I recommend: Stellar Blade (Review) 

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Yoko Taro 100% thought stellar Blade was a better game because Eve has a bigger and higher res ass then 2b

2 men arguing about the other ones game being better is the most Japanese thing I've ever heard

Yoko Taro is correct in that Stellar Blade is a better *video game* than NieR: Automata, speaking from a purely gameplay perspective. But at the same time Kim Hyung-Tae himself has said on record that he focused on that aspect because he himself knows that he's not in the same league of storyteller as Yoko Taro. Ultimately both creators worked on the things they know best, with NieR: Automata only getting combat as good as it did because Platinum was helping, and both creators ultimately know their own strengths and weaknesses and aren't afraid to admit it.

Voice actor here. I've done work on Chinese games that were localised to English. Nothing AAA, so nothing on the scale of Nier Automata or Stellar Blade, but some respectable indie/AAs. I've seen a lot of people wondering how the voice over could come out like this and I posted a big reply to another comment, but thought I'd stick it up as a full one for anyone who's interested. This is a ginormous wall of text, so, tl;dr: The process of recording video game voice over has *so* many factors and steps that it's very easy for one of those things to not pass muster, and bring everything else down. When you combine that with the extra complications of localisation, *and* take into account that humans are *extremely* sensitive to whether or not something looks or feels 'real', it gets even harder. Even a team trying their best could have easily let this happen, and in short, it doesn't surprise me one bit. - First of all, I'm 99% sure that this isn't a case of 'bad acting'. Eve's voice actor is Rebecca Hanssen, who also plays Alfira in Baldur's Gate 3. Loads of people *love* Alfira, and I've not heard anyone say that shes badly acted. There's so many reasons why the voice acting could have come out the way it did, and I might even use BG3 as an example a couple more times because it provides a very interesting counterpoint to Stellar Blade in certain ways. So in my tl;dr I mentioned that we as humans are *super* sensitive to whether something feels real or not. It's why a lot of people hate watching dubbed live action, or get put off by sloppy lip syncing in music videos or whatever. I'm no character designer, but there's a whole art to good character design that feels believable (not necessarily realistic) and like we can empathise with it. Adding voice to that thing is a whole 'nother ball game. If it isn't quite right, uncanny valley sets in and something doesn't hit properly. While this is ultimately subjective, I'd argue that in Stellar Blade's case, the character models definitely sit in the uncanny valley zone, and would be harder to connect with even if they had the best voice acting in the world. What can make this harder is a disconnect between voice actor and character model; the voice actors here almost certainly didn't do the mo-cap for the character they were playing, and as such the physicality of their voice might not line up with the character. So the voice actors are already in an uphill battle trying to bring life to uncanny models that they have no input in the physicality of and might also change drastically from when they record. Speaking of-changes. While voice over usually happens pretty late in a game's process, it can happen much earlier for games where the cast is mo-capped, but even in the former scenario you could have details changing that greatly affect the efficacy of the voice over. Everything from the lighting or music in a given quest to subtle animation tweaks to major environmental changes could have a huge impact on the tone, and it could potentially make the voice acting feel like it clashes as a result. Sometimes, like in the case of Baldur's Gate 3, the voice over will be re-recorded to account for this (like with Karlach's role in the game being expanded or Wyll being entirely rewritten)-but that's an example of a game with mo-capped voice over that happened relatively early in the game design process, with a team that literally worked on the game for years. Then, you take into account that the game's original language isn't English. So someone has to translate and localise the game (which are two different things). In my experience (which may not be applicable to AAA but interesting nonetheless) it's not usually a 'localisation company' that does everything. Usually, the translated script is still done by the game studio, either internally or with one company/contractor, and then a separate media/post-production company handles the English voice over. While indie studios, solo devs, and even smaller AA studios might hire casting/performance directors and actors directly, the vast majority of game studios (if not all in the AAA space) hire a whole other company to handle the voice over. Even Larian, the studio with perhaps the most acclaimed voice acting work in gaming history, doesn't have a voice or casting director on staff. In the case of a game that's being translated to English, there are two options. First, it's a media company based in the country making the game, and they handle all the voice over (with a few directors highly proficient in English for the translated voice over). The second is that it's a company based in an English-speaking country that only handles the English voice