Stellar Blade Review: No Sharp Edges

gadgets.ndtv.com:

Good video games know what they are. A strong sense of self-awareness about their strengths and weaknesses — it could be the game's narrative chops or its mechanical robustness — make for games that don't suffer from an identity crisis. It also prevents games from feeling bloated and scatterbrained. But a concentrated approach can force-fit a straitjacket onto a game, as well, leaving it feeling like a one trick pony.

Stellar Blade, the debut game from Korean studio Shift Up, is also laser-focussed on its singular skillset. As an action-adventure title, it zeroes in on the action with admirable flair, but it purposefully avoids complexity in almost every other department to deliver an experience that constantly urges you forward and deeper into its combat playground with barely any meaningful distractions along the way.

If you want a more rounded experience from your video game, if you desire meaningful side quests, an affecting story and three-dimensional characters, then Stellar Blade will stop short of ticking the right boxes. But, if a 20-hour single-minded rush through monster-infested levels, adorned with kinetic action, challenging boss fights, and flashy visuals, sounds appealing to you, then it will serve exactly what it promises.

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II Review: Ninja Theory's Flawed, but Uncompromising Sequel Is a Cinematic Achievement

Stellar Blade is also not completely barren when it comes to ideas: its grotesque monster designs, while derivative, are interesting and often anachronistic, fitting the nightmarish world of Bloodborne more than the slick ruins of planet Earth in Stellar Blade, thus making for an unsettling experience whenever they show up; the excellent in-game music not only underscores the frenetic combat, but also accentuates the idle time between the encounters; and the game is almost perfectly paced between cascading sections of breathless action and idyllic moments of relief.

And then, there's the much talked about character