I miss the days of true gaming No dlc or pay to win crap The days when you buy a game you get the FULL game We need more games like Stellar Blade especially in this day and age
100% this. This is something that I think a lot of current games are lacking. Its also something that SHIFT UP stated that they wanted to avoid in order to establish their I.P. So good on them for that!
@@matthewharris517 But DLC are nice, it just a extension of the game that does not cost as much as a full game. Noth evil about it . I love HFW DLC called "Burning Sands" . well worth it .
I have the nest to visit next, but i got stuck at the wall run on Eidos 9 at the hidden camp 1 and could not get over it so i stayed away from the game for weeks and it annoyed me a little. Boss fighting no problem but that wall run seemed unfair.
Right? I love the music. If Rebirth wins that I'll be annoyed. It's good and all, but a lot of it is re-used from OG and Remake with some modifications.
It’s sad that very few critics actually acknowledge video game music. I actually talked about this with someone and their excuse was “Well he/she is not a musician or an expert in music so he can’t mention it!” 🤦🏻♂️
Yeah I think the focus on Graphics, Cinematics and length has honestly kind of hampered innovation in the gameplay and fun department. the PS3/XBOX 360 was in some ways, a rough era for games as a whole.
Wow, Glad you liked it that much. For me, its definitely one of the best games of the year, and reminds me a lot of the PS2 era (Which still has a lot of my personal favs in it)
For me too. I love the combat system, the world, exploration, graphics (Eve's design too), the many varied costumes and the music in this game. It's easily one of my all-time favorites in the souls/action genre. The world is not overbloated (which, for me, increases the replay value), the costumes have no stats that limit their usefulness, and each upgrade expands Eve's combat abilities, making the fights just that much more varied, flashy and fun for me.
6:43 I agree with you say complete package. SB is medium easy to play suitable for beginners as well. SB's high-end design and graphics can be seen right down to the smallest NPCs and other objects. Good striking and acrobatic skills in an understandable way. In many games, if the game focuses on one area, it feels like the original impact of the game is lost. In most games, Cut Scenes use already rendered animations, but in SB, Cut Scenes are rendered with EVE and characters modified by the player. The OST is great and it blends well the different tracks of the same music when facing enemies during the stage. It was faithful to the basics that the players wanted. The overall balance of this game is simply great.
lol it always blows my mind when people complain about "unrealistic female bodies" like, have any of these people gone to a festival? or a rave? i see women that look like that all the time
One of my favorite games of all time, it’s just straight up fun. I look forward to playing it every time I pick up the controller and there’s no section of the game I view as a slog to get through
Stellar Blade is my favorite game this year. It's incredibly fun to play and rewards you with a plethora of unlockables. ShiftUp has built a world and story that they can easily expand upon in sequels or expansions. The music is fantastic, which I thought stand out. Nonetheless, great work on the video and showcasing your thoughts on the game.
Agreed! Stellar Blade is awesome! Thank you for the nice comment, and nice shout out to the music (Something I wish I had highlighted in the video haha)!
15:45 I feel the same way, I love when games make attractive characters male and female I don’t ever see the point of trying to be realistic and sometimes even make them bland. I feel like nowadays some ppl get offended by these characters and say their to unrealistic but fail to understand that they’re playing a game someone’s art, imagination so boring when a person wants everything to be realistic unattractive. I love when games don’t make ugly characters simply what I’m saying
Agreed. I think its the same with most entertainment. I like pretty things, including pretty people. And honestly, even the most average people can look great with the right clothes, makeup/style haircut e.t.c
It wasn't a mini culture war, it's a continuation of the BS gamegate rubbish. Shift Up rejected the western style of beating female characters with the ugly stick which made a specific group of "gamers" seethe. There's an argument Sony caved to pressure and forces small censorship prior to release to placate those "gamers" and "game journalists" and the latest outfit releases being the censored outfits without the censoring and a colour change kind of hints that the game was successful enough for Shift Up to snub those censorship changes without backtracking on the original altered outfits. The gameplay was satisfying and the story was interesting and refreshing from the same-y stuff we've been getting the last 5-10 years and that helped push the fact the game wasn't just for "gooners" or whatever they were calling fans of the game on it's release.
I honestly wasn't too interested in the internet culture war stuff, but I felt like it was worth mentioning. That said, I agree with Shift Up rejecting the trend of how characters are made in West, particularly female characters. And yeah, I wouldn't call this a game like Dead of Alive Xtreme BeachVolleyball. Games like this used to be pretty common a decade ago, now its strange that they're considered scandalous XD
Stellar blade is a really solid game, it just sucks that the controversies near the beginning of its release kind of gave a lot of ppl the wrong idea about this game thinking that it’s just a fan service game of something
Agreed. I think what's awesome though is that despite those controversies, the game still ended up succeeding. A good game wining out in the end is awesome!
Amazing Video! I always said it reminded me of the PS2 times in a good way. Stellar Blade isn't a perfect game but I think it does many things right that other games don't in recent years. I'm really looking forward to what shift up does next and how them going public will affect their games. Have a great day!
Yeah I think between ShiftUp, Round8 Studio and NeoWiz games, I'm really interested to see how the Game development scene in South Korea expands and what kind of games we get. Ever since Capcom kind of gave up the Action Game genre after DMC5, there's been a void open for someone like ShiftUp to come in and take over. Can't wait for their next game! And thank you for the kind comment! Have a great day as well! :)
Glad to see I'm not the only one who was reminded of the ps2 era with this game. Got my ps5 finally and it was mainly for Stellar Blade. I honestly can't remember the last time I had as much fun playing a triple A game. Hopefully Shift Up going public recently doesn't cause problems as I'm eagerly awaiting to see what they have for us in the future, I NEED MORE of this game lol. I need that sequel after getting the true ending. In the meantime gonna work on that platinum
Honestly, as I played through the game I kept getting flashbacks to the PS2 Era of gaming, so that was top of mind for me with this game. That said, I agree, really want to see a sequel, so hopefully they're working on it and we get it in a few years.
I think the thing to note about the censorship controversy was that it wasn’t toned down before the release of the game, it was toned down after its release, all physical copies had their costumes looking one way, and then the day 1 patch changed the outfits covering up cleavage, showing a little less skin on the bikini bottom etc. the problem with this is that the marketing explicitly stated that the game was not going to be censored, not some developer interview, full on marketing saying “no censorship” Which then got them into hot water to the point that you could actually get a refund from Sony if the reason you gave was pointing out the false advertising. SONY the guys notorious for their horrible refund policies
Yeah I think I could've worded that better. The day 1 Patch I believe is what tonned down the outfits. If you use the Disc version then you can still see the orignals. Although they ended up releasing different variants of the same costumes later, I think that was more in reaction to the backlash.
@@hardresetoI got the disc version ~3 months later They forced you to have the game up to version date before you could play it so it wasn’t possible to get the original costumes.
It's no surprise at all, they gave us a game we would like instead of a game designed by a focus group , hence suicide squad flopped among others, I've got a feeling the next assassin's creed game will flop as well
Suicide Squad was DOA for me. Its a bit off topic, but man did it hurt to see Rocksteady get destroyed for that live service game. In a way, Rocksteady ceded the Action Open World Game genre over, so ShiftUp and Stellar Blade could move in.
Stellar Blade is far from perfect and it has its share of glaring flaws. In the end though, the good things about it far outweigh the bad and it's developers didn't care what the critics thought. It's a great game that I hope will spawn a sequel.
FF7 Rebirth is the next big game that I need to dive into. I'm waiting for Hades 2 to get out of early access, as I enjoyed the finished version of the original Hades. That said, that's a solid selection of great games for the year!
@@hardreseto yeah, despite liking Hades 2 in EA, I would probably recommend anyone to wait. And FF7 Rebirth, I personally loved it, but I understand the wide range of opinions this game causes people to have haha
Man Stellar Blade is almost to the level of Elden Ring. Elden Ring is still currently one of the top games of today, but Stellar Blade is close to it. No Woke propaganda shit, just pure unadulterated gaming! No microtransactions. All costumes are totally unlockable.
I feel the same, because despite what certain companies try to make people think, attractive characters, male and female, is never out of style. You find less people complaining about beauty being common in their entertainment than average to grotesque being common place. I certainly didn't complain about beautiful women being commonplace in the past.
Its a game that feels authentic, an actual game, we need more of those nowadays, desperately, and yes brave enough to reject all that woke bs, intrusive ways of monetization among other stuff.
Yeah, ShiftUp's head honcho mentioned in an interview that they actually focused on making a game that didn't have bad monetiziation practices in order to establish their I.P. Seems like that paid off!
This simple fact I get to unlock things in game by playing instead of paying was my big draw to the game. I grew up when games were shipped as a finished product. There was not update fix it later or add this in game and charge for it. So Stellar Blade to me is a throwback to how games use to be before greed ate it up. And I love it.
Still working my way through the game, but I'm absolutely having a blast with it. Story is ok, but the gameplay is so fun that it makes up where the story lacks. Each boss is something new to figure out.
the main story comes from the side content and the memory sticks from dead bodies. thats where you can piece information together. like how Raphael Marks created Mother Sphere as a protector of humanity.
Yeah as I noted the story is nothing special. Its the combat and gameplay that will keep you playing till the end. Glad to hear you're enjoying it as much as I did!
I think that stuff was interesting, but I think games like Nier and even Horizon Zero Dawn did that kind of thing better. Its not bad, just average compared to how impressive the rest of the game is.