over, and might not even have anyone on the team proficient in the game's native language. These companies usually have rosters of voice actors that they work with regularly that they audition for new roles, or certain agencies that they usually work with. Either way, these companies are totally dependent on the game studio to give them well-translated, thorough, and useful information and scripts-and that's a total wild card. Even the best intentioned game studio might have no clue what actors and directors need, and even the most thorough game studio can't justify spending the time and money to give context and direction notes for the thousands upon thousands of lines of dialogue in the game. So while these directors might have had the overall idea very well explained to them, they might, for example, have no clue what all the side quests are, or what the area the characters are in will look like (or even be). For Stellar Blade, it looks like a UK-based company handled the English voice over (judging by Rebecca Hanssen's role announcement on Twitter/X). So for all we know, it was a case of that company getting handed a dodgy script, and the voice actor/director working with what they had. Regarding scripts, now you get into formatting. Have you ever seen a screenplay, or a theatre script? Video game scripts are nothing like that. The standard is basically a big ol' spreadsheet with all the lines dumped into it. These lines are in whatever order is easiest for the studio to keep track of to put into the game-so you might have the voice actor swinging from wildly different extremes or contexts line to line to line, or suddenly be referring to a new character they've never heard of before. Nowadays, a lot of voice over is also done from home studios-AAA games are still done in big studios but for localised games it'd be a toss up, and I'm not LA-based so I wouldn't know the intricacies. Regardless, you have the voice actor and the directors in their respective studios, each hour of the voice actor's time is costing the studio at minimum 300 pounds per hour (union standard rates for a game of this scale in the UK, about $380 US), that number only gets higher as the talent gets more experienced, the company has a budget they need to stay within, and they have *a LOT* of lines to get through. So what do the directors and the voice actors do? They make sure the actor has the character's 'vibe' on lock and then they go down that spreadsheet, banging out line after line after line. And they do that for each voice actor one at a time. Well executed, this works just fine. If you've had reeeeally good casting and directing and input from the studio, you'll get context for everything, voice actors that pick up cues from the script easily, directors who know when to ask for retakes and how to imagine everything sounding put together, etc. When done poorly, or when there's even one weak link in that chain, you get... Well. Stellar Blade. We're also spoiled these days. The standard for voice over is way higher than it used to be. Take, for example, BG3 again. BG3 has incredible voice work-but it also had directors who worked with the studio directly, knew the context intimately, and were giving the actors tons of direction, while said actors also did the mo-cap for their characters, with character models and facial models based on them, and learned tons about the game and its context organically from the high level of communication with the team. They also worked with the team loads because BG3 went through lots of changes and even entire character rewrites. Not only is this abnormal and absolutely above and beyond, even then, the actors didn't have the full picture of how things worked on the 'game' level-in a stream of Devora Wilde (Lae'zel's VA) playing the game, she said something like 'oh *that's* when I say that line!' for Lae'zel's very first piece of dialogue in the tutorial mission on the Nautiloid. But it worked great. The internet absolutely adores these characters, from the award-winningly acted origin characters like Astarion (Neil Newbon), to the memorable side characters that people went to insane game-breaking lengths to save, like Alfira (Rebecca Hanssen, aka, Eve from Stellar Blade). In short, I can very easily see how Stellar Blade happened. If a character is meant to seem 'cool' or 'aloof' or dare I say 'robotic', it's *super* understandable how the director and the actor just went with that 'vibe'. Especially if they're trying to mimic a specific other character and staying within a very small niche. Add in that they may not have had the complete picture of the context for every single line, and *then* add in that all this goes for almost every character in the game, and you get Stellar Blade.

“I love your game more!” “No I love your game more!”

It feels like the voice actors were directed by someone who didn’t speak English as a primary language.

Every time he’d be making a serious point and footage of the main character in a little bunny suit popped up, I completely lost it. 😂

I bought Stellar Blade on impulse, because something about it just vibed with me. It's like a mix of Nier Automata (setting/atmosphere/music), Sekiro, DMC (combat) and Final Fantasy 13 (this one is just a HIGHLY subjective feeling). And what a great game this turned out to be. Enjoying it immensely, and while I don't mind the English VO, switching the audio to Korean with English subtitles makes it even better!

Came for a stellar blade review, stayed for the nier automata glaze session.

