As we approach the end of 2023, many gamers have noticed that one game didn’t make its release on the PlayStation console, and that was Stellar Blade. Even though there was never a precise release date for Stellar Blade and it has been in development since 2019, many gamers were expecting it to release within 2023. This is especially because it was teased back in 2022 that the developers, Shift Up, were aiming for the title to arrive year.
Sadly, it has now been announced within a PlayStation blog post that the game has been delayed until 2024, again providing no exact release date. For many reasons, gamers are wondering whether or not they will see this game release in the next year, or if it will be either delayed or cancelled before it gets its chance to shine.
What Is Stellar Blade, and Why Were Gamers Excited to See Its Release?
For those who do not know, Stellar Blade is a game that is currently being developed by Shift Up, a fairly new South Korean developer that has only released a few other games, mainly mobile games, with this being its first major console project.
Many gamers first got a glimpse of Stellar Blade in 2019, and back then it had a completely different name, which was Project EVE. Originally, Project EVE was set to land on last-generation consoles, but due to delays and new-generation systems being released, it has now changed focus to these new consoles, while maintaining PlayStation exclusive status.
After a few years of silence and a world-wide pandemic, Shift Up finally broke its silence on Project EVE during the State of Play in 2022. During the State of Play, viewers were shown the game’s brand new title and small glimpses of its combat and story.
This small glimpse was just enough to get the gaming community excited over the Stellar Blade release. As it was announced that Shift Up was looking towards a 2023 release, but left out an exact release date within its announcement, gamers now know why the title has been delayed even further.
During the State of Play, gamers were shown a few cutscenes within the game, which included four different characters, with the main character being Eve. The story so far illustrates that Stellar Blade will be set within a post-apocalyptic world full of creatures known as the NA:tives, which Eve is tasked with defeating as they explore this world.
Throughout the trailer, there are glimpses of the game’s combat, which is what mainly excited fans, as some have noticed a glaring similarity to titles like Nier Automata and Dark Souls. This combat shows there is a heavy emphasis on blocking and dodging to fight back against the grotesque monsters that are trying to kill you, while also using high-tech guns and tech to gain the upper hand.
Will We See the Release of the Stellar Blade in 2024, and How Will It Look If It Releases?
At the moment, we do not know why Stellar Blade has been delayed, or how far along the development process Shift Up is. However, since it was set for a 2023 release and is one of the main games that is being developed by Shift Up, it is highly likely it could be released within the later months of 2024, but this is only speculation.
With it being a PlayStation exclusive, we can make a safe assumption that Stellar Blade will utilise the full capabilities of the PlayStation 5, such as its haptic feedback. From what gamers have seen from the trailers as well, it looks like it performs rather well and has a large amount of detail within the scenery.
As stated above, many have already begun to think Stellar Blade will be taking its inspiration from games like Nier Automata and Dark Souls, and rightly so. Throughout 2023, there have been small glimpses that show more of the combat mechanics of Stellar Blades, and after seeing these gameplay trailers, gamers are even more convinced that it will be a Souls-like game.
In these gameplay trailers, we can see that, just like in Nier Automata, players will be required to deflect and dodge attacks and will also be provided with bonuses if they dodge at the perfect time.
There will also be a healing item that players will have to replenish. We do not know if there will be a rest and refresh mechanic like in Dark Souls, but enemies and the player do have a health and posture bar, which is becoming more common with Souls-like games in recent years.
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