'Stellar Blade' Review: Near Automata

A legion of sexy female robots make a desperate assault on the unknowable aliens that are infesting Earth, and theyre picked off one by one until a single unit remains, who will be our best, last hope for making Earth safe again for the humans living offworld. In fairness, Yoko Tar himself has given the thumbs up to Shift Ups efforts in multiple interviews, and Nier series composer Okabe Keiichis studio handled around half of the (admittedly excellent and atmospheric) soundtrack. It just wouldve been nice if Stellar Blade had enough of its own identity to make those comparisons worthwhile. NieR Automata isnt one of those games that AAA publishers have latched onto and sucked all the creative juice out of, so a brazen clone at least has the passive benefit of being somewhat unique. The catch, though, is that NieR Automata abounds in astonishing and nearconstant surprises. Its a game of boundless creativity that gleefully shatters every clich of its genre. Stellar Blade, by comparison, is hampered by its fealty to convention. The story instantly falls face first into a predictable, milquetoast anime sewer the second we learn that our protagonists name is Eve, brought back from near death by a handsome wasteland mechanic named Adam. From the fact that regular humans are nowhere to be seen despite our heroes supposedly getting their marching orders from them, to Eves partner in the early stages of the game seemingly dying (a body is conspicuously never shown), players will be five steps ahead of Stellar Blades narrative at every turn. The result is an experience where tension and the excitement of discovery dont really exist. That isnt helped by just how samey the environments can get, despite the journey taking players from beautifully rendered ruined cities to deserts and sewers. Theres one genuinely striking and imaginative environment to break up the monotony, an elevator ride into space, but its so extremely close to the endgame that its too little too late. Many of the games sidequests and collectables are similarly monotonous, with the intriguing tales at the outset mostly involving going out to a remote location and investigating a corpse, with no real sense of play or emergent storytelling in the adventuring. For what its worth, Stellar Blade has got its charms in terms of raw gameplay, with the game playing offensively like NieR Automata but defensively like Sekiro Shadows Die Twice. T simplified but effective combo system and a laundry list of ranged options. Those pair rather nicely with a satisfyingly tricky parry system thats the one truly effective way to take out fortified, massive enemies. Those enemies are also a bright spot, with some truly gnarly, freakish mutant designs, and some intense higherlevel boss fights that demand full attention, especially since the unorthodox designs do make incoming attacks harder to telegraph. Ironically, given the controversy leading to its release, much of the games innovation comes in the form of the character customization, with a breathtakingly extensive number of outfits, accessories, and hairstyles for Eve, in exchange for maxing out the games meager relationships with various vendors in the hub city of Xion by buying more and more items. the outfits are outlandish and cool, but you may find yourself wishing that all this was for a character more interesting than Eve, who reacts to the horrors of the world and its sad, lamentable history with the same enthusiasm reserved for finding out Starbucks is out of macarons. Had Eve been a character with agency and personality, who actually responded to the drooling and leering that shes meant to embody, well, shed be Bayonetta. If her emptiness was hiding deep existential secrets that the game revealed with patience and empathy, shed be 2B. Instead, Eve is a busty, longlegged cipher of a doll who has no idea just how far up her hind quarters the games camera is designed to go, and seems somehow quite comfortable wearing scifi heels that make her feet look like horse hooves. Perhaps its unfair for this to be the sole focus for some players, but, unfortunately, there isnt a whole lot else going on to draw their gaze away from it. This game was reviewed with code purchased by the reviewer. Score Developer Shift Up Corporation Publisher