Stellar Blade Demo Impressions: Next Game of the Year?

[@leuenroo7]

So excited for this game! I don't typically play super action-focused games so it took me a minute to get used to but once it clicks, it's a blast. Getting those timings right feels so rewarding. I need to go back and give that extra boss a try because I tried once, died immediately and was like yeah no. But at least after watching this, I know to look out for that quick time event 😅 Regarding her design: it's not like she's the first hot video game protagonist ever. Do we think Nathan Drake and the men from Final Fantasy are designed to look like the average man who will be playing as them lol??? Games will always have idealized characters, it's part of the fantasy. And from what I've seen of her outfits, a lot of them aren't even that revealing. It's just the "skin" suit clips that go viral on social media but you can literally throw on a jacket and jeans

[@cozyfeji]

Yea! It’s kinda off putting when the loud minority make it hard for others to enjoy the game!

[@HonkaiMain]

​@iam_ALEXWHAT_ Journalists mainly. IGN France being the worst. And Allison of Kotaku being the most insistent.

[@AlphazXG_]

@@iam_ALEXWHAT_ obviously the people talking down on the game for stupid reasons

[@dragongamerx12]

when you get skills for eve is makes the lightning boss much easier i spent skill points on raising eves attack and perfect parry which makes parrying much easier

[@hermitsgambit]

It might be dredging up old emotions for some. I remember when Sony was cracking down in visual novels, the guy who does senran kagura stepping down etc. Guess some are surprised to see a title like this once more.

[@Veslelia_cw]

The comment you highlighted said it absolutely perfectly.

[@antiochghost2318]

Demo was fun! Reminded of Bayonetta with some old school ninja gaiden (original Xbox version). Looking forward to getting this game!

[@uppernimbus]

I love the look of this game, but I'd probably suck at the combat 🤣

[@cozyfeji]

Yea I know I’m gonna be garbage at it but the I’m down for the challenge!

[@Hunter-jo8ud]

Yeah the combat is different than other games. Normally you just dodge and do light and heavy attacks.

[@AlphazXG_]

Put it on story mode and turn the combat hints on. Also practice the boss challenge on the demo until it releases

[@i8balls]

Games are another form of art why would anyone want to restrict the creators freedom to express themselves i dont get it.

[@gcole6]

I feel like the fanservice “hate” is a derivative of the early marketing where most of this discourse started. Prior to one of the recent state of plays and the demo. The only things we were shown about the game was the fanservice with gameplay and everything else seemed to take a backseat. For comparison, a game like Xenoblade 2, it has a lot of fan service and has h*ntai artists in the game(as it should lol). But the marketing didn’t focus on Pyra being well endowed . They showed much more than that, and subsequently the discourse around it was much less intense because we could see a good game being created in addition to the fanservice. But in stellar blade’s case all we saw was minimal stuff with suggestive camera angles. Causing 2 POV’s to start. Where one side is cringing at the fanservice/wondering why they should buy the game. And the other who was instantly attached because the fanservice.

[@cozyfeji]

Yea! I feel like people who are playing just for the Eve’s character are just looking at very surface level. Because what I’ve played the game has a lot to offer!

[@SimonHendry-w5x]

Really like the gameplay

[@bicks4436]

I enjoyed the demo a lot, although I don't get the comparisons to nier. Aesthetically for sure it's similar but the gameplay feels very different. Sekiro I get a little more, but it's still it's own thing. At first it felt a little too clunky for me and there's definitely still some parts I'm not crazy about, but after spending some time with the extra boss it started to click a lot more.

[@cozyfeji]

Fair enough!😊

[@schvyler]

You’re hitting it on the head with accomplishing a boss defeat. I will say this game is much easier than a title like Sekiro. I spent 4-6 hours on a boss in Sekiro. But if you’re okay with suffering way longer than anyone should in a video game, then give it a try (and be okay with putting the game down for a time if you’re really struggling). This game may help you getting into Sekiro one day. It’s my favorite game in a long time so I’m always evangelizing for it. And love the statement of feminism: it’s about celebrating and lifting up all types, not putting down certain types that one may find unrealistic. Adults can tell when an aesthetic is genuine style or exploitation. Glad I found this channel. Keep it going. Growth may be slow at first but consistency is key. Good luck.

[@cozyfeji]

Thank you! I really appreciate it!😊

[@StephsTooDef]

The attention this game is getting based off of the sexiness of Eve is low key weird. Really weird. After spending some time with the demo I honestly don’t think that her sexiness is over the top. With that being said, I’m glad I gave the demo a shot. Didn’t pay much attention to it when it was announced during the State of Play. Definitely giving Lies of P and Star Wars Jedi vibes. I’m there day 1! Great video!!