A good and fair analysis, well done. Subscribed. Life long 65+ PC gamer who never previously played on a console or with a controller: I tried SB because I needed a change. The PC game industry has become stale and repetitive, while taking itself far too seriously, except for some indie efforts. Also, I like looking at attractive females while they chop up monsters! Why is this considered bad? The controversy persuaded me to take a look at YT vids of the demo, and I was sold. Overall I loved it enough to Platinum the game. Some of the platforming drove me insane, but learning to use a controller well was a large part of that. Apart from that, music, visuals and combat were wildly entertaining: I even quite liked the story and the puzzles, although you could go through the game without paying much attention to these if so inclined. Entertainment - without being preached at, manipulated or ripped off. That is what most of us want, SB delivered where most game studios fail.
Glad you liked the video, and thank you for the subscribe! Hopefully content in the future will be worth your time as well! Its interesting, because I've always alternated between PC and Console, but I have to agree with your thoughts on the PC. Console games (Like Stellar Blade) are just hard to find on PC, or just take too long to eventually get there. That said, I still prefer playing FPS on PC, as well as RTS and a few other genre. That said, I think there's a larger cultural issue in the west with regards to what's acceptable and considered attractive, and I think Western Games and the Games Industry as a whole moving away from that is a side effect of all that culutral shift. Impressive about platinuming the game. I still need to work my way through the second playthrough to get that third ending. Agreed on the Entertainment part, that's I think why SB Succeeeded! :)
It’s simple. It’s art. Art is subjective and many like this art style. Art isn’t set out to please everyone. It’s a genuinely fun story and gameplay. The boss challenge is challenging on harder. A New Game + run through and updates. I’d gladly pay DLC for extended story or side stories they can really go bigger on this game. Socom Navy Seals was my poison. It was the only reason I got broadband 1.5 Mbps in the beginning lol
True. I think there are considerations on DLC, and there's some more updates like Photo Mode coming. I think your callback to SOCOM is very much how I remember games used to be (and mentioned in the video), where games were focused on establishing franchises and loyal fanbases. Its nice to see Stellar Blade focus on that.
I think an achievement of this game that no one ever mention is memory space economy, I had ff7 rebirth on my hardrive, that game approached 150 GB Stellar blade…..35gb I could store this game on an Xbox 360 elite and still have enough space for 1 or 2 games
Interesting read on the situation. I guess it depends on the game, as any publicity could be good publicity. Other games that have been controversial have also benefited from Internet drama at times, but the core game has to be good.
Collecting the cans was quite the experience. I got the cans on my first playthrough, along with two of the endings. Need to finish my second playthrough to get the third :)
Stellarblade is probably the best PS5 exclusive in my opinion. I love the combat, atmosphere, music, and story. I’m also a big final fantasy fan and I’ll literally tell you it’s better than FF16. 16 had worse side quests and worse combat. Also I hate how modern games try to make characters unattractive. It’s freaking imaginary just let me play as a good looking character it shouldn’t be controversial or offensive.
Agreed on FF16. I've actually got a video on that as well, and I agree that the combat got repetitive and the side quests were pretty shallow. That said, I think FF16 also had a solid story that it squandered. I like how Stellar Blade kept the story light and focused more on the action and fun.
Im just about 10 hours in and i love it so far. The music is phenomenal, most of the sidequests don't feel like a chore to do and the combat system is just perfect, i just wished the blaster had more ammo from the start, because the gun feels so fucking good to shoot
I very rarely play single player games. Bu I reluctantly decided to give this a try. On my fourth playthrough now and I even got a Platinum (only my second ever).
That is extremely interesting to hear! So what kind of games do you generally play? There are a lot of solid games like Stellar blade around (DMC series, the Souls genre e.t.c), but I really think Stellar Blade is more accessible and easier to get into.
Typically, whenever I beat a game, I don't care to replay it right away. Stellar Blade is the opposite for me. I went right back into it after beating it. The story may not be very appealing to people on the surface but to me, it's still a masterpiece in a way. Sometimes, a complex story can take away from a game
Totally agree on the complex story. If the cutscenes had been gigantically long or the focus had been away from the gameplay, I think the game would've been worse for it.
Just started this game a couple days ago and I'm loving it. I mainly game on PC but honestly I couldn't wait any longer and went ahead and bought it on PS5 lol.
So its been a month since your comment. I'm wondering how the game was for you? Did you finish it? Or did you decide to hold off since a PC version MIGHT be coming.
@@hardreseto Yeah I seen the news that a PC version might be coming like a week after I bought it, but I still went ahead and platinumed it and I got the new game+ trophies as well. I enjoyed the game a lot and I plan on buying it again if it does get a PC version. It will be interesting to see which mods come out for it. :D
The reason I love the game is simple. It's not woke, no in game transactions. The females are beautiful, as are the environments. Plus the combat and mobs are f'ng amazing. This is a clean no preaching, no social justice good old fashon very fun hack and slash game. BTW, I too loved Nier. The music and character style obviously is designed after that game. But absolutely Stellar Blade has it's own style and is great as is. Simply can't wait for story DLC or Stellar Blade 2.
Very solid reasons and ones that match my own. Nier was and is awesome, and its kind of sad that Yoko Taro hasn't done anything in the series since Replicant. That said, I'm totally fine with Stellar Blade kind of coming into a parallel track and giving us a solid time.
@@hardreseto Seeing as this game was their 1st kick at the can, (Of this type of game), they did an amazing job. I'm sure they learned a lot. Optimistic for the future of the franchise. Cheers
Pretty much my thought on Stellar Blade. It really has that old school feel of a PS2 era type of game, though the Sekiro styled elements and lore hunting feels like a modern game as well. And, yeah, I miss the days of unlocking lots of costumes by playing the game. I definitely think the game design being like a PS2 game was intentional, as I am certain much of the people at Shift Up played such old school games in the past, so with South Korea now wanting to put their mark in the console space, you can feel that influence in Stellar Blade. So far, the games I sank the most time into, other than Elden Ring, were Lies of P and Stellar Blade. Ironic enough, two first time attempts by Korean studios to make a console game.
Yeah between Lies of P and Stellar Blade, South Korea really just came out on nowhere as a place that's brought forth great talent. I do believe that SOME of the odes to the PS2 era are intentional, but its hard to say how much of it is. IN either case, its a brilliant first attempt at an Action Console game, so I can't wait to see where they go from here!
True quality gameplay with real depth in experimentation A dedicated scifi fantasy narrative that seems plastic at face value but actually has a ton of worldlore to offer Varied levels of challenge with consistent rewards from beginning to end Nice comfortable length, doesn’t overstay its welcome but highly encourages replay value Free updates and QoL adjustments Respect in the art team and designers creative visions and aesthetics No microtransactions A soundtrack produced by one of the best musical teams in the industry Extremely high performance with multiple setting, all with stunning visuals and optimized framrates …it’s literally all the things we want out of action games.
A single player game with a great combat system, no microtransactions, no live service, no political preaching, and a beautiful protagonist. It had everything to succeed. The odds have always been in the game’s favor, at least from the people who play games.
Yeah for a game from a studio who had never done a console game, in a gameplay genre they have never touched, it’s a borderline miracle that the game to turned out as fantastic as it did. On a purely gameplay standpoint this game put a lot of more recent games to shame, for example how was the limited gun play in Stellar Blade better feeling and more impactful then the SuicideSquad game
The answer is quite simple. They released the demo and people liked it. The characters, the world and especially the combat. But if you read the critic reviews, you'd think someone just shot their puppy. Very rarely did they ever talk about the actual game, only EVE's appearance. Then people got their hands on the full game and they loved it and told their friends to play it. It's almost like if you make a good game, people will buy it. Who would've thunk?
The Demo release is a good point. A lot of solid buzz went into the game after that demo release. Lies of P also did a similar thing. If your game is good enough, a demo is actually a really solid way to get people excited!
I think all this game did was what the bare minimum should be. It has great gameplay, the full game is actually finished prior to release, and it doesn't have stupid microtransactions. This game being as popular as it is, is more of a testament to the poor state of triple-A gaming than the actual game being amazing. It has great surface level polish, but almost everything underneath is either okay or forgettable.
I mean, you're not wrong about the poor state of AAA gaming. That said, I do think the combat and general gameplay is pretty darn solid. I still think about the combat months later.
I think to make this game GOTY worthy, Eve needs a personality update, some tweaks to platforming (I’m sure they’ll do that before the sequel) and the story needs to be a little more in depth. The rail gun didn’t really serve too great of a purpose neither. But overall, this is a MARVELOUS game! The graphics and cinematic are gorgeous. The protagonist is gorgeous and the combat is satisfying as well and I’m sorry… I haven’t heard OST this great in any game EVER. With contenders like Black Myth and Phantom Blade, I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Stellar Blade with competition like this on the rise
Agreed. The story is a bit weak as is the characterization. That is something I hope gets improved in the sequel. Excellent nods to Black Myth and Phantom Blade. Phantom Blade in particular seems to be more of a direct competitor to Stellar Blade, since its going for "Souls like" level design but more general action based gameplay.
@@jackythowng3774 I played in both the English and Korean versions, but I like the Korean version better. It better suits the game imo. I also did complete everything. Side quests, collectibles, etc. all finished. I finished it about 4 times already lol. Almost want a 5th play through
🤔for me stellar blade was everything I could ask for in a game, fun gameplay, a well design main cast, cosmetics in game that changed your appearances, and a decent story, I played the game three times back to back, and enjoyed every minute of it, even platinum the game too, plus shift up keeps releasing free updates that adds even more outfits and even a boss rush mode, they are giving fans what they want, and if they ever release a paid dlc people would buy it just to support shift up and so they can experience more of the awesome world of stellar blade.
100% agree on the free updates and DLC. I kind of wish we could get some more, smaller paid content as I'm really hungering for it. Especially after that Free Summer Update and the potential Photo Mode coming.
