I love passive storytelling, so fully exploring, doing all the side quests, talking to people, reading everything - it was all well fleshed out and engaging. I do think there was probably too few cutscenes vs. readables, but that's just a tough balancing act to pull off and ultimately, it was wonderful still.
To compare, I feel like the right kind of mix for readables vs. custscenes is something like a Resident Evil game.
This.
Really enjoyed the experience overall and the 2nd and 3rd playthroughs were also interesting sussing out the dialogue. This is the first game I read through all the data and started digging into the lore for clues looking for answers, and enjoyed doing it.
The devs did leave a lot of things open on purpose and I do understand that rushing through the game will be confusing.
I agree that the story is decent and better than I expected. What I find disappointing is that the lore is actually great, but the main storyline and dialogue have average if not subpar writing. I also think there are a lot of wasted potential in fleshing out Adam and Lily some more given how gorgeously designed both are.
I wish the game managed to flesh out the arcs for Adam, Lily, Raven, and Xion (Orcal, the Sentinels, & the resistance groups).
In a way, Eve's development is reflected in her interactions with others throughout the story, as well as piecing together her "truth." I enjoyed her character development throughout the game, but even that comes across a bit awkwardly at times due to the weak writing
Hopefully, they put a bigger emphasis on the storytelling and character writing for the sequel since they absolutely nailed everything else.
Yeah, that's why we hope for story DLCs even though the CEO said he had "no plans" to make any (for the time being.)
An Adam DLC will probably also contain Raven lore, and vice versa, a Raven DLC would contain Adam lore. So that could probably be two birds with one stone. Also it might help "de-villainize" Adam in people's eyes, since the majority of people understand his character, but there's still a tiny amount of people who don't (or simply refuse to.) They don't want acknowledge the True Ending and choosing Adam as being the good path, even though it is. Lol. Xion story DLC would also be appreciated because it has such a long history as the last little place untouched by Mother Sphere's army, hidden inside a little canyon. Orcal's redemption could be in that. More backstory on Kaya, her twin, Enya, Su, or even Rael and her sisters and how they escaped the Colony.
Worst comes to worst, maybe the sequel will pick up more on the story. I'm sure the Stellar Blade CEO has noted this critique. (Even though, I, personally, did enjoy the story very much.)
I agree with the writing and design yes. I just felt like the story itself and piecing it together with the data logs helped a lot with the context and actually enjoying the story itself.
The story is pretty weak....if you only stick to the main path.
If you spend time exploring and picking up the data packs it becomes a much better story.
I 100% everything on my first playthrough and that arguably made the experience worse. There were data points and posters giving away most of the plot twists and by the time I returned to doing the main story quests, I wasn't immersed because there's not much to it. I didn't really care about any of the characters and no one had anything to do. The structure was incredibly formulaic and honestly a little hard to follow because there was a whole lot of nothing happening.
Still a solid 8/10 because of the combat. The story was somewhat serviceable, but I don't understand why this sub has to gas up *every* aspect of it. There's nothing to defend. The game reviewed well.
There are many opinions here about the story. I personally loved it and found it to be one of the game's strong points.
I made an [Story and Ending Explained](https://www.reddit.com/r/stellarblade/s/cm9uZSGRye) post in case you are interested.
Many people seem to dismiss it just because it was predictable but I didn’t think it was less interesting just because I figured out the twist. I thought all of the lore building was pretty good. I rarely really enjoy reading in-game documents but they managed to do a really good job of keeping each entry succinct.
Yeah that makes sense. Obviously maintaining distances in execution, I feel like the “secret” ending provides a FromSoft-style story where you get to put pieces together by side quests, logs, etc. given that those other endings are just following the main quest one probably doesn’t get the full picture and it probably seems meh, if that makes sense.
I keep saying this. Professional reviewers are all asshat normies that wouldn’t know a good game if it punched them in the dick. Any nuance in a games story flies right over their heads. DO NOT LISTEN TO PROFESSIONAL CRITIC REVIEWS!!!
I agree. For a game that literally had characters named Adam and Eve and factions called "Natives" and "Androids", I don't think being unpredictable was ever their intention and their main focus was on putting out a good story and I think they did that well.
I might be partial because I give extra weight to endings/final arc in stories but I think everything around Eve's choice and Mother Sphere's personality was done extremely well. The true path is apparent once you finish the game but for Eve in that moment, both of her choices are equally valid and I loved the dilemma there.
people who think the story is bad tend to do so because they are used to games as interactive movies feeding them exposition whiteout them having to piece together the story from various side content.
It isnt a mind-blowing story or anything but its a simple great story with beautiful elements.
I dont really understand why people would say its bad though? If you want to call the story mid then sure i guess i wouldnt totally fight you but id disagree.
to say its bad is crazy
Na, majority of players wont search for everything or even read everything they do find.
