4/5 ★ – Jumpmanryan's review of Stellar Blade.

8.5 out of 10! Stellar Blade is an incredible first-entry by the developer ShiftUp. But while it succeeds in creating a masterful combat system, exploration, and general game design, the game falters a bit via a story that’s too basic and painfully predictable. The most notable aspect in Stellar Blade is its phenomenal combat. Most reminiscent of Sekiro due to its reliance on parry mechanics, but Stellar Blade creates its own identity with a system that feels like a few things blended together while also setting itself apart via tempo and fluidity. There’s also a really strong sense of progression with its combat as you’re unlocking new, impactful abilities throughout the entirety of the campaign. The system is incredibly satisfying and feels wonderfully crunchy and heavy. Another very strong aspect of Stellar Blade is its area design and how that great design leads to awesome exploration. It seemed like every nook or cranny that I explored had something of note. Whether it be a loot box, a new outfit, data entry or whatever else. And a lot of the puzzles were just interesting enough to be entertaining throughout as well. It almost always felt rewarding. And enemy placement helped a lot with the design elements as well. There are an abundance of side quests to complete too. The *key* side quests feature the prominent characters of Xion, and all of them were at least good. The Enya & Su side quest steals the show, but all of them bring character to the city that you’re trying to help, which plays a major role in getting the player to develop care for this colony. It’s a shame that the main story isn’t terribly strong, though. The concept of the story and world is perfectly good. But the telling of it leads to everything being way too predictable. There’s nothing in terms of story that will surprise you in Stellar Blade. And all of the twists & turns in narrative are far too predictable waaaay before the reveals come to fruition. That’s the biggest gripe I have with Stellar Blade. And it’s especially a shame due to knowing how much of an inspiration Nier Automata was for this game and how phenomenal that narrative was. All in all, Stellar Blade is a great game. And considering that it’s the first major game developed by ShiftUp, it is clearly a resounding success. I’m excited to see where they go next with the inevitable sequel.