This game came out of nowhere for me, then I heard all about was Eve and her outfits. I have played it several times and I think it's fantastic. This is gaming to me: an interesting attractive character, a variety of nice skins, and a strong story that works; and of course solid combat and cool and challenging boss fights. This is a role model for gaming today and the game that saved 2024 from the rut it's in. Pretty solid analysis. I also appreciate that despite Eve's "controversial" outfits and appearance, that it's not a sexualized game and there are no forced relationship quests. Maybe someday though we will discover the true answer how to open that door on Matrix 11 and unlock that device given to you on Xion. The plot twist that the characters actually think they're human and how they discover otherwise is intriguing. The true ending leaves a wide open possibility of SB's future, as well as further exploration into what is Mother Sphere and what needs to happen next.
Yeah agreed on Stellar Blade saving 2024. Its interesting that I read somewhere that most gamers are currently playing older games. Shift Up's success with Stellar Blade probably hit into that whole trend. The door stuff with Matrix 11 is interesting, but its giving me flashbacks to the whole Nier Automata Mod thing that came out a while ago haha. I'll just let ShiftUP announce something when they're ready. :D
Fine choices. I myself am waiting for the PS5 Pro to jump into Rebirth (Have had the game since Release and just couldn't find time for it). I do wonder which game will end up being GOTY.
@@hardreseto my goty is definitely SB, but im not expecting it to win as goty. it got snubbed at golden joystick awards, not even one nomination. they chose astrobot over SB at best visual design category? its just absurd. they even ignored wukong. for sure they will ignore SB again at goty 2024. media just hates this game.
Stellar blade was a 9/10 for me. The only thing I found annoying or disappointing was towards the end half of the game. You can buy all the raw material that was in the game. Negating the need for opening chest. I found my self skipping the end game chest and boxes because I already had a abundance of the materials. I believe they could have fixed it by making the vendors only sell a certain amount of raw materials so that the player can still find value when they find chests. Other than that stellar blade has been a amazing game to replay over and over.
Yeah the resource economy is a tough one, and I think the issues you mentioned likely had more to do with the Devs trying to make exploration and engaging with the Open world segments optional. I personally didn't mind the Upgrade materials being for sale, since I organically found enough stuff while I was exploring. I think in a way, its cool that it allows you to just skip all of that and buy what you need, if you wanna mainline the game. A con I'll take if it means more people get to enjoy the game! :)
Great work. Loved the comparison to the PS2 era and felt the same. I very much appreciated the Shadow Hearts Covenant nod. Easily one of my favorites! As for SB, I had (still having) a great time with it. I stopped playing Rebirth multiple times just to mess around in Boss Rush and to finish the plat. I didn't even mind the story as I never played Nier. I also appreciated that half my playthrough wasn't cutscenes or dialogue.
First of all, love that you love Shadow Hearts Covenant. Some day soon I plan to make a deep dive video on that, as its easily one of my favorite RPGs ever. Second, I'm glad you had a good time and that you also felt the PS2 DNA in the game. That said, give Nier Replicant and Automata a shot, those are really great games as well!
@@hardreseto I loved SH and SH:C! I'm sad I don't have a way to play it anymore. I foolishly sold my copy to a collector (he gave me a lot for it), but I now regret it lol. It's been on my list, but I'll check it out! I dived into Yakuza and Persona during COVID and have had lots of games to work through since the .. but hopefully I'll get around to it soon.
Stellar blade is an experience from combat, to one if not the best soundtrack ever in a video game, the new game plus update offering you even more, i paid 114$ for the game, and finish it 4 times. Worth every pennie
Agreed. 114? Did you import it? I don't believe there was a collector's edition which I was pretty sad about. If there's a game that could've used a solid collector's edition, it was this game! Maybe in the sequel.
I read the thumbnail... "How Stellar Blade succeded against all odds". The odds were just twitter people and game journalists, the game was going to be a success from the start.
As someone who was pretty hyped for the game, I'm used to people passing on solid games because of odd PR, or pre-release buzz. That said, it was great that it didn't matter this time.
Where Lies of O has awesome weapon style & customizability along with deeper and more interesting characters, Stellar Blade has much better move sets and style. The parry mechanics are very similar in that it's meant to keep you engaged but the parry with Lies is much more punishing
Nice! I haven't gotten the platinum yet (Moved onto other games). That said, I might tackle the platinum when they release the DLC expansion, which seems like its coming.
I'm on my 4th playthrough and 139 hours in. I can't put my finger on it but it is so addicting. Like for example on my 3rd playthrough I was like okay got all the ending and platinum the game so lets move on to the next game, so I tried starting God of War Ragnarok because it's been in my backlog forever, but once I start playing I felt like although its a good game so far, its lacking something that Stellar blade gave me. I don't want to say it isn't fun, its fun just not as fun as stellar blade and I ended up booting up stellar blade again because I found out about that outfits that you get after you defeat all the bosses. So I paused playing to GOWR to get. I will finish GOWR but I don't see myself doing a second playthrough. Also I agree I think Eve being pretty is a plus, I'm a women myself and I kind of enjoyed looking at her and picking her outfits
I need to do a video on God of War Ragnarok one day, because I was pretty disappointed with that one. I think it's got some serious issues that prevent it from being as good as its prequel. That said, Stellar Blade's combat and moments and bosses are just very replayable, so I totally get why you continue to stick with it. And yeah, the outfit stuff is less about catering to the male gaze, and just a customization thing. I don't think I actually used too many of the Fanservicey outfits, and focused more on the cool looking ones myself!
a lot of people got invested up to insult the game it's dev and players who like it that they forgot that the game isn't just have hot characters it's also a pretty fun and solid game ,it might not reinventing the wheel doesn't mean it's bad a good game can be that without doing it, I honestly agree with people who stood up against censorship, it kills art and especially for 18+ game it's unnecessary p.s- I actually like enemy designs more than the machines in automata , good video btw
Agreed. I think a game can't just succeed on hot characters, it needs to be a fun and enjoyable experience for word of mouth to spread. I also agree on the enemy designs, as I think there's just more variety in this game. That said, Nier Automata was trying to show us a very different kind of world and game. Thank you for the nice comment!
Honestly it ended up a really good game. Kind of came out of nowhere for me, but glad I ended up buying it. Platforming had one section/area that was a bit frustrating, but overall it was a lot of fun to play. The combat felt good in a way that took some time to get comfortable with, but you could get plenty powerful. This is the kind of stuff that we need more of. Just fun and good games that try to be exactly that. Not incomplete "eventually it'll be good" experiences. Plus the amount of outfits in the game were themselves a treat. It made it fun to just swap them as I found new ones. That tied into the rewarding side. The more you did, explored, and fought the more you got out of it.
Yeah some of the platforming was a bit janky, but thankfully not too much of that in the entire game. Totally agree on this being something we need more of, with the stuff that you mentioned. Complete game, tons of outfits and rewards.
Yeah I may go back and do a second playthrough for the one ending that I missed. (Its very hard to do all three endings in one playthrough, even with save scumming). That said, Stellar Blade is definitely worth the platinum!
I can think of a few perfectly sculpted reasons it was popular… All jokes aside, it was a straight forward game with fun gameplay and a pretty solid story. It was a game with challenge, but not crazy challenging.
Agreed. The game being a bit more accessible, from a multiple different fronts whether its gameplay, challenge or just being a bit more simplistic than other similar experiences definitely helped.
This game is amazing, I love the visuals and the combat system. The costumes are just a plus , as far as anything else pertaining to the game I couldn’t care less .
The discourse around this game in general made me decide to skip out on this game after release. I just started playing two days ago. Absolutely blown away by how much fun I’m having
Well I'm glad you eventually got to the game. The discourse around the game did worry me, in that it might've put off quite a few people. Thankfully once that died down people seemed to be enjoying the game for what it is :)
If you liked Stellar Blade, I think its definitely worth giving Nier Automata a shot. Its a different sort of game with a much deeper and crazier story, but the combat is still pretty good and fun.
They just made a fun game that redeemed the prince of Persia/ god of war games of the ps2 and PS3 Platforming ✅ Combat ✅ Puzzles ✅ If only it were a fully linear game it would be a modern take on a action adventure platformer game Sadly that's the only slight drawback If they scrapped the open world sections and added a few more linear sections with bosses we are striking gold there
I have yet to play Black Myth Wukong. The performance on PS5 scared me off, and I don't have a monster PC to play the game on yet. Maybe if the PS5 Pro comes out and the game gets patched?
Yes Steller Blade was a very good game and recommend to anyone on the fence... was it perfect no but the total game is one you would want to OWN.. not RENT... the facial expressions, character lines / development was a bit off and the side quest were a bit bland not terrible... Now, the combat was Fantastic...a challenge to learn what effects or items work best against each type of monster... different endings that went with the choices you decided on thru the game... the story has a twist and keeps you thinking what is going to happen next... it will suck you in and is designed to keep you engaged to fight another boss or a new area to explore.... I hope that the sequel has Sony "put the cherry on top" to really keep this IP fresh / new to join the Playstation fraternity of exclusives that carry on for a long time!!
What's interesting is that Sony actually doesn't own the Stellar Blade I.P, ShiftUP does. That said, I assume Sony gets first dibs on a sequel, and given the success and awesome stuff you mentioned, they'd be fools not to greenlight and support a sequel.
Couldn’t you just sum the game success up as: fun core combat loop and traditionally attractive female protagonist and supporting characters? Like literally that’s the 2 key pillars and main take aways. 1. Fun 2. Hot girl is hot.
Totally, but I think the focus on fun as a whole works, plus the great graphics, production values, performance, the consumer friendly focus AND the music all make for things that compliment the two pillars you spoke of.
Yeah, he worked as an Artist on Magna Carta and Blade and Soul. This is first console game as a director with the company that he founded though. So as a team and perhaps as a director, he's fairly new to it all.
