After a long wait, Shift Up's action game Stellar Blade will be in the hands of PS5 gamers in just a few short weeks. A demo was recently released, although It is unclear if it was the same gameplay demo that mysteriously appeared and then disappeared from The Playstation Store a few weeks back. Now the game demo is in the hot little hands of the general public including many journalists and content creators, myself included.
One of the great things about this game is how unapologetic the team over at Shift Up is about the design choices behind Stellar Blade. The first being its obvious influenced from Neir Autoamata, which also features kitted out cyborg type who is accompanied by a floating drone NPC.
In a Game Informer Feature, game director, Hyung-Tae Kim, and its technical director Dong-Gi Lee ensure that these comparisons are not accident and call out Anime and Manga like Battle Angel Alita and Ghost in the Shell as inspiration for not only its post-apocayliptic world, but also the design of its characters. The design of sword wielding EVE was met by some crying foul of of her ultra-sexy body proportions, her body model was based on real life Korean Super Model Shin Jae-Un. The demo of Stellar Blade places in at the begging of the game, and your save progress from said demo will carry over into the full release -- similar to the recent Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth demo.
While many will make the obvious Neir Automata comparisons, the extremely fluid combat actually reminds me of something more akin to Sekiro, mixed with a soulslike and a dash of Devil May Cry. Eve's sword swinging action is very Parry-Heavy, with that same satisfying sparky-filled clink that staggers the enemy backwards. There is also a balance meter, appearing as dots below your enemies main life gauge. consecutive perfect parries will also build your Beta Skills, special attacks that can be mapped to face buttons similar to your runic attacks in the recent God of War games.
A perfect dodge will also Eve to dodge attacks in slo-motion, allowing for a counter attack. Another great feature from demo involved a a "Blink" upgrade; your attacker will flash blue, if you push forward and circle at moment her sword lights up blue you can teleport yourself behind an enemy. If you manage to deplete all your enemy balance bubbles, Eve can perform a take-down type maneuver with the one of the face buttons.
The highlight of the experience is definitely the boss fights. The demo has you fighting against Abbadon, a large hurling beast, swinging two large swords that do lightening damage. This boss fight is a great example of how much variety the boss fights offer. While Perfect Parrying is the obvious goal, there are also several examples to the do the aforementioned Blink attack.
Stellar Blade is shaping up to be a contender for one of the best PS5 exclusives this year, with a combination of slick visuals and tight gameplay that is no doubt going to appeal to even the most discerning soulslike fan.
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