If humans were to be wiped from the Earth tomorrow, what would be its legacy? Would we be judged for the senseless violence mete out against foreign nations due to the perceived need for land and resources? Or will our virtuous charitable deeds paint the story of a heroic race of do-gooders willing to set aside self-interest for the greater good? Looking across history, it’s hard for me to believe the latter is how we will be remembered. Yet Stellar Blade seems to argue that humanity is still worth saving in spite of this.

As a self-described misanthrope, I have always struggled to see what much of our media calls ‘humanity’ in the actions of others. Where is the kindness and benevolence that we ascribe as the quintessential element of humans in what is currently happening in the world?

No. We are fast approaching a dystopian nightmare where authoritarian regimes reign supreme. And it is for this very reason I could not continue with Papers, Please – a bureacratic roguelike that highlights the bleak nature of living in such a world.

But back to Stellar Blade.

Releasing in April 2024, Stellar Blade was the first console game for Korean game devloper: Shift Up. Published by Sony Interactive, the game garnered much attention. Especially among the action-adventure audience who liked their games with a tinge of Soulslike combat with a focus on parrying attacks and ruthlessly respawning enemies as soon as you hit a rest area. There was, as well, the EVE factor with the main protagonist looking VERY conventionally attractive with some very impressive assets (and the option to change her outfit to flaunt off her enviable physique).

Then, of course, there was the ‘controversy.’ Something which I avoided because it felt like it was making a mountain out of a mole hill. Besides, I had too many video games to get to. And even now I’m still desperately playing catch-up (although I believe the developers are now embroiled in some new hot water relating to AI).

After all, for every Stellar Blade there is a Star Wars Outlaws. And I also need to make my way through Dragon Age: Veilguard. Don’t even get me STARTED on Metaphor Re: Fantazio! Despite all these titles still in my backlog, at time of writing, I’m still wondering if Legends of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon will ever grace the Nintendo or PlayStation store in Australia. So, you know, priorities.

The only thing that truly drew my ire when it came to the game? How Stellar Blade fumbled its narrative in the end. But we’ll get to that in time.

The narrative casts you in the strapping high heels of EVE – a member of the 7th Airborne Squad, which is an elite unit hoping to liberate the Earth from the grip of the alien-like Naytibas. Unlike most video game protagonists, she does not sport an American accent. Rather, EVE is deliciously British. And while she does not have the natural charisma of Bayonetta, I do feel like the Umbra Witch very much influenced EVE’s design.

Following their disastrous initial assault, where all her squad members are killed, including Tachy, her commanding officer (and who, in my headcanon was in a relationship with our slightly less than competent and naive protagonist). Before she can succumb to her own wounds, EVE is rescued by Adam – a human scavenger left behind on Earth after the ‘Final War.’ The two decide to work together, with EVE assisting Adam retrieve a Hyper Cell from the ruins of Eidos 7.

After retrieving the pwer source, and uncovering another fellow Airborne member in the form of Lily (would it have been more on the nose if she had been named Lilith instead?), Adam takes the two to Xion (which I kept pronouncing the Kingdom Hearts way. But which the game would have me believe is pronounced ‘Zion’ like the last human city in the Matrix trilogy), a bastion for the surviving humans on Earth.

It is here they meet Orcal, the city’s leader and supposed prophet. Unlike most of the other humans in Xion, he is more machine than human. In exchange of the Hyper Cell, Orcal informs EVE that in order for her to complete her mission to kill the Elder Naytiba, she must collect four cores from Alpha Naytibas. This would create a key granting her entry to the Naytiba nest where the Elder Naytiba resides.

Cue the structured narrative where EVE is forced to go on numerous fetch quests to complete her task.

While the main narrative was primarily focused on collecting Hyper Cells and Alpha Cores, the side quests were where the citizens of Xion were humanised even though it became increasingly obvious they weren’t exactly organic. From the masks worn by the guards to Enya’s admittedly robotic frame and body. Then, there was EVE’s discussion with Digg2r where he opines on what it means to have a soul and the nature of sentience when it comes to artificial beings.

Themes which, of course, were tackled earlier in works of NieR: Automata. Admittedly, I have not played the title but I’ve seen enough video breakdowns and read enough internet dissertations to understand Stellar Blade doesn’t quite reach the same heights in terms of its world-building and atmosphere of a post-apocalyptic world.