As much as I appreciate Eve as a counterpoint to modern character design, I still think it's a bit too much. She's clearly made to be an over the top pin up / dress up girl for guys, and I think she overplays the lost / vulnerable angle in order to appeal to guy's innate instinct to protect. Taki (or what her name was, the one in the beginning that gets killed) is a much more appealing character to me. She's still very beautiful and sexy, but has her shit together and knows how to deal with the challenges ahead. I also like her outfit much more; it's tight and accentuating, but not whatever some of the outfits Eve gets are. But hey, to each their own, and the game is important as a counterpoint no matter what. That being said I didn't play the game so I may be wrong in some way.
I think one of the flaws of Eve as a character is that her personality is a bit all over the place. She's very nice at times, and does give off that "lost/vunerable" angle that you mention, and then at other times, she's doing crazy aggressive stuff and being very badass. I think Taki is a much better defined character, strangely enough. As for the attractive angle, I think people's attractiveness is beyond just looks and costumes. The vibe, the feel of a character is I think equally important. That said, give the game a shot if you like action games, its quite good I think
I found it funny to hear "...35 hour playtime" when I'm playing nioh 2 still 3 yrs after release and haven't even scratched the surface. (To be fair, I haven't played Stellar Blade, nor no about it's replayability or depth)
Really? Nioh 2 is awesome. I platinumed the Game and have about 100 hours in that one. That said, I played it both single player and did all the missions that you could, co-op. Haha. the 35 hours is a one time playthrough, though I do go through these games slower than most. Check out my Lies of P video, where I definitely went above the average haha!
Well it is coming on PC eventually, if you have access to that. It does suck that the game was going to be multiplatform at one point and then shifted to PS5 exclusive. Then again, Sony shelled out the money and support to get the game out, so its complicated I guess. I hope you get a chance to play it eventually!
Condemned and its sequel were definitely interesting early X360 era games. Might be worth looking back at some older games in the future on this channel. Thanks for the note!
This was a very good and fair video. Though you might want to rethink citing Extra "suddenly you're a N@zi" Credits for anything. (OP clarified in comments the citation was the original Extra Credits team)
Thank you for the kind words. Regarding Extra Credits, I'm referencing one of their earliest videos before the original team broke up. I've met some of the original team in person, and I still think that Dan is an awesome dude (His Video Game Animation channel is awesome). I doubt there's too much I have to draw from Extra Credits today, but in the good old days they did mention some really solid things.
Nice video -- this game was definitely a diamond in the rough -- I like the comparison to the PS2-era -- having beaten it, I would give this a 7/10 -- but, if they cut out the open world/side-quest portions -- 9/10. I HATED the open world parts -- I thought this game was at it's best when it moved from isolated sandbox to isolated sandbox so as to keep the pace fast (just like the combat). I would've liked 2 or 3 more curated levels than a bloated chore-filled open area. It's like they thought they needed one when they didn't. I liked when the pace changed WITHIN PARTICULAR LEVELS and not completely halted with the open world. Also, I didn't like the fact that you could get ALL of the skills on all of the trees -- I wish there were more defined combat specializations to choose from depending on your playstyle (including a gun-focused one -- I actually thought they did a solid job on that!). I think some of the dodge/parry/blink/etc mechanics could probably just be removed and added to the default move set to make room for more unique things (as an example). Finally, good lord they NEED TO MAKE A MECH GAME! That mech near the end of the game was NUTS in terms of it's design -- I want to play in THAT, lol :)
Thank you~! Its interesting that you didn't like the Open World Segments. I think they provided a nice change of pace from the linear stuff, Although I agree that the curated level design was where the game shined. A lot of the open world content was pretty optional, so you could have avoided it, not that my OCD brain would ever allow that haha. Agreed on the Mech at the end. I wouldn't mind them trying out a mech section in the sequel, given how good they were with the shooting segments, as you mentioned!
@@hardreseto Sounds good! Yeah, their linear levels were so good, I hated that they were interrupted by long side-quest stuff -- and yes, you don't HAVE to do them, but cmon, lol. Naturally, you want to do the things the game is offering...I'd rather the insights to the plot and characters were spread out and incorporated into the linear levels in some way. Maybe there could have been a sort of hub area at the midpoint of a level where there's some quests to do LOCALLY in the environment. That's just one idea...but I think packing a ton of them into one giant area was a big letdown.
It's simple. People are tired with being "all grown up" And all. People play video games to escape from reality, not to meet another reality. This is what modern western game are failed to realize. We don't need to see "ah, that's us" A.K.A being relatable all the time. Take Kratos for example. Men don't need to see themselves when playing as him all the time. Carrying the burden of the family all the time, being tired, grumpy and all... No, we want to see him going ape shit. That's why games like god of war ragnarok gets boring after you finished the game once, but people still playing stellar blade even to NG+7. I know NG+7 is normal for soulslike games, because it keeps benefiting you each time you finish the game... But this game STOP giving you benefit after finished at least twice. The game is simply engaging, that's why people still playing this and talking about this game till now
I agree with the needing entertainment to be a break from reality. I personally liked the direction God Of War 2018 went in, but Ragnarok really lost the plot IMO. The focus went away from Kratos and shifted to Atrues and Freijya I feel like, which was a misstep. That said, for Stellar Blade, I haven't finished my NG+ run yet, so I can't comment on how replayable it is. That said, I think the replayability will be something that they can iron out in the sequel. :)
I miss the days of true gaming
No dlc or pay to win crap
The days when you buy a game you get the FULL game
We need more games like Stellar Blade especially in this day and age
100% this. This is something that I think a lot of current games are lacking. Its also something that SHIFT UP stated that they wanted to avoid in order to establish their I.P. So good on them for that!
The DLC for God Of War Ragnarök was free .
@@Crashed131963 most dlc aren't free tho
@@matthewharris517 But DLC are nice, it just a extension of the game that does not cost as much as a full game.
Noth evil about it .
I love HFW DLC called "Burning Sands" . well worth it .
Stellar Blade will have one paid dlc but it's a collab, and shiftup wants to put as much original content for it for free.
It was just a fun game to play overall. It does go back to ps2 and early ps3 era games where they were just fun.
Agreed. The focus and emphasis on fun is one of the best aspects of Stellar Blade.
sure.. onlyfans focuses on fun as well
Not just fun , shit was great
I beaten Stellar Blade several times and I still want to go back and play it.
Agreed, the combat and gameplay is pretty addicting. I myself have spent a good chunk of time in Boss Rush Mode too!
Yup, it's just fun to play. I love popping in to run around the Great Desert while vibing to the music and killing Naytibas. Top tier game imo.
I have the nest to visit next, but i got stuck at the wall run on Eidos 9 at the hidden camp 1 and could not get over it so i stayed away from the game for weeks and it annoyed me a little. Boss fighting no problem but that wall run seemed unfair.
Has nobody mentioned the music in this game? It is always a vibe and uniquely sets it apart from similar titles.
The sound track is so good. Can’t wait for the full album to release!
Agreed that was an oversight on my part. The Music is fantastic!
I’ve been saying that if stellar blade doesn’t win best soundtrack this year I will lose my mind
Right? I love the music. If Rebirth wins that I'll be annoyed. It's good and all, but a lot of it is re-used from OG and Remake with some modifications.
It’s sad that very few critics actually acknowledge video game music. I actually talked about this with someone and their excuse was “Well he/she is not a musician or an expert in music so he can’t mention it!” 🤦🏻♂️
No virtue signalling, good looking characters, great graphics and gameplay. Basically what we always wanted in games.
Agreed! Its nice to see that get rewarded with success!
This
Its a solid game.
We used to have those decades ago before the "everything is innovative nextgen whatever".
Yeah I think the focus on Graphics, Cinematics and length has honestly kind of hampered innovation in the gameplay and fun department. the PS3/XBOX 360 was in some ways, a rough era for games as a whole.
By giving the people what they actually want, as opposed to being told what they want.
True. Its just fascinating what that entails and how rare it is today :)
This is my favorite game, being a combat-focused gamer. I’ve played it like 5 times! I hope we get a DLC 😊
I'm very similar, in terms of loving good combat. DLC would be great, as would a sequel!
I would expect a sequel instead of DLC🙂
Yes. Stellar Blade is the one of the best game I've ever played through PS2 to 5
Wow, Glad you liked it that much. For me, its definitely one of the best games of the year, and reminds me a lot of the PS2 era (Which still has a lot of my personal favs in it)
For me too. I love the combat system, the world, exploration, graphics (Eve's design too), the many varied costumes and the music in this game.
It's easily one of my all-time favorites in the souls/action genre.
The world is not overbloated (which, for me, increases the replay value),
the costumes have no stats that limit their usefulness,
and each upgrade expands Eve's combat abilities,
making the fights just that much more varied, flashy and fun for me.
6:43 I agree with you say complete package. SB is medium easy to play suitable for beginners as well. SB's high-end design and graphics can be seen right down to the smallest NPCs and other objects. Good striking and acrobatic skills in an understandable way. In many games, if the game focuses on one area, it feels like the original impact of the game is lost. In most games, Cut Scenes use already rendered animations, but in SB, Cut Scenes are rendered with EVE and characters modified by the player. The OST is great and it blends well the different tracks of the same music when facing enemies during the stage. It was faithful to the basics that the players wanted. The overall balance of this game is simply great.
lol it always blows my mind when people complain about "unrealistic female bodies"
like, have any of these people gone to a festival? or a rave? i see women that look like that all the time
I think western concepts of beauty and the female form have become twisted a bit.
