Stellar Blade review: Lots of flash and fun but mostly dull

during the early moments of stellar blade, the protagonist, Eve, runs across an enemy-infested beach while massive explosions shake her with every step. Although this moment is enhanced by impossibly beautiful graphics, there is very little action that you directly participate in, with the sequence serving as a basic combat tutorial. I think this opening is a good example for me stellar blade Experience: style over substance. stellar blade It is very engaging with its action sequences and very beautiful in its graphics but suffers from a bad state of repetition. What’s worse is that it lacks any kind of interesting story or characters.

stellar bladehas been compared to the battle of alden ring From developer FromSoftware and other Soul-like games, and the comparison is apt. Blocking, dodging and reading your enemy to learn his patterns will win you the day. Meanwhile, crying over things and damaging your face is a sure way to die.

However, in games like Souls, you are essentially thrown in the deep end within the first minutes. Everything is deadly and each encounter requires all your combat abilities You will die, but with this stellar blade, it progresses you slowly, starting you off with hard-hitting but relatively simple enemies that go down easily, more like an action RPG than a Souls. That mismatch made my first hours impossibly boring, and I very seriously considered abandoning it entirely because the game’s story and characters weren’t enough to keep the combat gloom at bay.

stellar bladeThe story is remarkable. Eve, a soldier coming from a space colony, is sent to Earth with the mission to rid it of the Natyabas, evil monsters who have taken over the planet and killed most of the population. What Eve is, who exactly the demons she is sent to destroy, and the motivations behind the entity she worships are easily guessed. Meanwhile, Eve is an emotionless soldier, which is fine; There are a lot of them in video games. But my hope is that once the game starts, Eve won’t get any rewards either.

Ultimately, I didn’t quit the game, as the combat improved dramatically afterward. Enemies, even basic enemies, have been disappointingly toughened to the level I’d expect. Instead of simply roaming around areas, I had to consider my enemies and their arenas and choose my battles accordingly, often to amusing effect. Late in the game, when faced with a trio of enemies that would have killed me had I faced them, I used the terrain to fall upon them using my “Death from Above” ability which automatically Kills. Once the game starts (which can take anywhere from five to seven hours, depending on how much time you spend doing sidequests and exploration), the regular enemy battles are much harder than some of the bosses. Is more attractive.

Another well-done aspect of the combat is that the game requires you to evaluate each fight individually. That last point seems obvious, but let me explain: stellar blade The game progresses along a predictable pattern, with special encounters and bosses repeated over and over again.

For example, there were two separate battles against identical-looking soldiers guarding the same dungeons (more on this in a moment). The first battle went quite smoothly. But the second time around, even though I was essentially fighting the same enemy again, I got my ass handed to me. I was very confused, wondering why I kept failing when I had never failed before. It was only when I slowed down and took the time to really see what my enemy was doing, blocking and dodging as necessary while not being greedy with my attacks, that I finally defeated him. This was the best fight so far, successfully replicating the euphoria I feel when defeating a tough enemy. sekiro: shadows die twice Or alden ring,

However, it was extremely strange to feel that the game was unfolding in a predictable pattern. At the beginning of the game, I thought it was really interesting when I was put in a dungeon where my sword stopped working, forcing me to use the gun weapon I just unlocked. Was. it was dark in the dungeon dead Space The vibe is taking place in a blood-soaked underground laboratory where monsters crawl out of blind corners. It was a cool and incongruous moment – a game within a game, like a rail shooter/bullet hell section. Nier: Automata, But that good feeling of novelty was somewhat diminished when I found myself in the same type of dungeon, my sword mysteriously locked again. I like it stellar blade It is built from the same four blocks: a linear dungeon; One Hubworld; a desert-themed open world; and an underground laboratory, the developers arrange them in essentially the same order until the final area. The dungeons and sandy open world sections at least look different, but the way the game put me on a looping track still felt very strange.

Additionally, platforming Useless And that’s too much. Eve repeatedly fails to reach the proper surface, resulting in her missing a jump or falling to her death, while the boundaries of the dangers are often poorly delineated. Unlike war where you are at least Learn Something or the other, in platforming when you die stellar blade It felt like you were muddling your way through horrible, very long sections until you finally figured out what the game was asking you to do.

stellar blade There are a lot of “buts” in it. I can’t say I hated it, but I can’t say I liked it either. I really enjoyed the combat, but it took a very long time and was broken up by several short, hair-raising platforming sections and poor design choices. I would recommend it to friends, but only if they promise to keep going when it starts to drag into other territory. stellar blade frustrated and bored me, But I kept playing anyway.

stellar blade Launching on PlayStation 5 on April 26th.