An American living in Germany, John has been gaming and collecting games since the late 80s. His keen eye for and obsession with high frame-rates have earned him the nickname 'The Human FRAPS' in some circles. He’s also responsible for the creation of DF Retro.
First shown nearly three years ago under the name Project Eve, the Korean developed Stellar Blade has finally arrived and for me delivers an experience that feels like a proper, complete, polished console game. You see, in this age of incomplete games, buggy launches, and countless promises buried in patch notes, Stellar Blade launches in an impressively complete state.
It starts right from the main menu - a ruined earth looms in the background as you configure your preferences. When you finally press that new game button, the scene seamlessly springs to life. There are no loading screens or fades to black - it simply begins - just like that. I'm always a sucker for seamless menu to game transitions and Stellar Blade delivers.
That's not to say there aren't visual flourishes to appreciate - the character models, for instance, are very well done with dense meshes boasting a nice blend of materials both for skin and outfits. This gels with the animation work that ensures characters look and feel great while fighting through the hordes. The one caveat is how thin objects, such as hair, can appear somewhat noisy at times with visible breakup.
The environment itself is also large in scope and reasonably detailed but the restraint on display doesn't always yield great results. On the positive side, the structures populating the world along with the actual layouts feel properly post-apocalyptic in design. It's not just limited to vistas of ruined cities either.
Quality mode, simply targets 30fps and, in my opinion, is the least interesting mode. The game plays worse at 30fps and, frankly, isn't worth using when you have the option for 60. It is at least properly frame paced and very stable, so that's something. Balanced mode, however, is very interesting - it targets 60fps and is often very stable indeed, like performance mode, but this one can exhibit drops.
To that end, while Stellar Blade does have elements of modern From Software titles and, of course, Nier Automata, it also reminds me more of Team Ninja's seminal Ninja Gaiden - at least in terms of structure. No, the combat system is not on that level, but the way the map is built, the progression through the game and the random set-pieces that rely on different mechanics really remind me of my first time going through that original Xbox masterpiece.
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