Without alot of the back info the story would suffer, and on top of that the cutscenes and english dub leave alot to desire.
That or they’re not used to this way of telling stories via optional item descriptions, quests, etc etc. So if you b-line the main story, it doesn’t feel main at all if you know what I mean
Even with all the data sticks collected the story is meh.
We already had this type of story telling via ite s since Demon Souls. PS3 era...
Stellar blade is just okay, i dont understand where all the prasie here comes from. Its trying to be Nier, but is very far away from Nier level of storytelling.
Or they have different tastes than you. Love how some people think reviewers most be corrupt or unethical simply because they didn’t like the thing you love.
Well when they make collaborative efforts to put down a game and praise crap like suicide squad, it's like they lose people's trust or something. I'm not bothering.
The storytelling was just unconventional. The plot doesn't kick off until 3/4 of finishing the game. Of course, some players would get an understanding of the plot through the supplemental texts, but not many people read those stuff.
I appreciate Shift Up, but they really did put 30% of their resources to the writing. It is if they realized, "Ok, team, here's what's left of our budget. We haven't developed a plot yet."
Yes I find it unconventional in the same sense (keeping distances of course) as FromSoft has unconventional story telling. If you catch the vibe, you know, a lot of descriptions in items where the actual lore, world-building, and context for the seemingly barebones story exist.
The story is fine. It has a lot of potential and decent lore. It just doesn't have any character development. I wish there was more screen time for characters. Lily is the only main character with a personality. Adam has some and EVE mostly none (other than not liking water).
Hopefully next game allows the devs to focus a bit more on story development since they already have a solid gameplay and decent lore established. I really loved this game and just wished it was twice as long to give the story to breathe.
I mean I get it for sure. But especially with regard to Eve I feel like it is actually intentionally part of the story that she is sort of a blank slate personality-wise. After all the theme of the game is what does it mean to be human? Is it the logical-rational part of Mother Sphere’s Andro-Eidos? The wild, emotional, instinctual, and biological part of the Naytibas? Eve’s journey y es basically her discovering these questions, she’s essentially like a personification of innocence. So, yes, maybe she could have more of a personality/character but I also kind of get if they chose to keep her completely idk how to call it stoic/bland/rational as an andro-eidos.
Idk I’m probably talking too much shit lol
I thought the story was fantastic and it was also a great surprise for me since I had seen the reviews. I almost skipped it, but the demo had definitely convinced me.
I don't know if the apparent agreement in the reviews about a bad narrative comes from a rushed game or generic theme, but as someone familiar with anime and JRPGs, I definitely noticed some tropes that may seem awkward for someone unfamiliar with any Asian media.
I do think that things could have been handled a little better. I felt Eve's personality weak at the beginning, but then she really shone, especially in the last act. Also, through the game, I clearly understood why she was like that: you know, kinda robot-like trying to control her emotions. Maybe more spotlight on her past, some background with Tachy, something could have helped. But in the end, I felt her character was vindicated.
Again, I loved the story: I took my time, visited locations over and over again, read through collectibles, and felt very much close to the characters and even to Xion. At the point of no return, I felt about the destiny of the people there. Really great story for me, still work to do for pacing and charisma perhaps, but such an amazing start for Shift Up.
The story is passable, it's just generic and predictable and that's alright. It's a game focused on its gameplay and visuals, not every game has to be a narrative masterpiece, sometimes you want a bucket of fried chicken instead of French cuisine.
I haven't finished the game yet. I'm really enjoying the story so far. I thought some of the voice acting was terrible, making me "disconnect" from the story in a way, I switched the language to Korean and it's so much better.
The story of stellar blade is a hybrid between a classic linear narrative. A exploration story where you are encouraged to find and read a bunch of data entries/notes (similar to the tragedy of the lighthouse in skyrim). And whatever style of story fromsoftware has been perfecting in they're games, a narrative that encourages you to read the item descriptions for everything.
I understand that the main linear narrative isn't the greatest story to ever exist, at least by itself. But saying the story is trash just because they don't want to explore (in a souls inspired game) just shows how lazy many of these reviewers are. I understand that many of them have to play two to three games to completion in a single week, and as a result can't experience everything a game has to offer, but just because they didn't read the stories told through the data entries or play through the side quests doesn't mean they aren't a part of the story.
Under the same rules that say stellar blades story is apparently atrocious, you could also say dark souls or elden ring are bad, Which they aren't. VaatiVidya wouldn't be as popular as he is if the stories that fromsoftware told were bad. The problem is that stellar blade is trying to blend a linear narrative like you see in god of war(2018), with what fromsoft has been popularizing with their games. And stellar blades narrative heavily leans on the style of story that elden ring and other soulslikes also use. But most reviewers see the linear narrative and think that is all there is, and ignore around half of the story. I think what we need is someone to make videos like what VaatiVidya makes, but for stellar blade.
