Stellar Blade has finally arrived, captivating players with its stunning visuals and exhilarating combat. The hosts discuss the satisfying mechanics, thrilling boss fights, and the exciting variety of costumes, while also highlighting some pitfalls like frustrating navigation and a lackluster character cast. The conversation delves into the game's ambitious design choices and the balance between fun gameplay and challenges, along with critiques about difficulty settings and the desire for deeper storytelling in future installments.
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Quick takeaways
Stellar Blade excels in combat mechanics that invite strategic play, rewarding players for mastering enemy attack patterns and parrying effectively.
While visually stunning, the game's narrative is criticized for its lack of character depth and disjointed storytelling, failing to engage players emotionally.
Frustrations arise from cumbersome navigation and backtracking, impacting exploration and detracting from the immersive gaming experience.
Deep dives
Overview of Stellar Blade
Stellar Blade is highlighted as a thrilling action game, excelling particularly in its combat mechanics. The gameplay draws inspiration from titles like Sekiro, boasting a defensive combat system that necessitates learning enemy attack patterns to effectively counter and parry them. The satisfaction of parrying is emphasized, especially during intense boss battles, with players experiencing auditory feedback that enhances the overall combat experience. However, while the game shines in this respect, it struggles with its RPG elements that feel less compelling, leading to a mixed player experience.
Character Development and Narrative
The narrative and character development in Stellar Blade receive criticism for being underwhelming, as the protagonist Eve lacks emotional depth and a compelling personality. Despite some attempts at humor and character engagement through side quests, the overall story feels disjointed and fails to evoke strong connections with players. Comparisons are made to other successful narrative-driven games, such as those by Yoko Taro, showcasing how Stellar Blade falls short in crafting engaging characters. The execution of dialogue and the use of archetypal names further detract from immersion, leaving much to be desired.
Combat Mechanics and Variety
The combat mechanics are praised for their depth, offering players an array of skills and combos that enhance engagement during fights. Stellar Blade incorporates numerous gadgets and weapons, promoting a creative approach to combat, making each encounter feel dynamic and exciting. Players can utilize different abilities, such as parrying, aerial attacks, and a variety of skills that can be unlocked throughout the game, which contribute to a sense of progression. However, the difficulty and design of some combat sequences can occasionally frustrate players, particularly when faced with repetitive mechanics that detract from the game's overall enjoyment.
Navigational Challenges and Game Design
Players express frustration with the game's navigational struggles, pointing out cumbersome fast travel systems and repetitive backtracking that hinder exploration. While the game invites players to delve into side quests and exploration, the layout of some areas feels restrictive, making it tedious to backtrack for collectibles or quests. Issues with map navigation and a lack of clear communication about quest objectives contribute to an overall feeling of frustration among players. This structural design detracts from the immersive experience, as players must often navigate from one area to another multiple times without efficient means of transportation.
Visuals, Sound, and Future Potential
Visually, Stellar Blade is lauded for its striking aesthetics and design, which beautifully captures the action-packed gameplay. The sound design, including the impressive soundtrack and satisfying audio cues during combat, enhances the overall experience, making battles feel rewarding and engaging. However, the visuals do suffer from generic post-apocalyptic settings that occasionally lack originality, although standout moments do exist. There is continued optimism for the future of the franchise, with hopes that the developers will address current shortcomings through patches and future installments, paving the way for a more cohesive gaming experience.
Stellar Blade is finally upon us! The verdict? The long-awaited and surprisingly controversial PS5 exclusive from Shift Up solidly delivers on its promise of a visually stunning action game, though it falls short of greatness in a few other areas. IGN’s reviewer Mitchell Saltzman joins us to have a nice spoiler-free chat about what he loved about the game, and what didn’t blow him away. We break down what makes the combat so satisfying, the awesome boss fights, the many collectibles and costumes, but also some of the frustrations, like wonky platforming, convoluted backtracking, and a nothing-burger cast of characters. This week podcast Beyond is Max Scoville, Brian Altano, Jada Griffin and Mitchell Saltzman.