This was especially prevalent during EVE’s confrontation with Raven and Adam’s ‘villain’ monologue at the end. Let’s start with Raven, shall we?

Throughout EVE’s quest to collect Alpha Cores, she stumbles upon Legacies left behind by the 2nd Airborne Squad. In it, Raven reveals the truth of the humans: they are androids who sought to replace the existing humans. In order to ensure their survival, humans dabbled with methods to enhance speed up their evolution and find a means to fight back, resulting in the creation of Naytibas.

Raven, having been driven insane by this knowledge, defects to the Elder Naytiba’s side. Unfortunately, he does not see her as a worthy specimen to join up with and instead intends to fuse witih EVE to create a new human race (how this actually works isn’t exactly explained well. Nor does the game really make Adam truly empathetic during this moment as he talks about past regrets but doesn’t provide enough context or time for EVE, or the player character to make their decision). Her final fight reads like a jealousy-filled rage. If Bechdel tests could be applied to actual characters, Raven would have failed miserably.

Honestly, if they had made the penultimate boss a fight with a corrupted Tachy (especially with her personal connections to EVE), it would have felt more bittersweet. While they DO bring Tachy back for the second Alpha Naytiba fight, it would have been better from a narrative plotbeat if her and EVE fought over ideological differences. Plus, you know, my own personal headcanon where they might have been romantically entangled.

Then, of course, there was Adam, revealed as the Elder Naytiba in disguise. And though allusions are made to his actual identity, it would have been better in the final confrontation if Adam had provided more of a exposition lore dump and admitted he was actually Raphael Marks (rather than it be explained through his database entry).

Then his whole plan was to fuse with EVE because the Andro-Eidos and Naytibas could not coexist? What does that even actually achieve? Where did Adam even go? Is he a disembodied voice in EVE’s head? Can Andro-Eidos even procreate? If not, how does it even further the human race?

Honestly, the decision to refuse his offer and return to the Colony made more sense from a narrative and character standpoint as it showed EVE was sceptical of the ‘truth’ she had been fed and was searching for answers. A sequel could have seen EVE fight against Mother Sphere or finding a means to preserve humanity’s legacy.

That said, one can clearly see Mother Sphere was DEFINITELY created by a man. For, if the Andro-Eidos can’t procreate and Mother Sphere just creates all the ‘humans,’ there is absolutely no need to design any of the Airborne Squads in the way they look in the game. But also, Mother Sphere’s preferred form is a lolita-esque girl? Please. Raphael Marks, your terrible tastes are showing.

Gameplay-wise, Stellar Blade is flashy and polished. But though some of its mechanics could be described as Soulslike, the game also included numerous difficulty options and had accessibility options that made certain activities funner. What threw me, though, was the fact EVE’s ponytail could only be changed in the Options menu rather than be a choice when she gets it styled at the hair salon in Xion.

While the combat did have its moments, I found the introductions of ultimate attacks by the last few bosses the most egregious to avoid (mostly because I always seemed to be low on ammo for the drone-gun and the fact auto-aim usually kept it aimed at the main body of the boss rather than on the orbs I needed to shoot at to interrupt their attack within the time limit). Still, the provision of Water Pumps to instantly revive was a life-saver to keep EVE pushing through until the end.

I also enjoyed the fishing, once I’d set up the accessibility options to make it easier, and found it relaxing. My main gripe with the gameplay was how floaty the platforming could be as even though EVE was at a height where she could grab the lip of a platform, she would not do so until I found the double-jump. This, obviously, meant I had to return to maps to ensure I managed to grab all the collectibles (in the end, though, I still missed ONE camp – presumably in the Desert), which was somewhat irritating.

Despite the terrible endings to Stellar Blade, I still enjoyed my time with the game. I suppose what made the ending to Stellar Blade worse was that I could see where they were going but they didn’t quite nail the execution. In fact, I would have preferred if there was a little more game where EVE could have come to her own decision instead of having Adam present her an ultimatum because the developers ran out of time to have it reach a more natural conclusion.

On a side note, I would have also liked it if Raven and Lily had changed names as the game was clearly trying to stress its biblical creation metaphor.

While I’m not sure the direction a sequel might go, the developers might have suffered a blow to its reputation by trying to push generative AI usage. But we shall see! At the very least, I hope they’re able to provide a more satisfying conclusion to whatever future game they develop.