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[cormack12]

Yeah despite all the controversial ass stuff, the game plays well. Very solid.

My only issue is that after parrying/blocking the button still seems activated so when I'm going to go back to light attacks quickly I'm activating the special attacks


When you see her feet

 

[PectacularOz]

Just finished, was about 1 hour of play.
Will be buying! Didn't even know it was a SoulsLike - but with an obvious heavier focus on action, and less so on "builds".

Odd Korean visuals aside, I was impressed!

 

[kikii]

for me it was lil bit chaos 1st since jumped from hogwarts legacy to it =D but so far liked it

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

Yeah despite all the controversial ass stuff, the game plays well. Very solid.

My only issue is that after parrying/blocking the button still seems activated so when I'm going to go back to light attacks quickly I'm activating the special attacks


When you see her feet

The parry and block are definitely a learning curve. The parry is generous and feels great eith that clank sound effect but I couldn't pull off successive ones properly when enemies do combos? I have to figure out exactly how dodges and parrying and blocking interact. It feels like there's a lot under the hood here.

Perfect Dodge feels nasty

Also the enemy designs and art in general is good stuff.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Environments are kinda ugly, performance mode lacks any anisotropic filtering for some reason or they just lowered the texture quality to absolute low. People talk about her ass but she has some really huge boobs so thats a double plus. The attacks have an annoying delay, it's not instant when u press attack, although the parry is? Weird and kinda annoying. Music is nice. Thats about it so far. Demo so far is 7/10 without taking story into consideration. Dunno if I'll be day one.

 

[cormack12]

The parry and block are definitely a learning curve. The parry is generous and feels great eith that clank sound effect but I couldn't pull off successive ones properly when enemies do combos? I have to figure out exactly how dodges and parrying and blocking interact. It feels like there's a lot under the hood here.

Perfect Dodge feels nasty

Also the enemy designs and art in general is good stuff.

Yeah that's exactly my experience. The first introduction, parry like a boss, easy dodge like a boss. If I try and overthink it or try to time it I seem to miss the window.

I put it down to also playing GBF:Relink, Jedi, FF XVI which have all different timings and parry mechanics.

 

[FunkMiller]

Right, my working day is done, now for some jiggly titty butt.

 

[Daneel Elijah]

Finished it. Died a few times in Normal but that is how I play. You get back in the game fast. Good combat, but when submerged even little shits can hit you.

Spoiler: light spoiler.

There is a training mode to try skills, even ones you dont have

Some parts could have been better like the traversal, but I loved it and will probably preorder soon. I wanted to play it until the end and that is good sign for me as I often like to stop after a checkpoint to read/take a piss etc. I hope that the full game is good like the demo is.

 

[Luipadre]

Holy shit this was TIGHT. Day 1 for me. Finally a good looking and performing 60fps mode. HDR looks fantastic too. Im digging the little exploration and the combat is satisfying af with amazing animation work.

 

[Garibaldi]

The perfect dodge is so much harder to pull off than the parry

 

[lh032]

half way now, performance and visuals is great.

but yea perfect parry is hard to do compared to perfect block

EDIT: killed the first boss, felt good. Day 1!

 

[Tommi84]

Less talking, more BUTTCHEEKS

 

[GymWolf]

I wanna assk a question to the people that are playing the demo, can you just dodge and ignore parries and blocks?

 

[Luipadre]

I wanna assk a question to the people that are playing the demo, can you just dodge and ignore parries and blocks?

Dodge is really clumsy. You better off blocking or parry. Its not that hard

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

I wanna assk a question to the people that are playing the demo, can you just dodge and ignore parries and blocks?

No, it's a core mechanic same as in Sekiro. It's equally satisfying, not hard to pull off. You just need to learn enemy patterns cos they vary a lot. I guess when Eve is maxed out combat will feel like a dance.

 

[Daneel Elijah]

I wanna assk a question to the people that are playing the demo, can you just dodge and ignore parries and blocks?

Yes. There is a skill tree that allows you to get better at whatever you want to do too. But parries are useful. Unlike God of War you can just run away if you are not sure and kill the ennemies in the demo with basic attacs. It is just slower, and honestly I find it a lot cooler to kill them with after a few parries, because I think that it gives me a unique animation per enemy.

 

[GymWolf]

Dodge is really clumsy. You better off blocking or parry. Its not that hard

It's not a matter of being hard, i just don't particularly love the parry style of combat.

I heard that you unlock a double evade move and some other shit the more you play so maybe dodging is gonna be more viable later.

Tbh many people said that parry in lies of p was a core mechanic but you could really just avoid everything in that game aswell.

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

I wanna assk a question to the people that are playing the demo, can you just dodge and ignore parries and blocks?

It's not a Souls dodge, more like a way shorter quick dash that doesn' seem to have many iframes (I think?). Block and Parry is generous at least so far.

 

[SaiyanRaoh]

Oh man, I NEEEED this OST.

 

[Nankatsu]

Time for some booby action. Downloading now!

 

[GymWolf]

Time for some booby action. Downloading now!

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

It's not a matter of being hard, i just don't particularly love the parry style of combat.

I heard that you unlock a double evade move and some other shit the more you play so maybe dodging is gonna be more viable later.

Tbh many people said that parry in lies of p was a core mechanic but you could really just avoid everything in that game aswell.