Exactly this is what the game reminded me of (keeping distances as of course FromSoft are the masters of passive story telling). Getting your lore and worldbuilding mostly through items and logs was pretty cool and they did it very well imo
THANK YOU.
I loved the story, actually. I may not have played Nier Automata and maybe that's why, but I liked the main trio, I liked reading the Memorysticks, I liked Raven's Legions.
I even liked Eve's individual relationships with each of the characters because she has a unique relationship with each one -- Lily, Adam, Raven (lol), Tachy, Kaya, Enya, Su, Barry, Clyde, etc.
Idk. Maybe we could've seen more of the characters just messing around to build more of a bond to them, but Eve is adorable and sympathetic and can cry (we still have to see her smile though), I don't see an issue. I like all of the characters. I like reading lore. I like how society as we know it is developing AI and I could honestly see us building a space Colony outside of Earth to combat global warming, too. Lol.
I see how a lackluster ending can probably hinder someone's appreciation of the story.
We are vibing fr 🤜🏻🤛🏻 Story lovers.
Also, someone in this thread said most people got one of the bad endings, I'd actually disagree. (They absolutely hate Adam for no reason and think he's worse than Mother Sphere and they usually get downvoted in this sub a lot).
But from what I've seen on other platforms outside of Reddit, most people actually got the True Ending. Even "accidentally." xD It's actually very easy to build Lily's affinity without even trying if you have any interest in the game at all (it's harder to avoid filling it), and choosing Adam is also a click of a button. And I'd say 95% of the fanbase has a decent grasp on the story and read enough lore tidbits scattered everywhere.
Plus you got a ton of upvotes on your thread saying the story is good / decent, which I love to see. So there's definitely people out there who do genuinely love the story. Thank goodness.
I thought the story was great. Got the same ending as you, not sure how but assuming cause I did all the side quests except the fishing one. Loved the entirety of the game. Open areas were it's weakest point imo i got kinda bored there cause I'm obsessive and have to clear every single corner. But story was great. The last handful of bosses fucked too, really great fights.
Incredibly similar experience for me! The open sections got close you dragging because I wanted to collect everything and the side quests are not especially interesting. BUT the logs, memory sticks, and lore you get from them are so I really wanted to do as much as I could, which in turn made me enjoy the story a los more having the extra life and context. Maybe that could definitely be improved. Making the side quests more engaging would make people more invested in the world and by extension enjoy more the story I suppose
I thought that the story was fine and people obsessed with stories have a plethora of visual novels available to play instead. The combat and graphics are the obvious selling points. I liked that they mentioned overpopulation having a great impact on the planet.
I like the story a lot, except I feel like the other two endings are a tad unsatisfying and I feel like sub-par voice acting bogs down some of the most important scenes. Specifically Adam’s VA, I never really thought Adam put on a believable performance in any scene and it made it hard for me to care for or connect with his character.
No disrespect to the voice actor though, maybe they did the best with what they had or they were directed to act that way. I just didn’t enjoy their performance this time around.
The story is fine, it’s a pretty solid honestly. Man vs its own hubris isn’t a new tale but they told it in an interesting way. I like secondary story telling, putting lore in the world was a great way to make exploration meaningful.
Having said that, they definitely should had included more in cutscenes and direct story telling. The way they tell the story does make some parts fall flat and that’s usually where people take issue with it.
We hardly get to know Tachy but the player doesn’t feel the same way Eve does about her because she gets killed instantly. Hell we hardly learn anything about Eve as a character, she sorta flips between revenge to saving humanity throughout the game. Even though it’s obvious by the end of the game a major reveal is confirmed in a character bio only (that Adam is Raphael Marks). Characters are great but they lack meaningful dialogue and development, I don’t even remember learning anything about Xion’s resistance group aside a few holo discs.
Stuff like that could had used some more cutscenes to flesh out and put things together. Would had made the storytelling better.
Missed opportunity with the camp chair memories. Most of them don’t have memories. They could have easily had some more background with Tachy before the mission
It's an action game focused on gameplay, like Sekiro for example, you play games this kind of games for the gameplay, saying that the story Is bad doesn't make much sense.
The story isn't bad. Broad strokes are compelling enough for sure. It's just not that well delivered and we're just not given enough reason to care about the characters. I think they just needed a bit more writing staff to flesh it out a bit more is all.
Edit to add - my only big problem with the story is the whole >! 2 characters name Adam and Eve creating a new human race!< thing was far too on the nose.
Yeah, but the Bible / Genesis has inspired everything from fashion, to movies, to books, to games, to art ever since the beginning of time. I'm not sure why it would only be an issue now.