One of my favorite games of all time, it’s just straight up fun. I look forward to playing it every time I pick up the controller and there’s no section of the game I view as a slog to get through
Glad to hear you liked it so much! Some of the platforming and puzzles were rough for me, but I imagine those will get better in a sequel! :)
Stellar Blade is my favorite game this year. It's incredibly fun to play and rewards you with a plethora of unlockables. ShiftUp has built a world and story that they can easily expand upon in sequels or expansions. The music is fantastic, which I thought stand out. Nonetheless, great work on the video and showcasing your thoughts on the game.
Agreed! Stellar Blade is awesome! Thank you for the nice comment, and nice shout out to the music (Something I wish I had highlighted in the video haha)!
15:45 I feel the same way, I love when games make attractive characters male and female I don’t ever see the point of trying to be realistic and sometimes even make them bland. I feel like nowadays some ppl get offended by these characters and say their to unrealistic but fail to understand that they’re playing a game someone’s art, imagination so boring when a person wants everything to be realistic unattractive. I love when games don’t make ugly characters simply what I’m saying
Agreed. I think its the same with most entertainment. I like pretty things, including pretty people. And honestly, even the most average people can look great with the right clothes, makeup/style haircut e.t.c
It wasn't a mini culture war, it's a continuation of the BS gamegate rubbish. Shift Up rejected the western style of beating female characters with the ugly stick which made a specific group of "gamers" seethe. There's an argument Sony caved to pressure and forces small censorship prior to release to placate those "gamers" and "game journalists" and the latest outfit releases being the censored outfits without the censoring and a colour change kind of hints that the game was successful enough for Shift Up to snub those censorship changes without backtracking on the original altered outfits.
The gameplay was satisfying and the story was interesting and refreshing from the same-y stuff we've been getting the last 5-10 years and that helped push the fact the game wasn't just for "gooners" or whatever they were calling fans of the game on it's release.
I honestly wasn't too interested in the internet culture war stuff, but I felt like it was worth mentioning. That said, I agree with Shift Up rejecting the trend of how characters are made in West, particularly female characters.
And yeah, I wouldn't call this a game like Dead of Alive Xtreme BeachVolleyball. Games like this used to be pretty common a decade ago, now its strange that they're considered scandalous XD
Stellar blade is a really solid game, it just sucks that the controversies near the beginning of its release kind of gave a lot of ppl the wrong idea about this game thinking that it’s just a fan service game of something
Agreed. I think what's awesome though is that despite those controversies, the game still ended up succeeding. A good game wining out in the end is awesome!
Its a great game. No bugs, no problems, great performance. Thats all it takes. Best game this year.
Definitely best action game of the year. The year is still going, and Astrobot was a joy to play, so we'll have to see where game of the year lands.
Amazing Video! I always said it reminded me of the PS2 times in a good way. Stellar Blade isn't a perfect game but I think it does many things right that other games don't in recent years. I'm really looking forward to what shift up does next and how them going public will affect their games.
Have a great day!
Yeah I think between ShiftUp, Round8 Studio and NeoWiz games, I'm really interested to see how the Game development scene in South Korea expands and what kind of games we get. Ever since Capcom kind of gave up the Action Game genre after DMC5, there's been a void open for someone like ShiftUp to come in and take over. Can't wait for their next game!
And thank you for the kind comment! Have a great day as well! :)
Glad to see I'm not the only one who was reminded of the ps2 era with this game. Got my ps5 finally and it was mainly for Stellar Blade. I honestly can't remember the last time I had as much fun playing a triple A game. Hopefully Shift Up going public recently doesn't cause problems as I'm eagerly awaiting to see what they have for us in the future, I NEED MORE of this game lol. I need that sequel after getting the true ending.
In the meantime gonna work on that platinum
Honestly, as I played through the game I kept getting flashbacks to the PS2 Era of gaming, so that was top of mind for me with this game.
That said, I agree, really want to see a sequel, so hopefully they're working on it and we get it in a few years.
I think the thing to note about the censorship controversy was that it wasn’t toned down before the release of the game, it was toned down after its release, all physical copies had their costumes looking one way, and then the day 1 patch changed the outfits covering up cleavage, showing a little less skin on the bikini bottom etc.
the problem with this is that the marketing explicitly stated that the game was not going to be censored, not some developer interview, full on marketing saying “no censorship”
Which then got them into hot water to the point that you could actually get a refund from Sony if the reason you gave was pointing out the false advertising. SONY the guys notorious for their horrible refund policies
Yeah I think I could've worded that better. The day 1 Patch I believe is what tonned down the outfits. If you use the Disc version then you can still see the orignals. Although they ended up releasing different variants of the same costumes later, I think that was more in reaction to the backlash.
@@hardresetoI got the disc version ~3 months later
They forced you to have the game up to version date before you could play it so it wasn’t possible to get the original costumes.
It's no surprise at all, they gave us a game we would like instead of a game designed by a focus group , hence suicide squad flopped among others, I've got a feeling the next assassin's creed game will flop as well
Suicide Squad was DOA for me. Its a bit off topic, but man did it hurt to see Rocksteady get destroyed for that live service game. In a way, Rocksteady ceded the Action Open World Game genre over, so ShiftUp and Stellar Blade could move in.
Between Outlaws and ACS I think ACS will do just fine on the other hand l can see Outlaws flopping but it's just depends on how fun the game is.
@@MrLennykill they will probably both succeed, because it's two very big franchises and a lot of the casual audience will buy the games.
I'm glad to have found this channel. I immediately gelled with the narrators voice, editing, storytelling, professionality, ect.
Awesome to have you! Glad you're liking the video style! More on the way soon!
Love Stellar Blade, the rare time you get a complete game and they keep giving us more
Agreed! Great game!
Stellar Blade is far from perfect and it has its share of glaring flaws. In the end though, the good things about it far outweigh the bad and it's developers didn't care what the critics thought. It's a great game that I hope will spawn a sequel.
I think its also worth noting that this ShiftUp's first Console Action game. Pretty good start I'd say!
Along with FF7 Rebirth, Prince of Persia: Lost Crown and Hades 2 early access, Stellar Blade is up there as one of my favorites of this year.
FF7 Rebirth is the next big game that I need to dive into. I'm waiting for Hades 2 to get out of early access, as I enjoyed the finished version of the original Hades. That said, that's a solid selection of great games for the year!
@@hardreseto yeah, despite liking Hades 2 in EA, I would probably recommend anyone to wait. And FF7 Rebirth, I personally loved it, but I understand the wide range of opinions this game causes people to have haha
Man Stellar Blade is almost to the level of Elden Ring. Elden Ring is still currently one of the top games of today, but Stellar Blade is close to it. No Woke propaganda shit, just pure unadulterated gaming! No microtransactions. All costumes are totally unlockable.
Agreed. Elden Ring is definitely a bigger and more expansive game, but at its scope, Stellar Blade does really well!
15:45 “the era of attractive female characters in particular, seems like a thing of the past.” This comment is wild to me.
How so?
I feel the same, because despite what certain companies try to make people think, attractive characters, male and female, is never out of style. You find less people complaining about beauty being common in their entertainment than average to grotesque being common place. I certainly didn't complain about beautiful women being commonplace in the past.
Its a game that feels authentic, an actual game, we need more of those nowadays, desperately, and yes brave enough to reject all that woke bs, intrusive ways of monetization among other stuff.
Yeah, ShiftUp's head honcho mentioned in an interview that they actually focused on making a game that didn't have bad monetiziation practices in order to establish their I.P. Seems like that paid off!
This simple fact I get to unlock things in game by playing instead of paying was my big draw to the game. I grew up when games were shipped as a finished product. There was not update fix it later or add this in game and charge for it. So Stellar Blade to me is a throwback to how games use to be before greed ate it up. And I love it.
Agreed. Plus the free updates have been rad. Its nice to have such a consumer friendly game after so long of being fleeced by publishers.
Still working my way through the game, but I'm absolutely having a blast with it. Story is ok, but the gameplay is so fun that it makes up where the story lacks. Each boss is something new to figure out.
the main story comes from the side content and the memory sticks from dead bodies. thats where you can piece information together. like how Raphael Marks created Mother Sphere as a protector of humanity.
Yeah as I noted the story is nothing special. Its the combat and gameplay that will keep you playing till the end. Glad to hear you're enjoying it as much as I did!
I think that stuff was interesting, but I think games like Nier and even Horizon Zero Dawn did that kind of thing better. Its not bad, just average compared to how impressive the rest of the game is.
A good and fair analysis, well done. Subscribed.
Life long 65+ PC gamer who never previously played on a console or with a controller: I tried SB because I needed a change. The PC game industry has become stale and repetitive, while taking itself far too seriously, except for some indie efforts. Also, I like looking at attractive females while they chop up monsters! Why is this considered bad? The controversy persuaded me to take a look at YT vids of the demo, and I was sold.
Overall I loved it enough to Platinum the game. Some of the platforming drove me insane, but learning to use a controller well was a large part of that. Apart from that, music, visuals and combat were wildly entertaining: I even quite liked the story and the puzzles, although you could go through the game without paying much attention to these if so inclined.
Entertainment - without being preached at, manipulated or ripped off. That is what most of us want, SB delivered where most game studios fail.
Glad you liked the video, and thank you for the subscribe! Hopefully content in the future will be worth your time as well!
Its interesting, because I've always alternated between PC and Console, but I have to agree with your thoughts on the PC. Console games (Like Stellar Blade) are just hard to find on PC, or just take too long to eventually get there. That said, I still prefer playing FPS on PC, as well as RTS and a few other genre.
That said, I think there's a larger cultural issue in the west with regards to what's acceptable and considered attractive, and I think Western Games and the Games Industry as a whole moving away from that is a side effect of all that culutral shift.
Impressive about platinuming the game. I still need to work my way through the second playthrough to get that third ending.
