I highly dislike Souls-like s games. So I went into this game slightly anxious. Reviewers told it was not as difficult as souls-likes and I trusted that.
I was not disappointed.

Starting the game, the game went straight into the frey. No exposition. That is refreshing compared to Western games that can't help itself with letting me in on everything from the start.

I struggled from the start with getting a grip on the game. I knew parry and dodge was important so I jumped on that.
I did get somewhat better. Parrying came naturally to me. Weird that in FFVII rebirth I was dodging and not parrying.

My game first started to get better when I met Abaddon where I was getting my ass handed to me, until I really got pretty good at parry, dodge and blink.

There was a lot of design variety and Asian designs are different but so cool.

I died a lot in this game. A lot. Normally I would not be having that but this game kept me in.
I think it is due to the game not punishing me too bad on death, but also due to the battle mechanics being very clear so I knew why I died. It was because I did not do what I was supposed to and I knew exactly which move I should have done or that I needed to be better at performing the move. That is paramount. The enemies are mostly telegraphing well and colour circles clearly tell what type of move.
Some people may think this makes it too easy but I found it perfect.

The fights when one on one are so fun and awesome that I just needed to keep playing. I have played every day since I started the game.

When doing multiple enemies the mechanics are bad. Luckily there was not much of it and also layer on you get AOE skills that can mop up these battles, or else this would have detracted more than it did to me.

Another part of the game they should work on the the sequel is traversal. I died so many times due to jumping to traverse anything that I sighed many times during play. As reactive and fluent EVE feels in combat as unresponsive and awkward she feels when traversing. It was not horrible. It was adequate but still bad enough that it detracts from the experience.

The boss battles (elites and alphas) were very very fun for the most part. And their designs so great.
My worst battle was the final battle against a Mech. It was just so over the top aggressive while the giant mech often hid it's telegraphs behind moving parts and being so fast that trying to keep up was mute.
The best fight was by far against Raven. I died so many times against her due to her aggression and her many different moves that I needed to memories, but I still kept on trying until I won.
The score during that fight was also my favorite. Raven rules.

It had open world co tent but did not make the Ubisoft/EA mistake of just scattering hundreds of repetitive shite all over the place. I found it just the right amount.

I got 31 nano suits in my playthrough. Fun activities. I got most other collectibles of gear and mods, while cans I did not get many. I will do the rest in NG+ for sure.

Even me just thinking about doing the game again is not normal. I really like this game.

TL;DR: If you are:

- A hardcore fan of all slashers and can't play any of the classics because you've beaten them 50 times already
- A die-hard Sony fan who never misses an exclusive (not just from in-house studios, but also games like Final Fantasy, etc.)
- A big fan of butts, boobs, dressing up a sexy girl in various revealing outfits and ogling her butt because she won't pull the camera back like the unapproachable 2B

Then this game is for you!

Here's a detailed account of my impressions:
I'll put it this way: if we're talking about the story (not the gameplay), it's a really cool and interesting game. You, a person from the future, arrive on Earth to deal with the monsters that forced humanity into space, and finally return to your home planet. You arrive and then start uncovering the terrible truth step by step: you're not actually human but an android, and the monsters are humans who resorted to genetic experiments to enhance themselves and wipe out androids. Along your journey, you encounter many of these monsters, you have access to a bunch of super moves, and there are some pretty impressive cutscenes. In the end, there are three different endings and a plot twist. And all this is spiced up with modern graphics. It looks like a solid game, with a mystery and gradual revelation of truth, just like in Attack on Titan.

Right?

For me, the truth is that everything in this game is poorly done. The dialogues, the storytelling, the graphics, the combat, and the platforming. Everything I wanted to play for, and what could have made the game stand out as a game (and not just a boob physics demo for panty shot enthusiasts), disappointed me more than it pleased.

Platforming:
This is the main flaw of the game. If the game itself was 5/5, the platforming would be 1/5, it's that bad (and the game itself is not 5/5). If platforming feels out of place in Doom Eternal, at least it’s not buggy, but here:

Constant pixel-perfect jumps required
Miss-jumps where you either undershoot, overshoot, or jump but then there's an animation after landing, causing the heroine to fall, or she continues running from the momentum after the jump.
Random change of direction. There’s a double jump, and sometimes the second jump sends you in the wrong direction.
Or you jump onto a rope, swing, miss the jump. Go back to the rope, but it’s still swinging, making you miss it again.
Constantly getting stuck in textures (at least early on)
Hints on where to grab beams are not noticeable against the overall poor graphics.
Sometimes you need to press keys 2-3 times to jump or grab something.
This is extremely frustrating as it causes unnecessary deaths and redoing sections. And you'd think, well, the game isn't a platformer, so why expect it to be perfect? Then don’t shove a bunch of platforming sections and try to go deep into platforming if it’s not that important.