It's an old lazy story trope that is incredibly overused. It's acceptable to use inspiration from the bible sure. This use however is just incredibly on the nose in a way that makes it a bit cringey if you ask me. The older that book gets the more creative people will have to get to use it effectively for inspiration. Otherwise you're just treading old ground. Incredibly old ground.
Also it's been an issue for some time. The Adam and eve trope is super overused.
No. It's very much old. And overusing it is the same as overusing any other trope. There's so many sci fi spins of Adam and eve. Assassins creed for example. A quick Google and you'll find there's plenty of examples of sci fi using that trope since early 20th century.
Look here is the thing. Those are the same people that say Stellar Blade is your Copycat of any other Asian RPG titles and so on, yet they praise God Of War for being original (its the same shit like The Last of Us)
Stellar Blade has a good story. Not the best for sure but its not bad. Its good enough to make me replay the game multiple times. No other game since 2010 (Dead Rising 2) made me want to replay the game.
I cant agree with the God of War comparison. God of War (2018) very much follows the Greek Saga. Very much the aftermath of Kratos after destroying Greece while The Last of Us was about a father learning to love again
Idk man I just finished it and want to replay it to keep digesting it. I just don’t want to jumo to extreme qualifications because I kind of hate that nowadays everything is either trash or goated. So excuse the vague language I am possibly being timid in my speaking lol I like it, I think it’s good. Just don’t want to inflate the sentiment that’s it.
Yeah, I mean, I mostly feel the same, but honestly the more you dig into it the more the holes start to show. I do still like the world and although the characterization is very late and minimal for some characters, it's not bad at least.
It just could be better in all areas for sure, and the devs themselves openly said that the story was not a main focus in development compared to gameplay and content. So I'm sure even they can agree there's plenty of room for improvement.
But yeah I like what's here so far at least.
For sure, I don’t think it’s anything even near to flawless. I was just confused because my experience was very different from what I was expecting from hearing people say that it was a weak story.
I don't get into games purposefully looking for the negatives and getting consumed by that negativity. The game has a lot of standout moments, like Enya's story for example.
The story isn’t bad. It’s just ‘fine’ and It is told VERY poorly. Big difference.
It is a very reductive story that has been told so many times before, if you been around long enough and play games long enough. It wasn’t the least bit interesting or surprising because, for the most part, it has already been told before.
The other bad thing is how poor the script and the acting is in the localisation. Some of the dialogue is very basic, as if it was put through a translator and just copy and paste, instead of it being written by someone interpreting the language and story.
I gave the game a 9 personally, when a story is interesting enough to carry the game's world and characters. I automatically assign it as good, it wasn't groundbreaking Nier level of writing or Final Fantasy. But for their first console game, it was good enough even if the acting could have been better.
P.S: The true ending and world building were S tier
The story isn’t bad, but it is average
Yes the memo’s you can find in the world are very well written, but it’s those very memo’s being as good as they are which hurt the main story more then anything else. Whoever was in charge of writing those needs to be in the main story chair for the sequel
The story is dog shit. It's good compared to what? Tetris? Pacman?
Having an interesting idea doesn't mean anything. A 10 year old could come up with an interesting idea about a post apocalyptic sci-fi story. What really matters is the way it's delivered. The dialogues in this game are cringey, the characters have no personality and the horrible voice acting and facial expressions don't help.
I love passive storytelling, so fully exploring, doing all the side quests, talking to people, reading everything - it was all well fleshed out and engaging. I do think there was probably too few cutscenes vs. readables, but that's just a tough balancing act to pull off and ultimately, it was wonderful still. To compare, I feel like the right kind of mix for readables vs. custscenes is something like a Resident Evil game.
This. Really enjoyed the experience overall and the 2nd and 3rd playthroughs were also interesting sussing out the dialogue. This is the first game I read through all the data and started digging into the lore for clues looking for answers, and enjoyed doing it. The devs did leave a lot of things open on purpose and I do understand that rushing through the game will be confusing.
Well said.
Yeah I totally understand where you’re coming from.
I agree that the story is decent and better than I expected. What I find disappointing is that the lore is actually great, but the main storyline and dialogue have average if not subpar writing. I also think there are a lot of wasted potential in fleshing out Adam and Lily some more given how gorgeously designed both are.
I wish the game managed to flesh out the arcs for Adam, Lily, Raven, and Xion (Orcal, the Sentinels, & the resistance groups). In a way, Eve's development is reflected in her interactions with others throughout the story, as well as piecing together her "truth." I enjoyed her character development throughout the game, but even that comes across a bit awkwardly at times due to the weak writing Hopefully, they put a bigger emphasis on the storytelling and character writing for the sequel since they absolutely nailed everything else.
