Stellar Blade Review: Monsters, Memories & One Girl in Very Sharp Shoes

Earth’s last hope shows up in high heels and a combat frame. Meet EVE — not exactly human, but close enough to make it complicated. She’s dropped onto a ruined planet overrun by monsters called Naytibas, with one mission: take them down, unravel the truth, and maybe save what’s left of humanity… if there is anything left to save.

This isn’t some chill post-apocalyptic stroll through ruins. It’s more like “good luck dodging death for the next 30 hours.” Every swing, parry, and dodge counts — and the game makes sure your hands will remember every single one of them.

Meet EVE | Stellar Blade | Sony Interactive Entertainment | My gameplay

Combat That Bites Back

The fights in Stellar Blade are all about timing and precision. Miss a parry and the floor gets to know your face real fast. It’s fast, flashy, and deeply satisfying when you pull it off — the kind of combat that makes your heartbeat sync with the clash of steel. Boss battles aren’t just bigger enemies; they’re entire stage shows, equal parts spectacle and brutality.

EVE moves like liquid steel — smooth, deadly, mesmerizing. But that beauty comes with weight, and every blow feels earned.

Xion — a City That Sleeps

Your home base in this world isn’t some bustling metropolis. It’s Xion, a city that’s barely awake. By the time the main story begins, its power and resources have been drained almost dry. Most of its people are placed into hibernation inside the Cradle — a kind of high-tech limbo.

EVE is asked to collect Hyper Cells to reactivate the city’s Hyper Drive, a last-ditch attempt to restore power. Xion is less a safe haven and more a flickering light in a dying world — and every time you return there, it feels just a little more fragile.

Inserting Hyper Cell | Stellar Blade | Sony Interactive Entertainment | My gameplay

Worlds Within a Wreck

The game’s world isn’t one massive map but a patchwork of beautifully crafted spaces. There are linear tunnels and broken cities that feel like echoes of another age, alongside the Wasteland — a more open, sprawling desert that lets you stretch your combat legs a bit.

It’s not an endless sandbox, but it offers enough variety to keep the journey from feeling like a straight line. Exploration is rewarded — sometimes with lore, sometimes with loot, sometimes with a sneaky Naytiba ambush waiting to chew your face off.

Naytibas aren’t just mindless nightmare fuel. They’re a reflection — of humanity’s choices, our experiments, our need to control the uncontrollable. As EVE gets closer to the truth, the line between “us” and “them” starts to blur. What if the monsters didn’t just appear… what if we made them?

Frame, Faith & Free Will

EVE isn’t human. She’s a frame — a weapon in a beautiful body, carrying someone else’s memories like a second skin. A perfect tool. But as the story unfolds, the edges between programming and identity start to glitch. She grows. She feels. And the machine starts to ask questions it wasn’t supposed to.

This is a game that’s not afraid to poke at big questions: What makes someone human? Is it flesh, faith, or the ability to choose your own path?

Selfie in Wasteland | Stellar Blade | Sony Interactive Entertainment | My gameplay – Ingame Selfie Mode

Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Combat that’s fast, punishing, and satisfying when mastered

• Boss battles that feel like high-stakes cinematic events

• A mix of linear and semi-open world locations that keep things fresh

• Xion’s lore adds real weight to the story — it’s not just a backdrop

• EVE’s evolution from a frame to something human gives the narrative teeth

Cons:

• Heavy on the male gaze (yep, it’s there)

• Lore can be easy to miss if you’re not digging deep

• Some environments feel too linear next to the Wasteland’s freedom

• Boss fights can be brutal and unforgiving

• Big themes sometimes get drowned out by flashy spectacle

Beauty as a Weapon

Yes, the camera loves EVE. It really does. But under all the fanservice is a story about control, bodies, and what happens when a weapon decides to want something more. It’s both a spectacle and a mirror — sharp, stylish, and surprisingly thoughtful when you least expect it.

Stellar Blade isn’t just a monster-slasher in high heels. It’s a post-apocalyptic opera about faith, control, and what happens when a weapon grows a soul. It’s stylish, punishing, and sometimes gloriously messy. EVE may start as a frame — but by the end, she’s something no machine was ever meant to become.

Final Score: 87%