Agreed on the Entertainment part, that's I think why SB Succeeeded! :)
Stellar blade is one of funniest game I ever played . Nioh 2, metal gear rising … they’re so addictive
Glad you enjoyed it! And I have to agree on Nioh 2 and MGS Rising both fantastic games.
It’s simple. It’s art. Art is subjective and many like this art style. Art isn’t set out to please everyone. It’s a genuinely fun story and gameplay. The boss challenge is challenging on harder. A New Game + run through and updates. I’d gladly pay DLC for extended story or side stories they can really go bigger on this game. Socom Navy Seals was my poison. It was the only reason I got broadband 1.5 Mbps in the beginning lol
True. I think there are considerations on DLC, and there's some more updates like Photo Mode coming. I think your callback to SOCOM is very much how I remember games used to be (and mentioned in the video), where games were focused on establishing franchises and loyal fanbases. Its nice to see Stellar Blade focus on that.
I think an achievement of this game that no one ever mention is memory space economy, I had ff7 rebirth on my hardrive, that game approached 150 GB
Stellar blade…..35gb
I could store this game on an Xbox 360 elite and still have enough space for 1 or 2 games
I actually didn't notice that! That's an interesting thing to note! Thanks for sharing!
Simple: the internet that made the drama to boost up profit. They did the same to DC and Nikke.
Interesting read on the situation. I guess it depends on the game, as any publicity could be good publicity. Other games that have been controversial have also benefited from Internet drama at times, but the core game has to be good.
Just finished my 3rd play through and got my last can. Now im going for my 4th for the better ending.
Collecting the cans was quite the experience. I got the cans on my first playthrough, along with two of the endings. Need to finish my second playthrough to get the third :)
Stellarblade is probably the best PS5 exclusive in my opinion. I love the combat, atmosphere, music, and story. I’m also a big final fantasy fan and I’ll literally tell you it’s better than FF16. 16 had worse side quests and worse combat.
Also I hate how modern games try to make characters unattractive. It’s freaking imaginary just let me play as a good looking character it shouldn’t be controversial or offensive.
Agreed on FF16. I've actually got a video on that as well, and I agree that the combat got repetitive and the side quests were pretty shallow. That said, I think FF16 also had a solid story that it squandered.
I like how Stellar Blade kept the story light and focused more on the action and fun.
It’s the fishing. Fishing in lingerie is the games’ X factor.
I mean, the fishing WAS a fun diversion.
Im just about 10 hours in and i love it so far. The music is phenomenal, most of the sidequests don't feel like a chore to do and the combat system is just perfect, i just wished the blaster had more ammo from the start, because the gun feels so fucking good to shoot
It only gets better IMO as time goes on. The last few areas and boss fights are... *chef's kiss* :)
I very rarely play single player games. Bu I reluctantly decided to give this a try. On my fourth playthrough now and I even got a Platinum (only my second ever).
That is extremely interesting to hear! So what kind of games do you generally play? There are a lot of solid games like Stellar blade around (DMC series, the Souls genre e.t.c), but I really think Stellar Blade is more accessible and easier to get into.
Typically, whenever I beat a game, I don't care to replay it right away. Stellar Blade is the opposite for me. I went right back into it after beating it.
The story may not be very appealing to people on the surface but to me, it's still a masterpiece in a way. Sometimes, a complex story can take away from a game
Totally agree on the complex story. If the cutscenes had been gigantically long or the focus had been away from the gameplay, I think the game would've been worse for it.
You missed one huge aspect of the game (which also borrows from Nier) Music! It’s amazing, really makes the fights so so so much better
Agreed! Quite a few people have pointed out that I missed out on highlighting the music. Quite the oversight on my part!
Just started this game a couple days ago and I'm loving it. I mainly game on PC but honestly I couldn't wait any longer and went ahead and bought it on PS5 lol.
So its been a month since your comment. I'm wondering how the game was for you? Did you finish it? Or did you decide to hold off since a PC version MIGHT be coming.
@@hardreseto Yeah I seen the news that a PC version might be coming like a week after I bought it, but I still went ahead and platinumed it and I got the new game+ trophies as well.
I enjoyed the game a lot and I plan on buying it again if it does get a PC version. It will be interesting to see which mods come out for it. :D
@@guncache Yeah the mods are definitely going to be crazy haha.
Glad to hear you ended up loving the game! I still have to get the platinum myself!
@@hardreseto Yep! Let's hope it gets sequel!
The reason I love the game is simple. It's not woke, no in game transactions. The females are beautiful, as are the environments. Plus the combat and mobs are f'ng amazing. This is a clean no preaching, no social justice good old fashon very fun hack and slash game. BTW, I too loved Nier. The music and character style obviously is designed after that game. But absolutely Stellar Blade has it's own style and is great as is. Simply can't wait for story DLC or Stellar Blade 2.
Very solid reasons and ones that match my own. Nier was and is awesome, and its kind of sad that Yoko Taro hasn't done anything in the series since Replicant. That said, I'm totally fine with Stellar Blade kind of coming into a parallel track and giving us a solid time.
@@hardreseto Seeing as this game was their 1st kick at the can, (Of this type of game), they did an amazing job. I'm sure they learned a lot. Optimistic for the future of the franchise. Cheers
Excellent video. I enjoyed every minute of it. Thank you for sharing!
Glad you liked it! Thank you for the kind words!
Pretty much my thought on Stellar Blade. It really has that old school feel of a PS2 era type of game, though the Sekiro styled elements and lore hunting feels like a modern game as well. And, yeah, I miss the days of unlocking lots of costumes by playing the game.
I definitely think the game design being like a PS2 game was intentional, as I am certain much of the people at Shift Up played such old school games in the past, so with South Korea now wanting to put their mark in the console space, you can feel that influence in Stellar Blade.
So far, the games I sank the most time into, other than Elden Ring, were Lies of P and Stellar Blade. Ironic enough, two first time attempts by Korean studios to make a console game.
Yeah between Lies of P and Stellar Blade, South Korea really just came out on nowhere as a place that's brought forth great talent.
I do believe that SOME of the odes to the PS2 era are intentional, but its hard to say how much of it is. IN either case, its a brilliant first attempt at an Action Console game, so I can't wait to see where they go from here!
True quality gameplay with real depth in experimentation
A dedicated scifi fantasy narrative that seems plastic at face value but actually has a ton of worldlore to offer
Varied levels of challenge with consistent rewards from beginning to end
Nice comfortable length, doesn’t overstay its welcome but highly encourages replay value
Free updates and QoL adjustments
Respect in the art team and designers creative visions and aesthetics
No microtransactions
A soundtrack produced by one of the best musical teams in the industry
Extremely high performance with multiple setting, all with stunning visuals and optimized framrates
…it’s literally all the things we want out of action games.
That's a really nice set of points. I think the consumer focus of the game really shows through!
Dang, I thought you have hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Very well presented.
Thank you for saying that! I'm relative new here and trying my best! :)
A single player game with a great combat system, no microtransactions, no live service, no political preaching, and a beautiful protagonist.
It had everything to succeed.
The odds have always been in the game’s favor, at least from the people who play games.
It’s a game that gamers wanted and deserved
Agreed. Its still nice to see that games like this continue to succeed! :)
Yeah for a game from a studio who had never done a console game, in a gameplay genre they have never touched, it’s a borderline miracle that the game to turned out as fantastic as it did. On a purely gameplay standpoint this game put a lot of more recent games to shame, for example how was the limited gun play in Stellar Blade better feeling and more impactful then the SuicideSquad game
Yeah it was quite surprising just how good the shooting segments of the game really were, despite it being most a hack and slash.
The answer is quite simple. They released the demo and people liked it. The characters, the world and especially the combat. But if you read the critic reviews, you'd think someone just shot their puppy. Very rarely did they ever talk about the actual game, only EVE's appearance. Then people got their hands on the full game and they loved it and told their friends to play it. It's almost like if you make a good game, people will buy it. Who would've thunk?
The Demo release is a good point. A lot of solid buzz went into the game after that demo release. Lies of P also did a similar thing. If your game is good enough, a demo is actually a really solid way to get people excited!
I think all this game did was what the bare minimum should be. It has great gameplay, the full game is actually finished prior to release, and it doesn't have stupid microtransactions. This game being as popular as it is, is more of a testament to the poor state of triple-A gaming than the actual game being amazing. It has great surface level polish, but almost everything underneath is either okay or forgettable.
I mean, you're not wrong about the poor state of AAA gaming. That said, I do think the combat and general gameplay is pretty darn solid. I still think about the combat months later.
I think to make this game GOTY worthy, Eve needs a personality update, some tweaks to platforming (I’m sure they’ll do that before the sequel) and the story needs to be a little more in depth. The rail gun didn’t really serve too great of a purpose neither. But overall, this is a MARVELOUS game! The graphics and cinematic are gorgeous. The protagonist is gorgeous and the combat is satisfying as well and I’m sorry… I haven’t heard OST this great in any game EVER. With contenders like Black Myth and Phantom Blade, I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Stellar Blade with competition like this on the rise
Agreed. The story is a bit weak as is the characterization. That is something I hope gets improved in the sequel. Excellent nods to Black Myth and Phantom Blade. Phantom Blade in particular seems to be more of a direct competitor to Stellar Blade, since its going for "Souls like" level design but more general action based gameplay.
Did you play the game in English or Korean? I prefer the Korean.
As for the story, did you do most of the side missions and look through collectibles?
@@jackythowng3774 I played in both the English and Korean versions, but I like the Korean version better. It better suits the game imo. I also did complete everything. Side quests, collectibles, etc. all finished. I finished it about 4 times already lol. Almost want a 5th play through
🤔for me stellar blade was everything I could ask for in a game, fun gameplay, a well design main cast, cosmetics in game that changed your appearances, and a decent story, I played the game three times back to back, and enjoyed every minute of it, even platinum the game too, plus shift up keeps releasing free updates that adds even more outfits and even a boss rush mode, they are giving fans what they want, and if they ever release a paid dlc people would buy it just to support shift up and so they can experience more of the awesome world of stellar blade.
