Summary
‘Soulslike’ is a subgenre term that gets thrown around a lot and yet it’s entirely true of how to describe general gameplay functions inStellar Blade. Combat itself is much more technical with a slate of skills players need to master as it’s an action-adventure game at the root, butStellar Blade’s campsalone are all players need to be aware of to know precisely how they’ll be moving about environments and how progression in each setting will commence.
Knowledge of Soulslikes and their granular details is a huge boon when playingStellar Bladein this case because a previously developed muscle memory when it comes to performing dodges and parries while encircling an enemy whom the camera is locked onto, for instance, and when to pop one of Eve’s healing items amid an enemy’s telegraphed attack patterns.
Another trope inSoulslike games, particularly those made by FromSoftware itself, is the knowledge that enemies will be positioned purposefully around most corners to ambush or surprise the player.Stellar Bladeis designed the same way; strangely, it also allows players to turn the tide and get the jump on these enemies who would otherwise leap out at them, so long as players can remember to do so when entering any enclosed or tight area.
Stellar Blade’s Soulslike Level Design Has Its Heart in the Right Place
FromSoftware Soulslike games such asDemon’s Souls,Dark Souls,Bloodborne, andElden Ringhave never been fully embraced as being part of horror. EvenBloodborne, which marinades and stews in cosmic horror, gruesome creature design, and body horror, has avoided a greater comparison to horror when it’s arguably one of the scarier games released in the last decade, only with fewer jump scares.
These Soulslikes do contain jump scares too, though only in the form of enemies who wait patiently and unsuspectingly to lunge at players as they enter a doorway or round a corner that’s difficult to peer along. Anyone who’s played any of these games knows this experience well, especially on an initial playthrough when knowledge of enemies lurking in areas has not been established.
Stellar Bladecaptures this perfectly since its locales—at least the ones explored in the demo—are claustrophobic and linear, leading Eve down narrow alleyways or into larger rooms but with greenery and other assets strewn about an environment to obscure an enemy’s presence. Thankfully,Stellar Bladehas its own take on the Witcher Senses/Detective Mode/Odradek Terrain Scannermechanic of being able to probe and see through surroundings.
Stellar Blade’s Adam Scan Ruins Its Soulslike Enemy Tension
Adam accompanies Eve inStellar Bladevia a companion drone and at the press of a button players can scan the environment. This is an essential mechanic forStellar Bladeto have simply because dropped loot appears as egregiously tiny colored particles and is easily missable to the naked eye.
But, because this geographical scan also reveals enemies behind walls and any other obstruction, players can negate every single ambush that would otherwise befall them. In truth, this sort of dilutes how muchStellar Bladefeels like an authentic Soulslike and is a reminder that it’s an action-adventure game at its core.
There’s nothing wrong about that, but what it suggests is that players should be incessantly spamming this scanner like it’sHogwarts Legacy’s Revelio to ensure they’ve combed every inch of an environment. Having a scanner reveal enemies makes hidden enemies nearly redundant and after the first few times of being ambushed players will surely remember to begin spamming the scanner thereafter, which will inevitably render the ‘surprise enemy’ element obsolete.
Stellar Blade
WHERE TO PLAY
RECLAIM EARTH FOR HUMANKIND The future of humanity hangs in the balance in Stellar Blade, an all-new story-driven action adventure. Ravaged by strange, powerful creatures, Earth has been abandoned, and what is left of the decimated human race has fled to a Colony in outer space. After travelling from the Colony, 7th Airborne Squad member EVE arrives on the desolate remains of our planet with a clear-cut mission: to save humankind by reclaiming Earth from the Naytiba – the malevolent force that has devastated it. But as EVE tackles the Naytiba one-by-one, piecing together the mysteries of the past in the ruins of human civilization, she realizes that her mission is far from straightforward. In fact, almost nothing is as it seems…