Story:
The dialogues here are a mess. In one side mission, someone sneaks up on the protagonist and stabs her in the back. Then a random character starts explaining what great components she's made of and how they'll profit from them. All that's missing is a cringe-worthy "ha-ha-ha" at the end. Oh wait… it’s there!

Or decisions like Tachy (the heroine’s partner) gets infected, and you fight, extract the core, and cut off the infection, and then she’s free, proudly dying in your arms with such cliché phrases. Ugh.

Cringe dialogues or a silly story can be fine. Sometimes they fit the game and atmosphere well, like in Neon White, and sometimes they’re just an addition to great gameplay like in Doom.

But here it’s just awful. There is intrigue, and if you think about the whole plot and world, it could have been presented much more interestingly than it is here. Hello: Horizon Zero Dawn or Nier: Automata. But here you approach an old man, and he’s like, “I see you have a question.” Wow, Sherlock, of course, I have a question, I didn’t just come up to you for nothing 🤣

Gameplay:
So, at least they didn't screw up the gameplay, right? Well, yes and no.

It's cool that they included a lot of extra moves and a rage mode with its own moves (like transforming into a demon in DMC). This is already better than Nier Automata, from what I remember. But Automata was more about the world and story, and more focused on bullet hell and dodging a bunch of red balls, not combos and super moves.

In this respect, since the story in Stellar is just incredibly dumb, I would have liked to see some solid combat mechanics (since the platforming only reeks of frustration). And the combat here is… okay:
⁃ It's not playing piano on a gamepad like in DMC
⁃ It's not the perfect balance of parrying/blocking/striking like in Sifu/Sekiro (because sometimes enemy attacks are very poorly telegraphed, you get used to it, but seriously, it could have been much better)

Besides platforming and combat, there's also the grind for various collectibles and outfits. It's okay, nothing unusual or particularly interesting (you can collect soda cans, which is cool but more of a neat detail).

Sound:
The music is sometimes good, sometimes okay. And sometimes there's some metal playing as if an action scene is about to happen, but then you get a very calm dialogue. So why the tense music? But the battle with Tahi is atmospheric! But even in sound design, there are dumb mistakes. Like in the great desert, there are places where two different tracks play in the background simultaneously 🤷‍♂️

Cinematics:
The cutscenes are generally good. I would have liked more of these rather than the dumb semi-open world (UPD from the second playthrough: you can skip all open world segments, which makes it more interesting, but then why did they bother making them if they're so boring).

At some point, you get used to the forgettable monsters (everyone has off days), adapt to the combat, and tune out the dialogues, focusing on the world… And then you have to do timed platforming. Timed platforming, which is just awful here. And you realize how shitty the game is in terms of exploration. Thankfully, it's not part of the main story and can be skipped (unless you're going for platinum).

At some point, you even get used to the monotony and focus on the main missions and cinematics… And then they send you back to the same complex for a second time, where it's supposed to be scary, but you get the same "jump scares" of enemies waiting around the corner 3-4 times in a row. Hello, 2013 with its flood of cheap horror let's plays.

And even though there's an attempt to create decent small side missions and some hidden areas, the game just lacks detailed design. For example, there's an enemy that sneaks up on you by "swimming" in the sand. If you stand on a metal platform nearby, it will sneak up on it too. Is there sand there? Is there even any ground? Why are there particle animations of sand visible, but the enemy isn't under the grating? Who cares 🤷‍♂️

Yes, there are just a bunch of generic dumb parts. Like a boss teleporting away from your attacks in a cutscene, but during the fight, you beat it easily.

Visuals:
Most of it looks like Resistance 3 (hello, textures covered in crap), and it feels cheap. And if you have a desert, maybe there's no other way? But I didn't have such problems in Horizon or RDR 2. Again, it's disappointing because there are cool, atmospheric locations, but they get lost in the overall mess.

