Summary
Stellar Bladewears its inspirations on its sleeve. As a blend ofNierand Respawn’sStar Wars Jedigames, even this truncated means of comparison is highly accurate given what is displayed duringStellar Blade’s opening hour or so, as unveiled in its official demo. Combat is an obvious highlight in this demo, particularly in its boss challenge mode that teases a wealth of mechanics players will indulge in later in the story campaign, and yet it was also a great glimpse into how emphaticStellar Bladeis about casual exploration, let alone how leisurely and refreshing these moments can be.
While incredibly linear,Stellar Bladeavoids being on rails thanks to cramming optional loot in each tight environment. This at least provides the sensation of not being funneled squarely toward the next cutscene because players can take a brief detour for a locked chest that requires a combination they may have found earlier.Stellar Bladeisn’t so tough in its demo’s two difficulty options that players will be begging for another camp, either, but camps are its inspired ‘bonfires’ and behave as such. That said, camps are meant to be far more engaging than traditional bonfires andStellar Bladealready seems to be milking them for all they’re worth in surprising ways.
Star Wars Jedi’s Meditation Points Serve a Simple Purpose
Star Wars Jedi’s meditation pointsare serviceable at best, allowing Cal Kestis to peruse unlockable skills and recover health and Force meter. Like theSoulsgames’ bonfires before them, these meditation points aren’t intended to be anything fancy or for players to spend a ton of time there.
Instead, discovering one after a long and treacherous trek is meant to evoke relief as players activate these checkpoints before picking up and departing shortly after. Interestingly,Stellar Blade’s demo insinuates that while stretches of a level won’t be hardly as arduous as those in a traditional Soulslike, players will also have much more they can do at any given camp than a lowly bonfire or meditation point would permit.
Stellar Blade’s Camps Turn Bonfires into Cozy Retreats
Stellar Blade’s camps are unmistakably reminiscent of ‘bonfires’ in any Soulslike game. However,Stellar Blade’s amalgamation of Soulslike features is most akin to howStar Wars Jediimplements them, with one of its most obvious inspirations being Beta and Body Cores, which increase max Beta Energy and max HP and therefore resembleStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s Force and Life Essence.
Likewise,Stellar Bladehas skill trees likeStar Wars Jedidoes. But it’s in camps whereStellar Bladenot only takes inspiration fromStar Wars Jedi’s meditation points but also elevates them greatly by way of additional features and a genuine sense of rest that players can enjoy. In this regard,Stellar Blade’s camps behave more like a rejuvenating respite rather than a sparse checkpoint system. There are a bunch of intriguing features players can interact with at camps:
But that’s not all. There are also supply camps, which are even more involved. Supply camps include everything available in regular camps, as well as the following exclusive features:
Even more features might be present at different camps or points in the game, though these are what were shown to be available during thedemo forStellar Bladethat was released recently and carries over players’ progression to the full launch at the end of this month.
Stellar Blade’s Rest Flashbacks Make for a Brilliant Storytelling Device
Camps are doubly exciting because more often than not it appears as if cutscenes will trigger when resting. These cutscenes help flesh out the narrative more withinteractions between Eve and Adam—who’s there via a drone companion accompanying Eve in gameplay—or even flashbacks to when Tachy was brutally slain inStellar Blade’s tutorial prologue and how Adam rescued Eve.
This is a wonderful storytelling technique for Shift Up to have gone with since it doesn’t interfere with moment-to-moment gameplay and is sort of a reward for players having made their way to the next camp.
The story trickling in little by little this way would be fascinating as lapses are filled in incrementally, and it’ll be interesting to see how camps develop and evolve from the demo’s portion of gameplay moving forward into the rest of the game. Cutscenes triggered by resting at a ‘bonfire’ aren’t new toSoulslike games, nor is it new to meditation points inStar Wars Jedi’s installments, but it seems like that’ll be a regular occurrence players can rely on.
IfStar Wars Jedi: Survivor’s sequel could somehow expand on its meditation points to incorporate even an iota of the cozy leisure thatStellar Bladedelivers in its camps it could go a long way. In particular, such an upgrade would be perfect for whenCal is always traveling with a companion like BD-1. Either way, Cal deserves to rest his eyes or truly reflect on his Master’s teachings in legitimate comfort rather than an illuminated meditation circle glyph discovered randomly on the ground.
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…