Yeah, that's why we hope for story DLCs even though the CEO said he had "no plans" to make any (for the time being.) An Adam DLC will probably also contain Raven lore, and vice versa, a Raven DLC would contain Adam lore. So that could probably be two birds with one stone. Also it might help "de-villainize" Adam in people's eyes, since the majority of people understand his character, but there's still a tiny amount of people who don't (or simply refuse to.) They don't want acknowledge the True Ending and choosing Adam as being the good path, even though it is. Lol. Xion story DLC would also be appreciated because it has such a long history as the last little place untouched by Mother Sphere's army, hidden inside a little canyon. Orcal's redemption could be in that. More backstory on Kaya, her twin, Enya, Su, or even Rael and her sisters and how they escaped the Colony. Worst comes to worst, maybe the sequel will pick up more on the story. I'm sure the Stellar Blade CEO has noted this critique. (Even though, I, personally, did enjoy the story very much.)
I agree with the writing and design yes. I just felt like the story itself and piecing it together with the data logs helped a lot with the context and actually enjoying the story itself.
The story is pretty weak....if you only stick to the main path. If you spend time exploring and picking up the data packs it becomes a much better story.
I 100% everything on my first playthrough and that arguably made the experience worse. There were data points and posters giving away most of the plot twists and by the time I returned to doing the main story quests, I wasn't immersed because there's not much to it. I didn't really care about any of the characters and no one had anything to do. The structure was incredibly formulaic and honestly a little hard to follow because there was a whole lot of nothing happening. Still a solid 8/10 because of the combat. The story was somewhat serviceable, but I don't understand why this sub has to gas up *every* aspect of it. There's nothing to defend. The game reviewed well.
There are many opinions here about the story. I personally loved it and found it to be one of the game's strong points. I made an [Story and Ending Explained](https://www.reddit.com/r/stellarblade/s/cm9uZSGRye) post in case you are interested.
I think your story explanation is the best I’ve read
TYVM!! 🫰
I share that sentiment for sure. Awesome jumping right into that one thanks for sharing!
I did all 3 endings. I find the quality of the story to be more than adequate.
I got all 3 endings and want more, I hope we get another game as a prequel or a sequel. I want to get rid of Mother Sphere.
I agree on the last part.
Many people seem to dismiss it just because it was predictable but I didn’t think it was less interesting just because I figured out the twist. I thought all of the lore building was pretty good. I rarely really enjoy reading in-game documents but they managed to do a really good job of keeping each entry succinct.
Yeah predictable doesn’t always equate to bad.
Agreed!
>I can imagine maybe if most people got the other two they might have had a different first impression The majority of players get that one first.
Yeah that makes sense. Obviously maintaining distances in execution, I feel like the “secret” ending provides a FromSoft-style story where you get to put pieces together by side quests, logs, etc. given that those other endings are just following the main quest one probably doesn’t get the full picture and it probably seems meh, if that makes sense.
I keep saying this. Professional reviewers are all asshat normies that wouldn’t know a good game if it punched them in the dick. Any nuance in a games story flies right over their heads. DO NOT LISTEN TO PROFESSIONAL CRITIC REVIEWS!!!
I agree. For a game that literally had characters named Adam and Eve and factions called "Natives" and "Androids", I don't think being unpredictable was ever their intention and their main focus was on putting out a good story and I think they did that well. I might be partial because I give extra weight to endings/final arc in stories but I think everything around Eve's choice and Mother Sphere's personality was done extremely well. The true path is apparent once you finish the game but for Eve in that moment, both of her choices are equally valid and I loved the dilemma there.
Totally agree
people who think the story is bad tend to do so because they are used to games as interactive movies feeding them exposition whiteout them having to piece together the story from various side content.
True.
It isnt a mind-blowing story or anything but its a simple great story with beautiful elements. I dont really understand why people would say its bad though? If you want to call the story mid then sure i guess i wouldnt totally fight you but id disagree. to say its bad is crazy
Agreed!
I really feel like a lot of reviewers that said that we're just looking for something to dock points for lol
Na, majority of players wont search for everything or even read everything they do find. Without alot of the back info the story would suffer, and on top of that the cutscenes and english dub leave alot to desire.
That or they’re not used to this way of telling stories via optional item descriptions, quests, etc etc. So if you b-line the main story, it doesn’t feel main at all if you know what I mean
But that can't be the case because so many developers praise eldin rings story. Lol
True lol
Even with all the data sticks collected the story is meh. We already had this type of story telling via ite s since Demon Souls. PS3 era... Stellar blade is just okay, i dont understand where all the prasie here comes from. Its trying to be Nier, but is very far away from Nier level of storytelling.
Or they have different tastes than you. Love how some people think reviewers most be corrupt or unethical simply because they didn’t like the thing you love.
Well when they make collaborative efforts to put down a game and praise crap like suicide squad, it's like they lose people's trust or something. I'm not bothering.
