I am proud of myself for completing the game and getting all of the achievements... but I'm even more proud of the fact that I didn't whip him out once during the entire playthrough.

From the very first minute, Stellar Blade declares itself an impressive title. Its fantastic world design and unparalleled gameplay cement its place as one of the year's best new releases. What struck me most was its distinctive and almost otherworldly atmosphere, brilliantly set within a cyberpunk framework.

As a huge fan of Nier:Automata, diving into Stellar Blade was more than just playing a new game; it brought back warm memories of the Nier experience. The way it blends intense action with a captivating atmosphere truly resonates, offering a delightful sense of déjà vu that only a true Nier enthusiast would appreciate.

Adding to its prowess, Stellar Blade delivered some of the best optimization I've seen in a release in years. The technical polish truly enhances the overall experience.

A labor of love, Shift Up! <3
Сродна праця, Shift Up! <3

- --{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☑ Beautiful
☐ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

Modern games are pretty much all beautiful either way. So, not much to say here, the game is absolutely stunning.


- --{ Gameplay }---
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

Super solid gameplay, fast-paced combat, good acrobatics, beautiful combos and absolutely gorgeous finishers. Also, well designed bosses although some of them are duplicates.


- --{ Audio }---
☑ Eargasm
☐ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf

Those songs are absolute masterpieces. Here you will find choir, heavy metal, metal, rock and k-pop. All OSTs are just super good. Then again, in YouTube playlist for Stellar Blade, there are 143 individual songs which mean a ♥♥♥♥-ton of sweat, tears and soul went into making them.


- --{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma

Definitely not for kids, its self-explanatory lmao. Also, not for your religious grandma.


- --{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☑ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer

The game is super well optimized at least in my experience there was almost no lag throughout the whole game, maybe once or twice.


- --{ Game Size }---
☐ Floppy Disk
☐ Old Fashioned
☑ Workable
☐ Big
☐ Will eat 15% of your 1TB hard drive
☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it
☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data

57GB for now. Its workable.


- --{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

I came from Souls games and expected a souls game so for me, the Stellar Blade were extremely easy, but for a lot of casual players it would be a bit of a challenge, but its absolutely manageable with a bit of practice and levelling.


- --{ Grind }---
☐ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☑ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding

A bit of levelling and upgrading would go a long way in helping your boss fights.


- --{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☑ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life

Nothing groundbreaking but at the end I got a bit of an exestential crisis. At the start it a bit average but holy ♥♥♥♥♥, once you reach the Eidos 9/Spire 4 and after that the game absolutely starts to shine and lore dump on you.


- --{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☑ Average
☐ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond

Story without any sidequests would last probably around 15 hours, with sidequests about 30. Also, depends on how you’ll find bosses.


- --{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money

Assuming you are a working adult, this game is worth the price and your time.


- --{ Bugs }---
☑ Never heard of
☐ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs


- --{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☐ 8
☑ 8.5
☐ 9
☐ 10


**Final thoughts.**

It’s a super solid game that suffered a bit due to a lack of funding. From what I have gathered, the game was nearly scrapped due to the lack of money so the devs had to cut funding for other areas such as writing. This is super evident at the start of the game as the dialogue just feels weird. You can listen to more about it in their interview down in the sources (1). Also, read about it in some posts on Reddit (2).

Also, it is Shift’s Up first AAA game on PC, which undoubtedly made it much harder for them to learn all the stuff for development on PC. But, still, they have made a solid game, which is commendable.

As for the game itself, I have thoroughly enjoyed all of my 60 hours playing it. Got all the collectable cans, almost all the memory sticks, documents and outfits. I have completed the game 3 times, and let me tell you, it is worth replaying Stellar Blade at least one extra time to understand why the dialogue feels so weird at the start. Because, to be fair, it is hard to write character, story and interaction when you are tight on the money part. Nevertheless, Shift Up did a pretty good job at that.

Stellar Blade, however, starts to pick up pace after Eidos 9/Spire 4, and character interactions and character development are just amazing after that.

All in all, super solid game, super solid world building and a massive potential for this franchise to become big. But we will see what happens

----------------------



My opinion is very similar to **That Boy Aqua** (3), what this guy said.

Also, if you are interested in the deep lore of the game, go to **UnlistedNaytiba** channel, he unpacks the story really well.

Also, the existential dread of AI is real with this one, along with the Forbidden West and Detroit Become Human. I was a bit shaken after I have read all the lore and the possible consequences of super advanced AI. Which is to be fair not possible in the future anyway.

Sources

1. **Stellar Blade, Why Was It Delayed for 2 Years Even After It Was Made? (Director Kim Hyung-Tae's Interview #2) | CC**
2. **[CORRECTION] Over half of the “Narratives” were removed from the game due to technical difficulties.**
3. **That Boy Aqua Stellar Blade is More Than a Pretty Face**
4. **UnlistedNaytiba**