Considering this is shiftup first non mobile game, im impressed

First thing when doing a game inspired by Nier: Automata: DON’T TRY TO BE NIER:AUTOMATA. N:A is such a unique and singular experience in its narrative and themes that it just can’t be replicated, especially when it’s directed and written by a mad genius as Yoko Taro.

Oh we finally found out where the hairdresser from Cyberpunk 2077 went missing. He was in Stellar Blade all along ! And he's a Maelstromer too !

Yoko Taro is probably the last person I'd ask if something is better or worse than Nier. Most creators will downplay their works and they also lack perspective to properly assess their own creation vs the works of others

Aww hearing those two gush about each other's games is super sweet

this video is more like an indirect comparison rather than a review

going back here after i finished the game after 65hrs doing 80% of all side quest and side content, i expected the story to be shit or crappy like this review said, but to my surprise it was pretty Decent and engaging enough for me to see what happpens next, Story is not as deep as Automata or Replicant but its still enjoyable, i actually like the characters, some are better than other but i like them maybe because i played the game in Full on Korean voiced that i felt their personality of the npcs, side characters especially Eve, and the Collectibles Helps with the world building , personally i liked most of the side quest especially Digger, Enya and Kaya's side quests that it gives Eve Personal growth, it may not have a Masterclass of Story-telling as Nier Automata, but what the game offers is pretty decent with a addictive combat system which is the games 10/10 aspect and so are the boss battles, for Shift Ups first Console game they did great, i can't wait for Stellar Blade 2, a 9/10 for me , never had this much fun on a PS exclusive since Returnal, omw to NG+ Hard Mode

A trend I noticed after playing a few Korean RPGs is that the gameplay is always tight and dynamic, the graphics are always stylised and flashy and the story is basically dribble. It does the bare minimum to drive player action and not a single step beyond that. I kinda hoped this game would buck that trend but I guess they went with the 'if it ain't broke' philosophy.

I never expected this game to be even close to Automata, I'm just glad people is still working on PS2/Early PS3 era games. We need more games with random experimentation and gameplay, nice visuals and entertaining moments

The first half of this review just sounded like a very powerful recommendation to play the game with Korean voices.

It says something when "Nier Automata" is said more times than "stellar blade" on a stellar blade review

Haven't even finished watching, but here's a like for the Nier: Automata praise. One of those few games that's so much more than visuals and gameplay. It's something that's very difficult to emulate.

Nier Automata: deeper narrative Stellar Blade: better combat system

So I think part of the characters not landing is the English voice actors- I switched back to Korean for the demo, and it vastly improved things (I don’t speak Korean, but I’m used to reading subs)

Didn't know this was a comparison video

* Play it in korean with subtitles

NieR: Automata: Actual android feels like a human. Stellar Blade: Actual human feels like an android.

The bunny suit is wild. Respect for not giving a fuck

This game is my 2024 GOTY

They all went to the Peter Dinklage school of voice acting

7:28 My man, calling Eve 'flat' is a very bold statement...

Stellar Blade: “notice me, unnie!” Nier: “I have! Now go out there and be great” Stellar Blade: “….no but really, NOTICE MEEEEEE”

I’m 12 minutes into this video and Ralph hasn’t said hardly anything positive, and yet he recommends this game. This is gonna be some insane whiplash.

Stellar blade: the Nier Automata review. By skill up

English voice acting seems to be a big issue when it comes to expression in these types of games, which is why I tend to play games like this in the language that they were made in a.k.a. Korean or Japanese. It’s probably more expressive.

I played this game today FOR EIGHT HOURS today, it's so unbelievably fun! The boss fights are just pure eye candy

Man, the new $70 standard really hurts games like this in my opinion. For $40-50 I'd probably be considering it, but it becomes much more difficult to look past shortcomings when you're being asked to spend that much on 25 hours of varying quality.

the strange thing is that SHIFT UP has made some really great stories and effective emotional scenes in their mobile game NIKKE. The voice acting NIKKE is pretty great across the board as well. It's even more disappointing knowing that they have the skill to do much better. With how similar aspects of Stellar Blade are in terms of story to both NIKKE and Automata, I cant help feel like this should have been, or maybe at some point was, a tie in to NIKKE that was changed to a new IP at some point.