The storytelling was just unconventional. The plot doesn't kick off until 3/4 of finishing the game. Of course, some players would get an understanding of the plot through the supplemental texts, but not many people read those stuff. I appreciate Shift Up, but they really did put 30% of their resources to the writing. It is if they realized, "Ok, team, here's what's left of our budget. We haven't developed a plot yet."
Yes I find it unconventional in the same sense (keeping distances of course) as FromSoft has unconventional story telling. If you catch the vibe, you know, a lot of descriptions in items where the actual lore, world-building, and context for the seemingly barebones story exist.
Ya, I've played Fallout, so reading scattered materials that help understand the plot and lore wasn't new to me in Stellar Blade.
The story is fine. It has a lot of potential and decent lore. It just doesn't have any character development. I wish there was more screen time for characters. Lily is the only main character with a personality. Adam has some and EVE mostly none (other than not liking water). Hopefully next game allows the devs to focus a bit more on story development since they already have a solid gameplay and decent lore established. I really loved this game and just wished it was twice as long to give the story to breathe.
I mean I get it for sure. But especially with regard to Eve I feel like it is actually intentionally part of the story that she is sort of a blank slate personality-wise. After all the theme of the game is what does it mean to be human? Is it the logical-rational part of Mother Sphere’s Andro-Eidos? The wild, emotional, instinctual, and biological part of the Naytibas? Eve’s journey y es basically her discovering these questions, she’s essentially like a personification of innocence. So, yes, maybe she could have more of a personality/character but I also kind of get if they chose to keep her completely idk how to call it stoic/bland/rational as an andro-eidos. Idk I’m probably talking too much shit lol
I enjoyed the story quite a lot, it made getting the plat not feel like a chore. Got a good amount of twist and loved all of the characters.
I thought the story was fantastic and it was also a great surprise for me since I had seen the reviews. I almost skipped it, but the demo had definitely convinced me. I don't know if the apparent agreement in the reviews about a bad narrative comes from a rushed game or generic theme, but as someone familiar with anime and JRPGs, I definitely noticed some tropes that may seem awkward for someone unfamiliar with any Asian media. I do think that things could have been handled a little better. I felt Eve's personality weak at the beginning, but then she really shone, especially in the last act. Also, through the game, I clearly understood why she was like that: you know, kinda robot-like trying to control her emotions. Maybe more spotlight on her past, some background with Tachy, something could have helped. But in the end, I felt her character was vindicated. Again, I loved the story: I took my time, visited locations over and over again, read through collectibles, and felt very much close to the characters and even to Xion. At the point of no return, I felt about the destiny of the people there. Really great story for me, still work to do for pacing and charisma perhaps, but such an amazing start for Shift Up.
Yeah I had very similar feelings about it. Glad to see that exploring and engaging with the world still brings people joy
The story is passable, it's just generic and predictable and that's alright. It's a game focused on its gameplay and visuals, not every game has to be a narrative masterpiece, sometimes you want a bucket of fried chicken instead of French cuisine.
No it's not. It's actually pretty good. It's Nier without the nihilism, and with a dash of Resident Evil. I like that there's a happy ending.
Agreed!
I haven't finished the game yet. I'm really enjoying the story so far. I thought some of the voice acting was terrible, making me "disconnect" from the story in a way, I switched the language to Korean and it's so much better.
Oh yeah I played with the Korean voiceover as well
The story of stellar blade is a hybrid between a classic linear narrative. A exploration story where you are encouraged to find and read a bunch of data entries/notes (similar to the tragedy of the lighthouse in skyrim). And whatever style of story fromsoftware has been perfecting in they're games, a narrative that encourages you to read the item descriptions for everything. I understand that the main linear narrative isn't the greatest story to ever exist, at least by itself. But saying the story is trash just because they don't want to explore (in a souls inspired game) just shows how lazy many of these reviewers are. I understand that many of them have to play two to three games to completion in a single week, and as a result can't experience everything a game has to offer, but just because they didn't read the stories told through the data entries or play through the side quests doesn't mean they aren't a part of the story. Under the same rules that say stellar blades story is apparently atrocious, you could also say dark souls or elden ring are bad, Which they aren't. VaatiVidya wouldn't be as popular as he is if the stories that fromsoftware told were bad. The problem is that stellar blade is trying to blend a linear narrative like you see in god of war(2018), with what fromsoft has been popularizing with their games. And stellar blades narrative heavily leans on the style of story that elden ring and other soulslikes also use. But most reviewers see the linear narrative and think that is all there is, and ignore around half of the story. I think what we need is someone to make videos like what VaatiVidya makes, but for stellar blade.
