Highlights
- Shift Up CEO Kim Hyung-tae addresses Stellar Blade’s story and writing criticisms.
- Stellar Blade received widespread acclaim for its gameplay, but its story was considered forgettable.
- Shift Up plans to improve in screenplay, script quality, and localization for future works.
Kim Hyung-tae, the CEO of Shift Up and the lead director behind the popular PS5 exclusive Stellar Blade, has addressed criticisms regarding the story and writing quality of the hit action-adventure game. It’s typically uncommon for developers to directly comment on negative reception regarding their latest games, so to see the head honcho at Shift Up respond to Stellar Blade players’ feedback is encouraging, as it shows the company’s willingness to improve instead of resting on its laurels.
Stellar Blade launched to widespread acclaim from critics and fans alike when it released on April 26, 2024. By the time most reviews rolled out, the game had garnered an overall score of 81 on Metacritic and an 84% rating on OpenCritic. More impressively, though, it earned a 9.2 User Score on the former of the two sites, making it one of the highest-rated PlayStation exclusives in the last few years. Players who enjoyed the game primarily praised it for its approachable yet thrilling combat, its bombastic presentation, and its top-notch boss fights, among other things. Not all aspects of Stellar Blade were received positively, however, as the game’s storyline was considered forgettable and underwhelming by some.
Related
Stellar Blade Roadmap Reveals What to Expect from Future Updates
Stellar Blade developer Shift Up has some exciting news for fans who want more details about upcoming updates for the hit PS5 game.
Responding to these complaints, Shift Up CEO Kim Hyung-tae expressed an understanding of gamers’ disappointments with some of Stellar Blade‘s elements during a recent press conference. As reported in an article from This is Game (translated from Korean via Google Translate), the game director stated that, although Stellar Blade had achieved its goal of making Shift Up more recognizable to a global audience, the PS5 adventure game suffered from some “really unfortunate” problems, specifically regarding its screenplay, script quality, and localization. “We will do our best to strengthen the quality in these areas so that we can be recognized by gamers in our next work,” said Hyung-tae.
Stellar Blade’s Story is Seen as a Disappointment By Many
Leading up to its release, Stellar Blade was consistently compared to the critically-acclaimed PlatinumGames title Nier: Automata. Though the two were visually distinct in terms of art style, they both shared some common similarities with their female protagonists, their post-apocalyptic settings, and their dazzling, action-packed setpieces. The one thing Nier: Automata really excelled at, though, was its thought-provoking story, which covered themes like existentialism and the meaning of life. This is the area that Stellar Blade fell short in, as many gamers considered the plot in Shift Up’s action game a disappointment in comparison.
Ultimately, though, the story in Stellar Blade is just a small part of the entire experience, and although it may not be amazing, it certainly doesn’t detract from the game’s immensely enjoyable gameplay, among many of its other elements. Despite some issues here and there, Stellar Blade will likely continue to be considered as one of the best singleplayer games on PS5 for the foreseeable future.
Stellar Blade
Stellar Blade is an action-RPG developed by Shift Up and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The game follows protagonist Eve as she attempts to save a devastated Earth from invaders called Naytiba.
- Released
- April 26, 2024
- Developer(s)
- Shift Up
- Publisher(s)
- Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
