Stellar Blade made waves for a few reasons when it released onto PC, PS5 and Xbox in 2023, not least because of the overt sexualisation of its protagonist Eve, which was a deliberate design choice that developer ShiftUp were unapologetic about. After all, when dealing with a storyline focusing on cyborg ninjas fighting mutated alien monsters in the future, who really cares if said cyborg ninjas want to dress like cocktail waitresses and burlesque dancers?
Personally I could take or leave the overall design of Eve, aesthetically pleasing as she undoubtedly is designed to be, because story and characterisation were the two weakest links in the Stellar Blade chain. It took itself far too seriously, which led to some weird tonal clashes between the way characters acted and the situations they found themselves in. It was a bit of nonsense that didn’t seem to realise it was.
Thankfully, it’s a fantastic character action game with a few souls like sensibilities thrown in. As Eve, your primary goal is to kill the aforementioned alien monsters, known as Naytiba, that have taken over the Earth in the decades following an apocalypse. You do this with a combination of acrobatics, gunplay, and a massive sword.
It begins in a series of linear levels with a few short sidepaths hiding secrets. Guided by Adam, Eve eventually comes to a walled-off town, at which point you’ll gain access to sidequests and a large open area ripe for exploring. Sadly, though, this is one of Stellar Blade’s shortcomings, as once you reach this area, the scenery rarely changes, and it gets boring staring at an apocalyptic desert for hours on end.
Combat is fast and precise, punchy and satisfying – or at least it is on the other platforms. On Switch 2, the devs have pushed it to run at 60fps with a combination of reduced fidelity and frame generation, which causes occasional input to dampen the experience. While exploring the world it’s not as noticeable unless you’re precision-platforming, but in combat with bosses where you need razor-sharp reflexes, it can be a little frustrating.
In pushing for 720p handheld and 1080 docked, Stellar Blade’s visuals have taken a slight hit. Things are a little hazier than they should be, though it’s nowhere near “Witcher 3 on Switch 1” bad. It looks much better in handheld mode, as most things do on Switch 2, and I found it perfectly playable throughout in terms of how it looks.
With a 30-hour campaign, a ton of things to collect, a solid spread of enemy types and boss designs, and it’s exciting combat, Stellar Blade on Switch 2 is still a great game, but one that struggles to match the performance of other platforms where it’s still, as usual, way cheaper. Still, as I always say, if it’s your only way to place it, it’s still worth a look. Oh, and there are Bayonetta outfits now, if that helps.