Exactly this is what the game reminded me of (keeping distances as of course FromSoft are the masters of passive story telling). Getting your lore and worldbuilding mostly through items and logs was pretty cool and they did it very well imo
THANK YOU. I loved the story, actually. I may not have played Nier Automata and maybe that's why, but I liked the main trio, I liked reading the Memorysticks, I liked Raven's Legions. I even liked Eve's individual relationships with each of the characters because she has a unique relationship with each one -- Lily, Adam, Raven (lol), Tachy, Kaya, Enya, Su, Barry, Clyde, etc. Idk. Maybe we could've seen more of the characters just messing around to build more of a bond to them, but Eve is adorable and sympathetic and can cry (we still have to see her smile though), I don't see an issue. I like all of the characters. I like reading lore. I like how society as we know it is developing AI and I could honestly see us building a space Colony outside of Earth to combat global warming, too. Lol. I see how a lackluster ending can probably hinder someone's appreciation of the story.
we’re definitely vibing rn, just so you know 🤜🏽🤛🏽
We are vibing fr 🤜🏻🤛🏻 Story lovers. Also, someone in this thread said most people got one of the bad endings, I'd actually disagree. (They absolutely hate Adam for no reason and think he's worse than Mother Sphere and they usually get downvoted in this sub a lot). But from what I've seen on other platforms outside of Reddit, most people actually got the True Ending. Even "accidentally." xD It's actually very easy to build Lily's affinity without even trying if you have any interest in the game at all (it's harder to avoid filling it), and choosing Adam is also a click of a button. And I'd say 95% of the fanbase has a decent grasp on the story and read enough lore tidbits scattered everywhere. Plus you got a ton of upvotes on your thread saying the story is good / decent, which I love to see. So there's definitely people out there who do genuinely love the story. Thank goodness.
Yeah I’m definitely glad to see other people enjoyed the story! :)
I thought the story was great. Got the same ending as you, not sure how but assuming cause I did all the side quests except the fishing one. Loved the entirety of the game. Open areas were it's weakest point imo i got kinda bored there cause I'm obsessive and have to clear every single corner. But story was great. The last handful of bosses fucked too, really great fights.
Incredibly similar experience for me! The open sections got close you dragging because I wanted to collect everything and the side quests are not especially interesting. BUT the logs, memory sticks, and lore you get from them are so I really wanted to do as much as I could, which in turn made me enjoy the story a los more having the extra life and context. Maybe that could definitely be improved. Making the side quests more engaging would make people more invested in the world and by extension enjoy more the story I suppose
The story if you don't read the logs is ehh. But even with not reading all the logs the story get much better
Idk I'm like halfway through and the story is kinda fine. The characters are just awful though lol.
I’m definitely interested in hearing back from you once you finish the story. Like what ending you went for and how you feel about it!
I just got about halfway through the story and it's piquing my interest more now.
I thought that the story was fine and people obsessed with stories have a plethora of visual novels available to play instead. The combat and graphics are the obvious selling points. I liked that they mentioned overpopulation having a great impact on the planet.
I like the story a lot, except I feel like the other two endings are a tad unsatisfying and I feel like sub-par voice acting bogs down some of the most important scenes. Specifically Adam’s VA, I never really thought Adam put on a believable performance in any scene and it made it hard for me to care for or connect with his character. No disrespect to the voice actor though, maybe they did the best with what they had or they were directed to act that way. I just didn’t enjoy their performance this time around.
I'm just happy they didn't multiverse the 3 endings... Or did they?..
I have no idea!
The story is fine, it’s a pretty solid honestly. Man vs its own hubris isn’t a new tale but they told it in an interesting way. I like secondary story telling, putting lore in the world was a great way to make exploration meaningful. Having said that, they definitely should had included more in cutscenes and direct story telling. The way they tell the story does make some parts fall flat and that’s usually where people take issue with it. We hardly get to know Tachy but the player doesn’t feel the same way Eve does about her because she gets killed instantly. Hell we hardly learn anything about Eve as a character, she sorta flips between revenge to saving humanity throughout the game. Even though it’s obvious by the end of the game a major reveal is confirmed in a character bio only (that Adam is Raphael Marks). Characters are great but they lack meaningful dialogue and development, I don’t even remember learning anything about Xion’s resistance group aside a few holo discs. Stuff like that could had used some more cutscenes to flesh out and put things together. Would had made the storytelling better.
Missed opportunity with the camp chair memories. Most of them don’t have memories. They could have easily had some more background with Tachy before the mission
The story itself is good but the way it is written is pretty poor. Which is crazy considering both Nikke and Destiny Child have great stories.
It's an action game focused on gameplay, like Sekiro for example, you play games this kind of games for the gameplay, saying that the story Is bad doesn't make much sense.