And towards the end, the ashen tones in the monsters look more atmospheric and pleasing than the crappy graphics. But another thought comes to mind: sometimes the visuals seem inconsistent, but maybe I'm just overthinking it.

Conclusion:
It's a shame that the game only gets good towards the end. When you finally get some plot twists (maybe predictable, but still), some decent cinematics, and more pleasing visuals (not just brown haze). But you still have to get to that end. And that's the main challenge of this game.

Stellar Blade was one of my most anticipated games, as I had been excited over several years to try this game that seemed perfect for me. The gameplay is undeniably the highlight, offering a fluid, stylish, and satisfying combat system. It reminds me of a mix between Sekiro and Bayonetta, with its parry-focused mechanics and combo potential. That being said, the game ultimately had some disappointments to me, and while it is not necessarily a bad game, it is leaning towards being a mixed bag for me.

Let's start with the positives. The variety and design of enemies are commendable, with over 48 unique types that keep the combat fresh, engaging, and visually impressive. Boss fights in particular are intense and rewarding, pushing you to master the game's abundance of mechanics. The introduction of new combat tools throughout the 20+ hour campaign keeps the action feeling fresh and exhilarating.

The world design is another strong point. The post-apocalyptic sci-fi setting is stunning, with highly detailed environments that showcase the power of the PS5. Exploring these areas is an experience in itself with breathtaking music and hidden collectibles with cosmetic items that add a layer of depth to the journey with Eve.

The soundtrack perfectly complements the gameplay, featuring a mix of electronic and orchestral tracks that enhance both the action and the emotional beats. With around 100 tracks in total, the music is a collaborative effort between Shift Up's in-house team and the acclaimed studio Monaca, led by Nier series composer Keiichi Okabe. Specific tracks like Everglow, Shelter, and The Song of the Sirens are standouts, featuring beautiful vocals and instrumentation.

Boss battle themes like those for the Democrawler and Belial receive special praise from me for their intensity and epic scale, perfectly complementing the impressive visual designs of these encounters. The main themes for the city of Xion and the Wasteland are other memorable pieces once they evolve. The light, emotional tone of many tracks provides a fitting juxtaposition to the dark, post-apocalyptic setting, enhancing the sense of melancholy and beauty amidst the ruin. It's easily one of my favorite game soundtracks in years. I will definitely be keeping it on some playlists.

Despite these strengths, Stellar Blade stumbles significantly in its storytelling and character development. The narrative feels like a poor man's Nier: Automata. It attempts to explore themes of artificial intelligence and human coexistence with existential dread but it falls short. And it doesn't just fall, it trips over itself and faceplants.

The story is predictable, with major plot twists being telegraphed far too early and lacking the impact they should have. The game waits until the last minute to dump most of its lore through long, drawn-out cutscenes, which makes the revelations feel unearned and out of left field. Character development is another major issue. The protagonist, Eve, comes across as emotionless and lacks a compelling arc, making it difficult to connect with her. Supporting characters are equally underdeveloped, with minimal backstory or growth. Adam, who is supposed to be a helpful companion, fails to leave a mark due to his lack of personality and charm. The late-game reveal of his true identity as Raphael Marks, the creator of key elements in the story, feels abrupt and poorly foreshadowed, further diminishing the narrative impact.

The pacing and structure also leave much to be desired. Side quests are repetitive and often involve tedious backtracking with little meaningful reward. Platforming sections are frustrating due to floaty controls and unclear hazard boundaries, which detracts from the overall experience. The upgrade system and RPG elements are poorly explained and balanced, leading to uneven progression that can be frustrating. The game's multiple endings are another point of contention. The ending I received, where Lily died, felt abrupt and unsatisfying, as if it was leading to something more that never came. The requirement to start a New Game+ (due to a lack of multiple saves) to achieve the true ending is frustrating and ultimately led me to delete the game out of disappointment.

Stellar Blade excels in its stylish combat, impressive visuals, immersive atmosphere, and outstanding audio design. Because of the many positives, I decided to go with this score despite how it fails to delivering a proper narrative, well-developed characters, and consistent pacing. Even though it doesn't reach the heights of its inspirations, it's still an enjoyable action game carried by its strengths, making for an intense action gauntlet, especially for Shift Up's first big game. I certainly will try a sequel with proper expectations, but I believe they can take all feedback and make an outstanding sequel one day with a much better story. If you can overlook the narrative shortcomings, the gameplay, graphics and soundtrack alone makes it worth a try.