by: Nabila Rhapsodios
After the Final War, planet Earth became inhospitable to humans. Some fled to a colony in space, while some built life around the remnants of the war on Earth. A young and beautiful 7th member of the Airborne Squad, EVE, is sent to Earth to reclaim it and defeat the remaining vile creatures, the Naytiba, who imbalanced humanity's peacefulness, leading to the Final War on Earth. Her ultimate mission is to find the leader of the Naytiba and, thus, rejuvenate Earth once more.
(+)
a. Excellent Combat System. So Catchy and Addictive
I had a lot of problems with dodging, parrying, and executing combo skills in my first hours of play until after I left Eidos 7 for Xion, my "eureka" on how to figure out all those actions correct timing with the additional help from Beta Skills that keep piling up throughout exploring the area that the battle felt tremendous and addictive—pure action and fast-paced. As someone who struggled and quit Elden Ring, I find the combat system in this game way more forgiving, and the enemy hit tells are easier. In short, combat is satisfying when handled correctly.
b. Outstanding Visuals
The visuals are stunningly impressive, with beautifully crafted environments and character models that bring the game's world to life. The visuals package delivers more than promised. This game may have the best sci-fi immersion I have seen on my PS5.
c. Music
See, on your own, the music is so good. A lot of it is very soft, perfect background for traversing extended areas. It captures perfectly the game's vibe, and the sheer amount and variety of music here is super impressive, which I was pleasantly surprised by. It's perfect, from K-pop and J-pop to beautiful, chilling orchestral melodies. If you wonder why the music comes with an aura of closeness, that's because Shift Up collaborates with MONACA. MONACA is the music studio responsible for the Nier series music. The influence from that studio may make the music of Stellar Blade well-done. To conclude, the music is infectious, as others have said.
d. Dressing Up is So much Fun
I adore dolling EVE because there are thirty amazing clothes and accessories to unlock in this game. Each one is simple to obtain. That is why it is so much fun to dress up. EVE's impeccable ensembles can inspire anyone wishing to start wearing fashion or to upgrade their look. I'm excited to see these costumes at events, and I hope EVE will inspire a new generation of enthusiasts.
e. Voice Acting
As for the English voice in this game, my ears sensed the voice acting was rough. But it improved as the story moved forward, and the voices fit the characters pretty well. On the other hand, some NPCs were... are... laughably bad, as if the voice actors consider the role a gig for most of the storyline and not a real job because they were paid the bare minimum off the street to put little effort into their lines.
(-)
a. The Bouncing/Swaying of Body Parts
As a straight woman, I do not mind playing a female protagonist with a bangin' bod. I must admit EVE is beautiful in an absurd way. After seeing modern Western games back away from making attractive female characters for their games, it's so refreshing to see a cool female character from an Eastern developer. Perfect, even. From head to toe. I don't have issues with big breasts and plumpy b*tt in general, but the number of times the camera during cutscenes lingers way too long or frames the entire shot with EVE's two greatest assets in the center (and they're jiggling!) was too much. That said, ahem. Her jiggle physics and b**t physics can be quite distracting at times.
b. Story
It's a stellar game with issues in storytelling, and the plot is so flat. I almost fell asleep during my game's progression with many expected "twists/reveals". All the characters are interesting, and the dialogue is nuanced, but the lack of good writing makes them awkward, and the dialogue could be more complex. It shows that this game is Shift Up's first triple AAA and non-mobile game.
c. Platforming & Jumping Mechanism
Most of my deaths were just me or the game being ludicrous, which brings my recollection to the platforming and jumping mechanism. Seriously, these two in this game are frustrating! The movement outside combat is too imprecise to provide effective platforming and jumping. Clunky, awkward, and kills the game's pacing. Fortunately, these two are often brief in other games. The game needs a triple jump, too, because EVE is not built for narrow, careful movements like trudging on tiny platforms or swinging from cords.
d. Tachy
I hardly knew her. I liked her enough. I may lament her very short appearances and believe Shift Up wasted an outstanding character. Everybody loves the older sister figure, Tachy!
There you go. Stellar Blade is great, and with its amount of context, it's worth an 8.9 out of 10. I hope that the score is reasonable when looking at the game objectively. Hopefully, my review will not deter Shift Up from making another attempt, as I do hope Stellar Blade gets a sequel with refined writing, better overseeing for the voice actors, better development of characters, and more world's building; this franchise could become another staple in PlayStation's publishing portfolio.
I hope you will have fun. Cheers.
P.S.
The fact people have made this a sexual game is so cringe. There is almost nothing overtly sexual in the game. It just has hot and sexy characters (Adam is not a bishonen/androgynous, but I think he is handsome and hot).
*Disclaimer: Courtesy of Google Images. The material published on this website is intended solely for general information and reference purposes and is not legal advice or other professional advice.
Comments
Post a Comment