Stellar Blade review — action RPG is one of Sony's best PS5 exclusives (2024)

I am happy to say that Stellar Blade exceeded what I had hoped for and provided one of the best action-RPG experiences I have had since Bayonetta first landed on PS3 — an action game with a similarly strong female lead that is one of my personal favorites. To think that a game like this could go toe-to-toe with Bayonetta is truly a testament to how fantastic a job Shift Up has done with the game in my eyes. I think I can safely say we will be adding Stellar Blade to our list of the best PS5 games very soon.

While I wasn't exactly blown away by the main story of Stellar Blade, it certainly did enough to keep me invested throughout and it felt like a catalyst to push me forward and uncover new locations and side missions. It might be a simple story, but it's an effective one that does a great job of setting the stage for all the action to come.

Stellar Blade instead kept me absorbed by keeping everything accessible. There isn't any clunky dialogue or obtuse metaphors going over your head, and there's also no complex explanations or hard-to-grasp concepts to worry about. Eve's motivation is simple — slay the Naytiba and save Earth. That's it. Eve will go from one location to another taking down powerful Naytiba to make Earth hospitable once more, and she's not going to stray too far from that motivation.

As long as you don't expect a lot of groundbreaking or shocking story moments before you reach the end of the game, you should have a pretty epic time. That simple world building allowed me to enjoy soaking up the post-apocalyptic drama between bouts of leveling up Eve, being sucked into combat, and exploring all I could. That's where Stellar Blade shines best!

In the game, you have your standard light attacks and heavy attacks that you will use a lot. However, you can mix up these light and heavy attacks to make new strings of combos that help make combat feel fresh. While you will be attacking (again: a lot) you will also be making use of the parry and dodge features that allow you to defend yourself from your enemy's devastating attacks.

Mixing all these elements brings a welcome Bloodborne-like energy to the encounters in the open world thanks to its similar combat approach. You attack fast, but also need to be ready to defend at any time. You also have a gun to think about. However, it's so much weaker than the blade I found myself rarely using it.

It's also important to point out that the combat just looks so cool. As you swing your sword you will see flashes of red lightning envelope your blade as you tear through your enemies. Even in the heat of battle, when you should be fixated on combos and timing, Stellar Blade overwhelms you with its style. This is emphasized by Eve's fluid movement. She is a skilled acrobat and flips, cartwheels, and spins her way around the battlefield.

Pulling off a successful parry will see thunder escape from your blade, signaling a perfect parry that allows you to quickly hack away at your enemies before they regain their composure. If you manage to perform a perfect dodge then you'll see a small eruption of red sparks burst from your feet, slowing the world around you for a couple of moments. It all reminds me of when you dodge in Bayonetta to activate Witch Time, so as a fan, I felt right at home here.

The other main skills at your disposal are the Burst and Beta skills which are powerful attacks that you can unleash on your foes after you have filled up enough of their respective meters by pulling off certain actions (attacking, dodging, parrying). There are a total of four Burst skills and four Beta skills you can utilize.

My favorite of them all is the Burst Skill Tempest which sees you summon a bunch of blades from the ground to slice your foes into pieces. It just looks so damn awesome. However, all of the skills have their uses in combat, and since they all carry Stellar Blade's trademark sense of flair, I really recommend playing around and finding what works for you.

However, the upgrade system in Stellar Blade manages to save the day by bulking out Eve's repertoire and making tricky dodges and parries easier to execute. The upgrade system is deep and full of ways to make the base mechanics easier to handle, letting you explore other combat mechanics fully because you aren't so concentrated on Eve's impending death.

While the difficulty spike is front-loaded, I think the upgrade system is a welcome change to the regular RPG tempo of using new skills to become more powerful. Stellar Blade is so confident in its base mechanics that Shift Up just says: "Okay, master them." I love that in a game — it feels remarkably refreshing here.

The world of Stellar Blade is bleak, devoid of life (aside from Naytiba), and broken. You'll explore the crumbling ruins of a city that once bustled with life, empty sand-covered wastelands, and sewers flooded with grim findings around every corner. So, don't expect a lot of sunshine and sparkle in Stellar Blade — be ready for the dark atmosphere to ensnare every area you explore.

I have to admit that a massive open-world fatigue has hit me post-Dragon's Dogma 2. So, the more linear progress offered by Stellar Blade's post-apocalyptic hub worlds felt like an effective use of my time, efficient in presentation, and perfect for variety.

That's all well and good for the traditional open-world activities Stellar Blade has to offer, but unfortunately, we also have fishing — the only mini-game that felt redundant. It feels like padding, isn't fun, and the rewards are lacking. It's a shame because Stellar Blade otherwise feels like it respects your time. If the fishing didn't have two trophies attached, I wouldn't have played more than the required amount.

Aside from fishing, floaty platforming proved the only other hurdle in Stellar Blade. Eve gets a burst of momentum as she jumps which caused me to miss my target a lot. Trying to jump on tiny platforms that move around proved irritating. It's not the worst platforming I've experienced, but I could've lived without it my action-RPG.

Fetch quests are accompanied by more expansive side missions that normally have a bit of story and a boss. This makes for a great chance to get to know the residents of Xion better. Plus, Eve's slow accumulation of these often sweet relationships helps bring Stellar Blade's world to life.

However, you know what isn't so sweet? Developer Shift Up's attitude to the only cat left in Xion. Safe to say, the side mission in question will give Stray a run for its money in terms of emotional devastation, and it definitely left an impact on me.

In terms of bugs, I am ecstatic to say I only had one issue occur in my 60 hours of gameplay. There was a moment when the game froze and I had to force close it. This happened after I had exited out of the game for a couple of hours to watch some YouTube and then returned. After the reset, I never had another issue. The game is polished to the nines and that is a truly impressive accomplishment from Shift Up.

Summary