[@cozyfeji]

Yep! I have this game pre-ordered! Can’t wait! ☺️

[@sleepinxonxbed]

That's so interesting that Stellar Blade might be people's intro to Souls games. Once you get past how the MC looks, seems like people only have good things to say about the game. Dark Souls 1 is still one of my favorite games of all time. If you enjoyed the experience of spending alot of time on a challenging boss, and ride the euphoria of beating it then you will enjoy the Souls-like genre. You can also easily forget it's a Japanese made Action RPG, so very very loosely a JRPG without any of the actual jrpg elements lol

[@cozyfeji]

If I can beat this game I’ll definitely dabble into other titles in the genre!

[@12foot97]

Refreshing take, thanks.

[@cozyfeji]

My pleasure!

[@salinalee2613]

The argument that the MC is "too sexy" has always been a big red herring from ppl who don't mean well, imo. I feel like a lot of ppl don't care, so long as the character is written well. That entire nontroversy was something that has started since at least around the time Alloy was introduced as the main character in Horizon. What I'm more interested in is how are they going to write Eve, as a character? Is she going to be someone who has agency, or will she *just* be a pretty doll for incels? Hearing about her being a bit... inexperienced, has me somewhat concerned, however, ShiftUp has the capacity to write compelling women characters, as seen in NIKKE, and when they aren't focusing on *forcing* fanservice moments that SPECIFICALLY cater to cis/het men, the characters are amazing. The women have full, believable, relatable relationships with each other, and there's even some gayness there tbh, which I'm here for. Sidenote: Nikke is actually really popular with women, studies and surveys have recently revealed, and I believe that it's because they are able to write engaging and compelling women characters And also, b/c there *are* girls who like girls, Like That, lol. ShiftUP having to deal with this game being used by butts as the banner of anti-woke anti-sjw is almost ironic, considering the themes in the main story of NIKKE. So a part of me is hoping that there is depth in the characters, the story, the world building, and that they treat the women in the game as complete characters and not just pretty faces. I'm also hoping, as a sapphic, that there is *plenty* of openly gay stuff for us to engage in, which again, ShiftUP has done in NIKKE... at least in the earlier story. There has been a shift in the tone of that game lately, which makes me worry about whether that's b/c of outside pressure, or because that part of the team was working on Stellar Blade. I'm hoping it's the latter, frfr. It's complicated, but mostly just kinda want ppl to be aware that a lot of the claims that are being made about "SJWs" being upset at Eve's design is an astroturfed argument. Personally, I hope that those same ppl immediately run into the themes that are commonly present in ShiftUP games like NIKKE, and have meltdowns b/c all of a sudden Stellar Blade is "too woke" or whatever lol. It looks cool, and it's more important to me that a game by a dev that has only had the opportunity to make mobile gacha games do well, so it can shift the industry away from that, and predatory live service games, and more towards full featured games. Like, if this game does Really Well, Mihoyo *might* consider making a single player game too, and that would be incredible imo. Anyways, you're like one of the ***only*** ppl I've been able to watch talk about this game b/c literally everyone else, mostly cis/het men, have been incredibly insufferable about it, and I feel like they should've made sure that more women got their hands on the game pre-release to offset the narratives being spun by incels that are making the game something that a lot of folks don't even want to touch, just b/c of how annoying they are, and the energy that's being built around it by them is genuinely toxic and off-putting, imo. Take care~

[@rosephoenix954]

I feel the same way. I feel it's both sides that the problem with as long as the female character given agency is more than a pretty face. There should be more female reviewers for the game.

[@cozyfeji]

I wholeheartedly agree with this! I’m hoping that once this game releases; then we can find out if Eve is more fleshed out!

[@dlld77]

Can we just like, stop demonizing normal male sexuality?

[@sboinkthelegday3892]

​@@dlld77 Gwimbly and Banjo Nuts and Bolts fell out of fashion to accuse, huh? That's ABNORMAL and ruined the franchise with self-mockery. But Korean women who get jawbone surgeries to pass as half-decent attractive, is normal according to you. When did you ever actually ATTRACT to a person? Do you know what procreation IS? That's where the concept of sex is from.

[@khaalmalki4039]

It is funny how people try to intellectualize men's attraction to sexy women. It is pretty simple. No justification needed. Enough with the gay shit.

[@003SONE]

I remember when the newish Tomb Raider games came out and so many players were losing their minds because her body type had been changed. I think the oversexualisation for female characters has always been there. Male characters never seem to have this much interest shown in them 😂 Two characters that I think that are pretty cool are Aloy from Horizon and Abby from the Last of Us 2 but of course the most of the internet seemed to think they were "too ugly", which was disappointing. Thank you for your review on the game and this topic. I've only seen male reactions to this game and news and most seem to share a rather biased opinion which is fine but it's nice to see other views too. 😊

[@cozyfeji]

I totally agree with you! It’s weird how some characters are “too ugly”. It all comes down to what the developers stylistic choice.

[@Xxandrew01]

It goes to show you how people are trying to hard to find things to complain about even when it's not even big. Like for real...imagine complaining about a fictional video game character being "too sexy". It's just stupid. If it's too much for you then just don't buy it and move on with your day. It's that simple.

[@josephmillard8109]

Games like this are almost always far more than just skin deep.

[@Onb3k3nd3]