SEXYRO

STELLAR BLADE leans on its inspiration a little too much

- Mollie Taylor

Stellar Blade's opening hours are so mired by atrocious level design that I can only assume people are willingly ploughing through for the sake of seeing protagonist Eve's bum jiggle around in a skintight suit for a bit longer. Do I blame them? No, but it's a tough start before things start getting good. Even after 30 hours I still can't shake the feeling that it was trying a little too hard to be Nier: Automata on horny steroids.

Its plot is almost identical: a war-torn Earth, now populated by monstrous alien lifeforms. A woman fighting to reclaim the planet and save humanity alongside a drone companion, soundtracked by eerie female vocals.

Do the world or its characters ever acknowledge this? No. It's a bizarre juxtaposition in a game that so heavily sexualises Eve, despite being a sexless personality existing in a sexless universe. In fact, Eve has very little personality at all. The same is true of supporting cast Adam and Lily.

Worldbuilding is Stellar Blade's weakest point. It doesn't help that it's so close to both Nier games that I couldn't help but compare.