Stellar Blade's overwhelmingly positive player reviews propelled the action-adventure title close to the peak of the PlayStation 5's user score rankings. Players have showered Stellar Blade with praise for its over-the-top combat and eye-catching character designs, with thousands of reviews bolstering the game's user score since its April 26 release. The success of developer Shift Up's latest title cemented its status as one of the most celebrated original IPs to debut in recent years for PlayStation and Sony.

Active members of the gaming community will likely already know of Stellar Blade, a stylish third-person game set in a post-apocalyptic sci-fi future. Even before the game's release, the action-packed Stellar Blade gameplay demo and cinematic trailers fostered a sizable fan base for the title, earning it a place at the top of the PlayStation Network's pre-order rankings for the month of April 2024. The success of the title only continued to grow in the days following its launch, with early reviews for Stellar Blade leaving none in doubt of its status as one of the biggest critical and financial successes of 2024 so far.

Now, after its successful debut, Stellar Blade has become one of the biggest triumphs of Sony's PlayStation 5 console. As recorded on Metacritic, Stellar Blade received universal acclaim with a 9.1 user score at the time of writing, placing it in the top ten of the overall rankings for the site's PlayStation 5 user scores -- among other titles such as Resident Evil 4: Separate Ways and Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition. Notably, this placed several other massive 2024 releases under Stellar Blade in regards to user scores, such as Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Helldivers 2.

Resident Evil 4: Separate Ways - 9.2
Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition - 9.2
Stellar Blade - 9.1
Astro's Playroom - 9.0
Hitman Trilogy - 9.9
The Talos Principle 2 - 9.0
Nioh Remastered - 9.0
Final Fantasy 14 Online: A Realm Reborn - 7.8
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth - 9.0
GRIS - 8.3

Despite the game's success, Stellar Blade experienced several bumps on the road on the way to release. The main protagonist's character design was a particularly prevalent topic among the community, with some users criticizing the developers for adding several risque cosmetic items for Eve.

In contrast, other players have called for mass refunds because of alleged censorship decisions from Shift Up. Some users accused the developers of bowing to public pressure and changing several outfits for Eve to cover up more skin. Shift Up later responded to the accusations and claimed the final versions of the outfits in the game were uncensored, with developers denying that the game was changed to mollify critics.

Uncensored or not, it's undeniable that Stellar Blade is now a powerhouse title for the PlayStation 5, and that a brand new IP has the potential to open the door to new exciting settings and characters. With that said, it remains to be seen if Shift Up will take advantage of their golden goose and whether they can maintain the game's favorable qualities without sacrificing its identity.

Posted: May 04, 2024 2:48 pm
Related Forum: PlayStation Forum

Source: https://gamerant.com/best-ps5-games-stellar-blade/