100% agree on the free updates and DLC. I kind of wish we could get some more, smaller paid content as I'm really hungering for it. Especially after that Free Summer Update and the potential Photo Mode coming.
@@hardreseto yeah so true like a 2b outfit for the whole crew
This game came out of nowhere for me, then I heard all about was Eve and her outfits. I have played it several times and I think it's fantastic. This is gaming to me: an interesting attractive character, a variety of nice skins, and a strong story that works; and of course solid combat and cool and challenging boss fights. This is a role model for gaming today and the game that saved 2024 from the rut it's in.
Pretty solid analysis. I also appreciate that despite Eve's "controversial" outfits and appearance, that it's not a sexualized game and there are no forced relationship quests. Maybe someday though we will discover the true answer how to open that door on Matrix 11 and unlock that device given to you on Xion.
The plot twist that the characters actually think they're human and how they discover otherwise is intriguing. The true ending leaves a wide open possibility of SB's future, as well as further exploration into what is Mother Sphere and what needs to happen next.
Yeah agreed on Stellar Blade saving 2024. Its interesting that I read somewhere that most gamers are currently playing older games. Shift Up's success with Stellar Blade probably hit into that whole trend.
The door stuff with Matrix 11 is interesting, but its giving me flashbacks to the whole Nier Automata Mod thing that came out a while ago haha. I'll just let ShiftUP announce something when they're ready. :D
I bought ps5 just to play stellar blade and rebirth. SB is one of the best games ive ever played.
Fine choices. I myself am waiting for the PS5 Pro to jump into Rebirth (Have had the game since Release and just couldn't find time for it). I do wonder which game will end up being GOTY.
@@hardreseto my goty is definitely SB, but im not expecting it to win as goty. it got snubbed at golden joystick awards, not even one nomination. they chose astrobot over SB at best visual design category? its just absurd. they even ignored wukong. for sure they will ignore SB again at goty 2024. media just hates this game.
Stellar blade was a 9/10 for me. The only thing I found annoying or disappointing was towards the end half of the game. You can buy all the raw material that was in the game. Negating the need for opening chest. I found my self skipping the end game chest and boxes because I already had a abundance of the materials. I believe they could have fixed it by making the vendors only sell a certain amount of raw materials so that the player can still find value when they find chests. Other than that stellar blade has been a amazing game to replay over and over.
Yeah the resource economy is a tough one, and I think the issues you mentioned likely had more to do with the Devs trying to make exploration and engaging with the Open world segments optional. I personally didn't mind the Upgrade materials being for sale, since I organically found enough stuff while I was exploring. I think in a way, its cool that it allows you to just skip all of that and buy what you need, if you wanna mainline the game. A con I'll take if it means more people get to enjoy the game! :)
Great work. Loved the comparison to the PS2 era and felt the same. I very much appreciated the Shadow Hearts Covenant nod. Easily one of my favorites!
As for SB, I had (still having) a great time with it. I stopped playing Rebirth multiple times just to mess around in Boss Rush and to finish the plat. I didn't even mind the story as I never played Nier. I also appreciated that half my playthrough wasn't cutscenes or dialogue.
First of all, love that you love Shadow Hearts Covenant. Some day soon I plan to make a deep dive video on that, as its easily one of my favorite RPGs ever.
Second, I'm glad you had a good time and that you also felt the PS2 DNA in the game. That said, give Nier Replicant and Automata a shot, those are really great games as well!
@@hardreseto I loved SH and SH:C! I'm sad I don't have a way to play it anymore. I foolishly sold my copy to a collector (he gave me a lot for it), but I now regret it lol.
It's been on my list, but I'll check it out! I dived into Yakuza and Persona during COVID and have had lots of games to work through since the .. but hopefully I'll get around to it soon.
With Black Myth, and Stellar Blade this is the year of Amazing Asian games.
Have yet to play Black Myth, but hoping a PS5 pro patch will help with the game's performance issues.
Amazing video! Congrats!!
Thank you! Glad you liked it!
Stellar blade is an experience from combat, to one if not the best soundtrack ever in a video game, the new game plus update offering you even more, i paid 114$ for the game, and finish it 4 times.
Worth every pennie
Agreed. 114? Did you import it? I don't believe there was a collector's edition which I was pretty sad about. If there's a game that could've used a solid collector's edition, it was this game! Maybe in the sequel.
I’ve beaten it 3 times and on 4th playthrough feels like I’m in middle school again
Honestly that's the best feeling that this game gives, that sense of fun and nostalgia from the good old days.
I read the thumbnail... "How Stellar Blade succeded against all odds". The odds were just twitter people and game journalists, the game was going to be a success from the start.
As someone who was pretty hyped for the game, I'm used to people passing on solid games because of odd PR, or pre-release buzz. That said, it was great that it didn't matter this time.
Where Lies of O has awesome weapon style & customizability along with deeper and more interesting characters, Stellar Blade has much better move sets and style.
The parry mechanics are very similar in that it's meant to keep you engaged but the parry with Lies is much more punishing
Yeah I think that's a great way to look at it. I think Lies of P is definitely more RPG and Stellar Blade is more action game.
I love this game so much man i have 165 hours and counting platinumed too 😭😭
Nice! I haven't gotten the platinum yet (Moved onto other games). That said, I might tackle the platinum when they release the DLC expansion, which seems like its coming.
I'm on my 4th playthrough and 139 hours in. I can't put my finger on it but it is so addicting.
Like for example on my 3rd playthrough I was like okay got all the ending and platinum the game so lets move on to the next game, so I tried starting God of War Ragnarok because it's been in my backlog forever, but once I start playing I felt like although its a good game so far, its lacking something that Stellar blade gave me. I don't want to say it isn't fun, its fun just not as fun as stellar blade and I ended up booting up stellar blade again because I found out about that outfits that you get after you defeat all the bosses. So I paused playing to GOWR to get. I will finish GOWR but I don't see myself doing a second playthrough.
Also I agree I think Eve being pretty is a plus, I'm a women myself and I kind of enjoyed looking at her and picking her outfits
I need to do a video on God of War Ragnarok one day, because I was pretty disappointed with that one. I think it's got some serious issues that prevent it from being as good as its prequel.
That said, Stellar Blade's combat and moments and bosses are just very replayable, so I totally get why you continue to stick with it.
And yeah, the outfit stuff is less about catering to the male gaze, and just a customization thing. I don't think I actually used too many of the Fanservicey outfits, and focused more on the cool looking ones myself!
a lot of people got invested up to insult the game it's dev and players who like it that they forgot that the game isn't just have hot characters it's also a pretty fun and solid game ,it might not reinventing the wheel doesn't mean it's bad a good game can be that without doing it, I honestly agree with people who stood up against censorship, it kills art and especially for 18+ game it's unnecessary
p.s- I actually like enemy designs more than the machines in automata , good video btw
Agreed. I think a game can't just succeed on hot characters, it needs to be a fun and enjoyable experience for word of mouth to spread. I also agree on the enemy designs, as I think there's just more variety in this game. That said, Nier Automata was trying to show us a very different kind of world and game.
Thank you for the nice comment!
@@hardreseto that's true both automata and Stellar blade potray different aspects, one can play both for different things
Honestly it ended up a really good game. Kind of came out of nowhere for me, but glad I ended up buying it. Platforming had one section/area that was a bit frustrating, but overall it was a lot of fun to play. The combat felt good in a way that took some time to get comfortable with, but you could get plenty powerful.
This is the kind of stuff that we need more of. Just fun and good games that try to be exactly that. Not incomplete "eventually it'll be good" experiences. Plus the amount of outfits in the game were themselves a treat. It made it fun to just swap them as I found new ones. That tied into the rewarding side. The more you did, explored, and fought the more you got out of it.
Yeah some of the platforming was a bit janky, but thankfully not too much of that in the entire game.
Totally agree on this being something we need more of, with the stuff that you mentioned. Complete game, tons of outfits and rewards.
I love stellar blade. Im currently trying to platinum it
Yeah I may go back and do a second playthrough for the one ending that I missed. (Its very hard to do all three endings in one playthrough, even with save scumming). That said, Stellar Blade is definitely worth the platinum!
I can think of a few perfectly sculpted reasons it was popular…
All jokes aside, it was a straight forward game with fun gameplay and a pretty solid story. It was a game with challenge, but not crazy challenging.
Agreed. The game being a bit more accessible, from a multiple different fronts whether its gameplay, challenge or just being a bit more simplistic than other similar experiences definitely helped.
I finally bought a PS5 for this game, at release.
Excellent choice and thank you for sharing. If I didn't have a PS5, I definitely think Stellar Blade would've tempted me to make the push.
This game is amazing, I love the visuals and the combat system. The costumes are just a plus , as far as anything else pertaining to the game I couldn’t care less .
Those are definitely the games strongest aspects. I'd give the music a shout out too (even though I failed to mention that in the video haha)
The discourse around this game in general made me decide to skip out on this game after release. I just started playing two days ago. Absolutely blown away by how much fun I’m having
Well I'm glad you eventually got to the game. The discourse around the game did worry me, in that it might've put off quite a few people. Thankfully once that died down people seemed to be enjoying the game for what it is :)
Great vid mate
Thank you!
fun gameplay and it partially satisfied the itch for playstation fans that wanted bayonetta sequel
Agreed. Even those of us that had a switch, I dunno, Bayonetta 3 was a bit of a let down.
My game of the year.
Solid choice!