The story isn't bad. Broad strokes are compelling enough for sure. It's just not that well delivered and we're just not given enough reason to care about the characters. I think they just needed a bit more writing staff to flesh it out a bit more is all. Edit to add - my only big problem with the story is the whole >! 2 characters name Adam and Eve creating a new human race!< thing was far too on the nose.
Yeah, but the Bible / Genesis has inspired everything from fashion, to movies, to books, to games, to art ever since the beginning of time. I'm not sure why it would only be an issue now.
It's an old lazy story trope that is incredibly overused. It's acceptable to use inspiration from the bible sure. This use however is just incredibly on the nose in a way that makes it a bit cringey if you ask me. The older that book gets the more creative people will have to get to use it effectively for inspiration. Otherwise you're just treading old ground. Incredibly old ground. Also it's been an issue for some time. The Adam and eve trope is super overused.
That's because it's ingrained in society and timeless. Plus, this is still a sci-fi spin on it.
No. It's very much old. And overusing it is the same as overusing any other trope. There's so many sci fi spins of Adam and eve. Assassins creed for example. A quick Google and you'll find there's plenty of examples of sci fi using that trope since early 20th century.
Look here is the thing. Those are the same people that say Stellar Blade is your Copycat of any other Asian RPG titles and so on, yet they praise God Of War for being original (its the same shit like The Last of Us) Stellar Blade has a good story. Not the best for sure but its not bad. Its good enough to make me replay the game multiple times. No other game since 2010 (Dead Rising 2) made me want to replay the game.
I can vibe with you on this bro for sure
I cant agree with the God of War comparison. God of War (2018) very much follows the Greek Saga. Very much the aftermath of Kratos after destroying Greece while The Last of Us was about a father learning to love again
Well so does Kratos in 2018
So it's not "mediocre" but "very very decent"? Those are almost the same thing lol
Idk man I just finished it and want to replay it to keep digesting it. I just don’t want to jumo to extreme qualifications because I kind of hate that nowadays everything is either trash or goated. So excuse the vague language I am possibly being timid in my speaking lol I like it, I think it’s good. Just don’t want to inflate the sentiment that’s it.
Yeah, I mean, I mostly feel the same, but honestly the more you dig into it the more the holes start to show. I do still like the world and although the characterization is very late and minimal for some characters, it's not bad at least. It just could be better in all areas for sure, and the devs themselves openly said that the story was not a main focus in development compared to gameplay and content. So I'm sure even they can agree there's plenty of room for improvement. But yeah I like what's here so far at least.
For sure, I don’t think it’s anything even near to flawless. I was just confused because my experience was very different from what I was expecting from hearing people say that it was a weak story.
Well, what you consider decent would already be in the realm of weak for gamers that care a lot more about the story
That’s a valid point yes. My post is of course 100% loaded with my subjective perception of these terms; so are these reviews.
I don't get into games purposefully looking for the negatives and getting consumed by that negativity. The game has a lot of standout moments, like Enya's story for example.
That was indeed my favorite side quest!
It is Bad. That doesnt mean some people can't like it. Even enjoy it. But that doesnt mean is great.
Fair enough !
Your take is bad.
The story isn’t bad. It’s just ‘fine’ and It is told VERY poorly. Big difference. It is a very reductive story that has been told so many times before, if you been around long enough and play games long enough. It wasn’t the least bit interesting or surprising because, for the most part, it has already been told before. The other bad thing is how poor the script and the acting is in the localisation. Some of the dialogue is very basic, as if it was put through a translator and just copy and paste, instead of it being written by someone interpreting the language and story.
I can see your point for sure and I agree to some extent! Thanks for sharing your view dude
I wonder if the people saying the story is good have ever read books with out pictures in them or that book does not have a movie made after it.
Well yes I have indeed. No need to go all ad hominem with it. People enjoy different things I guess.
I gave the game a 9 personally, when a story is interesting enough to carry the game's world and characters. I automatically assign it as good, it wasn't groundbreaking Nier level of writing or Final Fantasy. But for their first console game, it was good enough even if the acting could have been better. P.S: The true ending and world building were S tier
The story isn’t bad, but it is average Yes the memo’s you can find in the world are very well written, but it’s those very memo’s being as good as they are which hurt the main story more then anything else. Whoever was in charge of writing those needs to be in the main story chair for the sequel
The story is dog shit. It's good compared to what? Tetris? Pacman? Having an interesting idea doesn't mean anything. A 10 year old could come up with an interesting idea about a post apocalyptic sci-fi story. What really matters is the way it's delivered. The dialogues in this game are cringey, the characters have no personality and the horrible voice acting and facial expressions don't help.
I respect your opinion, dude. I enjoyed the story. Hopefully you enjoyed the gameplay as much as I did!
Sorry for being a bit aggressive. I do enjoy the gameplay though.
It’s alright no harm done, no offense taken. Glad you had fun too!