba at the heart of the chaos. Naturally, things don’t go according to plan, and the explosive introduction sets the tone pretty well for what comes next.

Just as its marketing has been suggesting, players are definitely going to be drawn to the visuals of Stellar Blade at first glance, and it’s not just about the over-the-top and attractive designs of main protagonist EVE and the rest of the Airborne Squad. Huge set pieces are always fun to watch, while occasional QTEs ensure players are still involved in some capacity. Meeting new Naytiba threats is always exciting as well, especially for the bosses, and one can’t help but feel revved up when the time to draw the blade nears.

Shift Up’s experience is mainly in the mobile space, and delivering a first console offering that is a feast for the eyes is no mean feat. The highly detailed post-apocalyptic world players are stepping into can be full of wonderful and interesting sights and threats, and despite multiple attempts at fan service, often rightfully draws away the attention from Eve.

Looking good is one thing, but the gameplay has to stand up for one of the bigger games coming out this window, and thankfully, Stellar Blade goes all-in on its combat. Armed with the Blood Edge and, later on, a ranged option, the action is a pleasant mishmash of Nier Automata and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, finished off with a heaping helping of stylish dazzle.

Players will get every opportunity to master light and heavy attacks, parries and different types of dodges, as well as powerful abilities that are helpful in every situation. At the same time, Naytibas all bring varied attacks and moves of their own, and with their health, shields, and balance to take into consideration, it sets the stage for satisfying combat that rewards aggression and tact. Normal attacks leading into combos can deal good damage, but it gives enemies the window to retaliate and leaves no room for dodges or parries.

Time it right, however, and you can negate enemy attacks completely, build up a well of Beta Energy, and unleash deadly attacks that can both interrupt and reduce the enemy’s balance, paving the way for an execution that will eliminate them instantly or take a chunk out of the boss’ life bar. That is the ideal scenario, of course, and it will likely come with plenty of practise and, undeniably, frustration. It is one thing to require perfect timing to successfully parry or dodge an attack, but to be confronted by inconsistencies within Eve’s animations that can mess up what should have been a flawless execution is never going to feel good.

The base dodge is a prime example of this. As opposed to the parrying mechanic, which activates with the trigger press when an attack lands, dodging requires players to execute the command just about a fraction of a second earlier than the attack. And doing so sees results that vary even for the same enemy and attacks, which will only increase the tension when facing off against a particular dangerous Naytiba. Considering there are attacks that cannot be parried, that potential pitfall of a dodge failing to land will weigh heavily on players throughout the entirety of Stellar Blade.

This is amplified further when players are given no choice but to take on several enemies at once, often in enclosed spaces. Numbers matter, and there is no guarantee Eve will come out alive when confronted with several of the weaker foes. Being defensive is not an option here, and the sooner the numbers can be thinned, the more players can focus on being precise and strategic as the system intends combat to be.

By slaughtering the countless Naytiba standing in the way of Earth’s salvation, Eve will accrue SP, which can then be invested in several skill trees that unlock all sorts of useful buffs and abilities during combat. This could be new Beta attacks, expanded combos, survival skills and more, and while it is a strange decision, the aforementioned special and vital dodges for certain enemy attacks actually have to be unlocked using SP, so make that your first choice to save yourself the trouble. Certain skills also seem more useful depending on what kind of a player you are, but the likelihood is that you will earn more than enough SP to unlock every skill there is to become the most complete Eve.

Outside of combat, players will be let loose in different environments that can be broken down into two categories. The first is more linear spaces, where a main objective is to be completed. Sure, there are alternate paths and secrets to be found, but there is relatively little room to venture beyond what the level has in store for you, even if they can be quite sprawling at times.

In between, Eve might stumble upon locked chests, find fallen bodies with information and passcodes, engage in some climbing, jumping, and swimming, or even move boxes and giant metal balls to solve a puzzle or two. Along the way, players will activate vending machines as the game’s answer to bonfires, allowing for some downtime, recovery, and the respawning of Naytiba to make your life a living hell once more.

All that gold and resources gathered can then be spent to either upgrade Eve’s capabilities or to purchase consumables to help during combat. The former sees upgrade parts used to improve Blood Edge, increase your healing tumbler’s capacity, and even open up new gear slots for more passive bonuses conferred by the accessories. The accompanying drone can also be upgraded in due time, expanding upon its scanning ability and offensive prowess to make Eve even more of a force to be reckoned with. Exploration often yields rewards, which is a good thing. All of these should sound familiar to anyone who has enjoyed the genre over the past decade, but Stellar Blade could have done more to elevate the experience.

Eve may float like a butterfly and sting like a bee during combat, but her movement in these areas can feel sluggish and imprecise, especially so when trying to interact with objects and items around the world. Moving objects is painfully slow and unwieldy, and when the game throws platforming that requires error-free jumps, you have been warned of what could be a gauntlet of falls and black loading screens. The game also doesn’t do a good job of showing what surfaces Eve can clamber up onto, outside of the handholds that are painted in yellow, so you might waste some of your time trying to reach something that requires a different path altogether.

The lack of a map also became one of my biggest annoyances during these spaces, as hunting down collectibles and secrets meant operating purely on memory and hopefully coming back to them when Eve discovered the right abilities. The design of the levels could also use some polish, especially for the shortcuts that bridge the gap between early and late-stage areas. Not everything makes sense, and when there is fast travel available, you might be better off using that option even without a map to tell you exactly where you are.

All of these problems are also present when Stellar Blade welcomes players to the second type of environment, the open world. Here, players can take on side quests and explore the world freely, navigating large spaces on foot and starting to wonder if Eve can move a little faster or if the world can be filled up more with things to see and do. Sure, there are collectible cans of drinks, new Nanosuits, and additional cosmetics to get your hands on, but the journey need not be so arduous. The plus side is that players gain access to a map for these areas, but due to their size, the accuracy takes a hit.

The side quests do provide some escape from the usual cadence, with certain ones obviously getting more love by developing a supporting cast with interesting backstories and potential contributions to the cause. The others, being simple side fetch quests and hunting missions, are really just there to give players more resources to play with. At least the game’s nice enough to give players the option to instantly return to the quest giver once something is done, eliminating the need for travel. There is also a fishing minigame for those interested, although the mechanic of picking bait, casting a line, and engaging in button mashing wasn’t exactly doing it for me, and the randomness of it all made things even less appealing.

Perhaps with a stronger narrative bringing everything together cohesively, all of these issues wouldn’t be so egregious, but that is not the case here with Stellar Blade. There aren’t any huge curveball moments or groundbreaking developments that players won’t see coming as Eve uncovers the mystery behind the Naytibas, and the subtle religious overtones can be a hit or miss depending on your inclinations.

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.