For Shift Up's first console game ever, and only their second game in the industry, I'd say they did a phenomenal job in every area of what makes a game enjoyable

Loving the game

I can tell how much you love what you do. Makes for a very authentic and trustworthy channel. I’m excited for this game. Thrilled for the studio that made it 🎉 and for their future endeavors.

So basically they have nailed the gameplay and have to improve on the characterwork and storytelling with its own identity if there's gonna be a sequel? Sounds like a good first outing to me, which I'm eager to try out for myself.

so the takeaway is Nier for better narrative, stellar blade for better combat , got it

Coming back to this video after having finished the game, idk what he’s talking about when he says the characters lack personality or emotion. In the beginning they’re pretty flat, sure, but in the middle and last hours, there is plenty of emotion and personality from all characters. And I think the plot is great. I completed the game and got The best ending due to filling the “Lily” bar in the top right corner of the screen and when I found out there are multiple endings and your choice matters, well that just made this game a 10/10 for me. I personally think Skillup is being too critical because he played Nier and is attached to it. Edit: I never played Nier, so any similarities or references go right over my head, and leave me unbiased. I think Stellar Blade is great in its own right. That might be because I haven’t played Nier, and don’t know just how many similarities there are, but idc. I love the game for what it is and it is amazing.

I really resonate with what you said about the story superficially going for an Automata type vibe. But not really wanting to go to the dark vulnerable amazing places, that game’s story goes to because it takes risks. One reason I really ended up liking Lies of P was because I could tell how much From Software games had inspired it. But the story went in it’s completely unique direction basically from the start

The love and understanding of Yoko Taro's work is part of why I love this channel. Good to hear this is still fun.

Your Neir Automata review is what brought me to your channel way back when. That game holds a special place in my heart and hearing your reverence for it is awesome. Great review.

Seems like a good game, but since I don't have PS5, I'll just have to compensate with Nier Automata and Bright Memory Infinite. lol.

what audio languages are available for this game? I'm kinda curious if the feel of the game changes with different audio

Too be fair in the interview the man did said he not a story teller, make me wonder for the sequels they should try to get some of nikke writers to do the story for the next game since they havs some pretty amazing story telling in it.

The discussions about this game have been so incredibly stupid. One side calls fans of this game horny incels, the other side thinks the game makes "woke" people cry. It's ridiculous.

This review just reinforces why I continue to come to your channel for the best, most in-depth, well-considered game reviews in the entire industry. There simply isn't anyone else who is able to identify, name and expound upon the peculiarities inherent in each title, explaining so precisely what it is about each element that adds or subtracts from the game's overall impact. Every time I watch one of your reviews, I always keep thinking in the back of my mind, "This man was born to make video game reviews." It seems to come so naturally to you and it makes watching every one of your reviews an absolute joy.. even for games that I likely have no intention of playing. While I still look forward to playing Stellar Blade, your review tempered my expectations enough that I think I may consider waiting for it to come out on PC. I think the modding community could really do some great stuff with this game so I think it may pay off to experience it for the 1st time later down the road when they (hopefully) decide to port it over to PC. Keep up the great work @Skill Up! You rock.

Now that I think about that, cover 2B eyes was a very clever move. Our brains just fill the gap without expensive animations.

The only thing i find reprehensible about Eve's design is her hair constantly clipping through her body. COME ON.

No mention of the vertical hitbox tracking for EVE that allows one to also jump low attacks? I would've thought that rare enough for this genre to note here. Thanks for the great insight as always.

“by far” and “far and away” are two separate phrases

Oh, man, I would love to watch a spoiler-full video in which Skillup talks about all the similarities it has with Nier Automata. I love Nier Automata and will definitely buy Stellar Blade, but not at full price. It looks like a game I don't mind waiting for a sale.

If it was in the game’s origin language do you think that could change the bland tone a bit?

To those annoyed by skillups focus on nier, his review of that game was a big step in this channel’s evolution. It was his first review to take off in views so I’d imagine that that game is important to him

i noticed the english va were very off in the demo, but the korean voices fixed that for me, do you think that’s the case for the full game?

I find the story weird, in comparison to the fact I think Nikke has a pretty great story for the most. And the actual VA work is pretty outstanding and sells the more visual novel style.