Love stellar blade love the storyline and combat. It’s perfect never played atomita
If you liked Stellar Blade, I think its definitely worth giving Nier Automata a shot. Its a different sort of game with a much deeper and crazier story, but the combat is still pretty good and fun.
They just made a fun game that redeemed the prince of Persia/ god of war games of the ps2 and PS3
Platforming ✅
Combat ✅
Puzzles ✅
If only it were a fully linear game it would be a modern take on a action adventure platformer game
Sadly that's the only slight drawback
If they scrapped the open world sections and added a few more linear sections with bosses we are striking gold there
Quite a few people didn't love the Open World Segments. I personally didn't mind them, but I can see an argument for a more linear and focused game.
I’m playing right now it’s better than black myth wukong in my opinion. I just love the parry. The combat is exciting and challenging .
I have yet to play Black Myth Wukong. The performance on PS5 scared me off, and I don't have a monster PC to play the game on yet. Maybe if the PS5 Pro comes out and the game gets patched?
@@hardreseto I didn’t have any issues on my ps5 on performance mode .
@@robertsoto5713 That's good to hear. I will definitely get to it before the end of the year. And then hopefully make a video about it.
The game better win game of the year
I think that may be tough, but I am at least hoping it'll get action game of the year :)
Yes Steller Blade was a very good game and recommend to anyone on the fence... was it perfect no but the total game is one you would want to OWN.. not RENT... the facial expressions, character lines / development was a bit off and the side quest were a bit bland not terrible... Now, the combat was Fantastic...a challenge to learn what effects or items work best against each type of monster... different endings that went with the choices you decided on thru the game... the story has a twist and keeps you thinking what is going to happen next... it will suck you in and is designed to keep you engaged to fight another boss or a new area to explore.... I hope that the sequel has Sony "put the cherry on top" to really keep this IP fresh / new to join the Playstation fraternity of exclusives that carry on for a long time!!
What's interesting is that Sony actually doesn't own the Stellar Blade I.P, ShiftUP does. That said, I assume Sony gets first dibs on a sequel, and given the success and awesome stuff you mentioned, they'd be fools not to greenlight and support a sequel.
Well said! Thanks for the video
Thank you for the comment! Glad you liked the video!
Couldn’t you just sum the game success up as: fun core combat loop and traditionally attractive female protagonist and supporting characters? Like literally that’s the 2 key pillars and main take aways. 1. Fun 2. Hot girl is hot.
Totally, but I think the focus on fun as a whole works, plus the great graphics, production values, performance, the consumer friendly focus AND the music all make for things that compliment the two pillars you spoke of.
Stellar Blade has hot women and good gameplay. You literally don’t need anything else. Guys aren’t exactly complicated or hard to please. 😂
Not just guys, I've heard quite a few women are enjoying the game as well :)
WOW one developer calling another game better than his own? massive respect for that
Yoko Taro is awesome!
Wasn't the director of SB part of the dev team of Blade and Soul many years before Shift Up existed?
Yeah, he worked as an Artist on Magna Carta and Blade and Soul. This is first console game as a director with the company that he founded though. So as a team and perhaps as a director, he's fairly new to it all.
It's a great game and the chick is gorgeous.
Agreed. I'd say its not just Eve, the other main characters in Lily and Adam are pretty good looking too.
One collectable I enjoyed getting where the screenshots.
As much as I appreciate Eve as a counterpoint to modern character design, I still think it's a bit too much. She's clearly made to be an over the top pin up / dress up girl for guys, and I think she overplays the lost / vulnerable angle in order to appeal to guy's innate instinct to protect. Taki (or what her name was, the one in the beginning that gets killed) is a much more appealing character to me. She's still very beautiful and sexy, but has her shit together and knows how to deal with the challenges ahead. I also like her outfit much more; it's tight and accentuating, but not whatever some of the outfits Eve gets are. But hey, to each their own, and the game is important as a counterpoint no matter what. That being said I didn't play the game so I may be wrong in some way.
I think one of the flaws of Eve as a character is that her personality is a bit all over the place. She's very nice at times, and does give off that "lost/vunerable" angle that you mention, and then at other times, she's doing crazy aggressive stuff and being very badass.
I think Taki is a much better defined character, strangely enough. As for the attractive angle, I think people's attractiveness is beyond just looks and costumes. The vibe, the feel of a character is I think equally important.
That said, give the game a shot if you like action games, its quite good I think
I'm thankful that I paid $70 to play with one hand
Hahahaha... That made me laugh. Thank you for the hilarious comment! :D
I found it funny to hear "...35 hour playtime" when I'm playing nioh 2 still 3 yrs after release and haven't even scratched the surface. (To be fair, I haven't played Stellar Blade, nor no about it's replayability or depth)
Really? Nioh 2 is awesome. I platinumed the Game and have about 100 hours in that one. That said, I played it both single player and did all the missions that you could, co-op. Haha. the 35 hours is a one time playthrough, though I do go through these games slower than most. Check out my Lies of P video, where I definitely went above the average haha!
I REALLY wanted to play and support the game, but I only have an xbox :(
Well it is coming on PC eventually, if you have access to that. It does suck that the game was going to be multiplatform at one point and then shifted to PS5 exclusive. Then again, Sony shelled out the money and support to get the game out, so its complicated I guess. I hope you get a chance to play it eventually!
Really wishing this would come to PC
It will. Give it another 6-10 months. Every Sony exclusive comes to pc now and SB isn't even first party
I expect it will in a year or two
@@givemorexp Then they need to hurry up with Bloodborne.
@@JathraDH Bloodborne pc port is like Half-Life 3. It will never happen.
@@givemorexp I know but I have to ask anyways lol. Oh well emulation will be viable in awhile if its not already.
Man after 2005 it all went to shit, play Condemned, the atmosphere in that game is something you will never forget
Condemned and its sequel were definitely interesting early X360 era games. Might be worth looking back at some older games in the future on this channel. Thanks for the note!
This was a very good and fair video. Though you might want to rethink citing Extra "suddenly you're a N@zi" Credits for anything.
(OP clarified in comments the citation was the original Extra Credits team)
Thank you for the kind words. Regarding Extra Credits, I'm referencing one of their earliest videos before the original team broke up. I've met some of the original team in person, and I still think that Dan is an awesome dude (His Video Game Animation channel is awesome). I doubt there's too much I have to draw from Extra Credits today, but in the good old days they did mention some really solid things.
@@hardreseto I take it back. I was unaware of that. Thank you.
To save you 30 minutes it succeeded because eve is hot and the combat is fun
I mean, those two things are true. But there's more to it, otherwise I wouldn't have spent 30 minutes blabbing about it haha.
nice video bro :D
Thank you so much!
Hey how notes eve body tape change with the suits
Does it? I honestly didn't notice that.
Anyone knows the name of the game from 4:12 to 4:18?
That's Devil May Cry 5. :)
Nice video -- this game was definitely a diamond in the rough -- I like the comparison to the PS2-era -- having beaten it, I would give this a 7/10 -- but, if they cut out the open world/side-quest portions -- 9/10.
I HATED the open world parts -- I thought this game was at it's best when it moved from isolated sandbox to isolated sandbox so as to keep the pace fast (just like the combat). I would've liked 2 or 3 more curated levels than a bloated chore-filled open area. It's like they thought they needed one when they didn't.
I liked when the pace changed WITHIN PARTICULAR LEVELS and not completely halted with the open world.
Also, I didn't like the fact that you could get ALL of the skills on all of the trees -- I wish there were more defined combat specializations to choose from depending on your playstyle (including a gun-focused one -- I actually thought they did a solid job on that!). I think some of the dodge/parry/blink/etc mechanics could probably just be removed and added to the default move set to make room for more unique things (as an example).
Finally, good lord they NEED TO MAKE A MECH GAME! That mech near the end of the game was NUTS in terms of it's design -- I want to play in THAT, lol :)
Thank you~!
Its interesting that you didn't like the Open World Segments. I think they provided a nice change of pace from the linear stuff, Although I agree that the curated level design was where the game shined. A lot of the open world content was pretty optional, so you could have avoided it, not that my OCD brain would ever allow that haha.
Agreed on the Mech at the end. I wouldn't mind them trying out a mech section in the sequel, given how good they were with the shooting segments, as you mentioned!
@@hardreseto Sounds good! Yeah, their linear levels were so good, I hated that they were interrupted by long side-quest stuff -- and yes, you don't HAVE to do them, but cmon, lol. Naturally, you want to do the things the game is offering...I'd rather the insights to the plot and characters were spread out and incorporated into the linear levels in some way. Maybe there could have been a sort of hub area at the midpoint of a level where there's some quests to do LOCALLY in the environment. That's just one idea...but I think packing a ton of them into one giant area was a big letdown.
It's simple. People are tired with being "all grown up" And all. People play video games to escape from reality, not to meet another reality. This is what modern western game are failed to realize. We don't need to see "ah, that's us" A.K.A being relatable all the time. Take Kratos for example. Men don't need to see themselves when playing as him all the time. Carrying the burden of the family all the time, being tired, grumpy and all... No, we want to see him going ape shit. That's why games like god of war ragnarok gets boring after you finished the game once, but people still playing stellar blade even to NG+7. I know NG+7 is normal for soulslike games, because it keeps benefiting you each time you finish the game... But this game STOP giving you benefit after finished at least twice. The game is simply engaging, that's why people still playing this and talking about this game till now
I agree with the needing entertainment to be a break from reality. I personally liked the direction God Of War 2018 went in, but Ragnarok really lost the plot IMO. The focus went away from Kratos and shifted to Atrues and Freijya I feel like, which was a misstep. That said, for Stellar Blade, I haven't finished my NG+ run yet, so I can't comment on how replayable it is. That said, I think the replayability will be something that they can iron out in the sequel. :)