Imagine if shift up and Yoko Taro made a game together.

I think the dumbest thing about this game is Eve’s face shape. Dorito head.

Thanks for the review. Very informative, as usual. I did play and like N:A, but the combat in that game always bothered me. So I will definitely play this once it's on PC.

I have to say (though it’s not for everyone) playing the game in Korean voicing, makes not only the voice acting MUCH better. But also makes the characters feel a little more in depth. The Korean VA was done really well. Which, makes sense, of course.

I can agree with most reviews you have done in the past. But this review leans too heavy on comparing it to Neir. Or you personally wanted it to be Neir, not too sure.

You know we're in the wrong timeline when someone is praising a game for not crashing or stuttering

I completed the games and loved it. It was fun, not perfect but fun. And her being a beautiful women is a plus. You don't have to like beautiful women it's ok to be gay, you're allowed to like who you like.

Wow, that makes so much sense that he was inspired by Nier. I left a comment on another video saying how the opening sequence and tutorial had major Nier Automata vibes; being the lone survivor of your unit during an offensive push, meeting your sidekick, and especially the music. Neir Automata is the holy grail of hand held gaming though, wonder if Stellar Blade will compete on the Steam Deck.

It felt like this review was a backwards compliment sandwich where it started out very negative, had a few good things to say about the combat, and then ended again with more negativity. I'm surprised he recommends it.

Man this was a really in depth nier automata review.

27:35 And yet I say, "Why not both?" I feel like we should make it clear that Yoko Taro is no game developer. He is a damn good story teller, but _Nier: Automata_ was made by PlatinumGames. His work without them resulted in the _much_ rougher Drakengard series. I don't see why this couldn't act as the prefect showcase for why Yoko Taro should work with Shift Up for whatever he decides to do next.

I'm 30 hours in and barely halfway done. Dont listen to game journalists who just Rush through the story.

I'm a few minutes in and all I'm thinking is, "Did Skill Up misname his video? It says he recommends but so far he's done absolutely nothing but tear it apart.". Very curious to see what makes him come around, but so far it sounds like it's an awful game from his perspective.

If the voices bother you just play it in Korean with English subtitles. The Korean voice actors are so much better.

This is the most honest review out, so far of this game. It’s what I had feared, the story and world are not nearly as deep as i had hoped when playing the demo 😞

Hey man. As much as I am excited for this game, just have to say that your review of NieR Automata is what made me jump and try PC/console gaming. I never realized it until recently, but that game changed my life. It's one of those games I wish I can re-experience all over again. Thanks for what you do. Will probably pick this game up on sale.

I find it strange that the story is weak because this is the same studio behind Goddess of Victory: Nikke. I would have also liked to hear about the story in connection to Nikke.

Leeeets goooo. My friends are going to have to hell dive alone for a few days.

Considering that Stellar Blade is ShiftUp's first 3D console game, it's amazing how good the combat plays and feels. After all of this feedback, the Korean developers will likely get even better at making 3D action games, and that is exciting!

I just finished Stellar Blade and i have to say the story and characters definitely pick up half way through and especially at the end. Also, I feel this video could have been a lot better if you spent less time talking about how SB is too much like Nier Automata but at the same time not enough loke Nier Automata. I have the game. I finished all endings and i know how excellent NA is. This review is supposed to be about the strengths and weaknesses of this game. Not how it doesn't live up to its big sister in your eyes. It has a lot of similarities of course aince its inspired by it vut it does plenty of ita own things and i wish you spent waaaay more tome talking about that instead of taking so long praising a game that already has more than enough praise.

Everytime you mentioned Shift Up I kept thinking they tried to copy your channel name but change it slightly. Seems poignant for this review.

FYI, we pronounce Taekwondo wrong and it's probably why you pronounce Tae as NVidia does Ti. It's almost like "Tay" without the y.

If you didn't do alot of the side quests i can see why you feel the way you do about Eve's story and the world, but if you do those side missions, it fills out alot of the empty voids you put in your review. To speed run through a game and hardly do any side missions. Also I never played the other game you mentioned and I still find Stellar Blade to be a great game with a good story line. I play all games with a clear state of mind, but I was looking at EVE as what she was a Robot in human form and as you did more side missions you saw her humanity develop but I think in Stellar Blade 2 she will have more of a humanity side. Yes, Adam was kinda Bland but Asian guys are somewhat kinda Bland when you do converse with them, and trust me I have a Korean Best Friend, and sometimes our conversations are Mah, but for the most yes they have good conversations. Also keep in mind Humanity is pretty much gone, all that remain are robots mostly. I feel the game was great and it gets 8.5/10, but ok review....

Ohhh this is actually a Nier Automata vs Stellar blade comparison video, not a review at all💀

How is nobody exclaiming the necessity to play this game in Korean with English subs?! English dub is near game-wrecking, while Korean voice actors are excellent.

Stellar Blade is closer to something like Jedi fallen order more than Nier Automata. The only Nier influences is the music.

Thanks for this excellent review to set my expectations properly. As someone that's loved N Automata, and played through various routes. I was already fully seeing how much of a Nier Automata copy it already was visually, but after watching the lengthy story trailer they released a month or 2 ago it was noticible that even the story was beat for beat Nier Automata as well. I've played the demo, my biggest gripe with it was fixed on day 1 (noticeable input lag) - but yeah it's a shame to hear my suspicions were correct on just how much it copies Automata but worse, I`ll probably will have my annoyances with a SB playthrough just like you did. I'll get this in the bargin bin, and hopefully on PC as well. For now i've got way too many to play (finishing Infinite wealth, then going Baldurs gate 3, Persona 5 Royal ; all of these are 100 hr games)

I would highly recommend playing this game in Korean instead of English. The voice acting in Korean is much better than the English.

Take a shot every time he says Nier Automata

So I am now 20 hours into the game and I am actually liking the story. I feel like eve has had human understanding grow throughout with subtle tonsl changes.I already loved the combat and the look of the game, but after this review, I thought the story was gonna be awful.. I'm actually very pleased with it, though. To each their own

It's a shame to hear so many issues with Stellar Blade's story when Shift Up's other game, Nikke has a pretty good story. I was surprised actually that Nikke's story was so good for a game that looked like "that." The characters in Nikke are so vibrant and full of personality too. Oh well.

#1 reason to play Stellar Blade: Thong skins

Huge fan of the channel and Takes. I disagree here. I feel that Stellar Blade IS a better game than Nier Automata. Should I prove to be proved wrong, boy would t that be wonderful. Fundamentally the gamer needs to be anchored to the experience unfolding, that can be a huge multiplier for whatever experiences unfold. Eve has a 2x Multiplier for 2B, 2B is roughly an 8c multiplier. For the evocation being explored the Eve multiplier can *not be understated. I’ll try 😅 again after I finish SB. Keep up the good work. 🎉

Ralph! I haven’t finished Nier Automata yet, I know the premise and I’ve played 2Bs play through, but pretty much around the time that I started as 9S, my console gave up the ghost. Is there anything in Stellar Blade that would constitute a “spoiler” for the remainder of Automata?

That interview is great, if only all game developers could just praise eachothers games instead of trying to one up eachother it would be more fun

Awe man, always love your reviews as your writing is objectively good. Just wish you could’ve let Stellar Blade have its flowers and review SB for itself. I get there’s many similarities, but I don’t see that as an affront to Nier as much as I see it as a homage to it. At the end of the day, this is Shiftups first major console release, and it’s released in a very solid state which is sadly more than a lot of other games can say nowadays.

Hopefully they can collaborate in the future and create a game with the deep story and world building of Nier with the graphics and gameplay of Stellar Blade.

Damnit Shiftup, I had hoped you’d finally gotten a halfway decent English voice director for this game, or at least a VA who had enough experience to perform with minimal direction (the only thing that saved some Nikke characters). I’m probably going to have to play this in Korean, which appears to be the version with actual emotion. It does suck that an experience can be so messed up during translation because of just one position.

A lot of people here seem to miss the point of this video by saying “he’s comparing it too much to Nier”, but Skill Up’s actual issue with Stellar Blade is that it borrows too much from Nier to be its own thing. He’s less so making comparisons and moreso making the point that the game comes off as derivative of another work rather than as it’s own genuine project. I feel like a lot of the people making this complaint about the video have never played Nier Automata, and thus are incapable of seeing the stark similarities and just how far Stellar Blade goes into trying to capture Nier’s formula.