The disclaimer here is always "based on the demo" but so far it isn't like Sekiro or anything where the whole combat is All Parries All Day. It's an element, feels like part of the flow of the overall combos. Imagine a Bayo or Nier Automata combat flow with a heavier feel with enemies not being stunlocked punching bags and actually interrupting your combos. Thats when you either block or parry. It feels like a natural element of the combat to me at least. Hope that makes sense.

Its less Souls where you "set up" for a parry.

 

[Giallo Corsa]

Impressions :

- Some of the best Dualsense use in a game - there's vibration and haptics for EVERYTHING, menus, rain hitting on the character, walking, running, hitting walls, hitting enemies etc, it feels really tight and definitely not a gimmick like in most games that support haptics.

- Music is very Nier-ish

- Beautifully modeled character models (no pun intended, they're really well-made), really, really solid work.

- Graphics are NICE, there's explosions, sparks and shit flying all over the screen, couple that with the beautiful character models and we have a winner here.
Camera cuts when performing finishers etc are also spectacular.
Having said that, I - somehow - expected even better : there's some low-res textures here and there (trees/building walls etc), the image quality, while good, is still somewhat soft in performance and balanced mode, the HDR is nothing to write home about IMO and there's this friggin' film-grain effect smeared across the screen which I don't know if it's due to some FSR fuckery or an artistic decision, if it's the latter, I hope that there's an option to turn it off in the final release.
In the end, Its not THAT much better looking than, say, DMC5 but that's not necessarily a negative since DMC5 still looks good to this day, plus, Stellar blade is bigger in scope and not as linear.

- Gameplay :
Combat is nice, heavy and "meaty", I don't know this company's pedigree when it comes to action games but I was afraid that it'd feel weightless, thank the heavens this is not the case.
It's more DMC/Bayonetta than Souls (think I read some opinions online that this felt like a Souls-like) which is also a positive since we've already had lots of those.
It's also way more complex than something like Nier Automata.
Nice mix of combat, exploration and some minor platforming, it covers all bases.

All in all - and always judging from the demo - a very nice, beautiful and POLISHED Eastern/Asian game, it's everything that I want/expect from an action game.

There's no way I'd shell 80 Eurodollars for this but I've found it for 64 on eBay so it's probably gonna be week 1 for me.

Cheers

 

[Spank_Magnet]

Ooof! That was awesome!
Finished it and straight to the pre-order page. Can’t wait.

My 6yr old started his holidays today so he was sat next to me on my iPad thoroughly engrossed in Garageband with headphones on. I downloaded the demo and fired it up forgetting all about him until about a minute in and I heard a loud “Ooh! She looks nice!”

 

[Con-Z-epT]

I wanna assk a question to the people that are playing the demo, can you just dodge and ignore parries and blocks?

Some attacks can't be parried and need to be dodged. A perfectly timed dodge will open up more combat options via skill tree and also charges burst energy. Both parries and dodging seem to be integral parts of gameplay.

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

When I see explosive red barrels in a game, I know this shit was made by a kindred old school spirit

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

Ooof! That was awesome!
Finished it and straight to the pre-order page. Can’t wait.

My 6yr old started his holidays today so he was sat next to me on my iPad thoroughly engrossed in Garageband with headphones on. I downloaded the demo and fired it up forgetting all about him until about a minute in and I heard a loud “Ooh! She looks nice!”

Well. Prepare that bail money now for when he inevitably harrasses, beats, cheats and murders women after learning that women are property after seeing Stellar Blade.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

When I see explosive red barrels in a game, I know this shit was made by a kindred old school spirit

I'm so bad with this, never manage to kill any enemy with their explosions and sometimes hurt myself.

 

[Fbh]

Really enjoyed the demo.
The combat will definitely have a learning curve but I think it already feels great, I just beat Jedi Survivor the other day and the combat here was instantly SO much better (though Jedi has nicer traversal). Hits have weight to them but it still allows for speedy combos, parries and evades, not to mention that it looks stylish as hell. There are definitely hints of Sekiro with the parries but it's not a souls-like, there is no stamina and there seem to be a lot more offensive options with some proper DMC/Bayonetta style combos in the mix.
I really liked how after you beat the final boss of the demo they play a trailer and at the end of it there is a clip of the same boss fight but with someone using more advanced moves. It really highlights how there is some nice depth to the combat and you'll be able to do cool shit once you start to master it.

Visually it's solid, no mindblowing visuals and the environments can look a bit bland, but in "balanced" mode it seemed to run well while maintaining decent IQ. Performance seems good, Eve is hot, the enemy designs are cool and the animations are really nice, can't ask for more.


My only negatives are some nitpicks.
Holding down R2 to pick up item drops is annoying and adds nothing, I hope there's an option, skill or accessory later on to pick shit up automatically.
Also having to manually enter the codes to open certain chests and doors is annoying, if I already found the code just enter it automatically.

 

[cormack12]

Really enjoyed the demo.
The combat will definitely have a learning curve but I think it already feels great, I just beat Jedi Survivor the other day and the combat here was instantly SO much better (though Jedi has nicer traversal). Hits have weight to them but it still allows for speedy combos, parries and evades, not to mention that it looks stylish as hell. There are definitely hints of Sekiro with the parries but it's not a souls-like, there is no stamina and there seem to be a lot more offensive options with some proper DMC/Bayonetta style combos in the mix.
I really liked how after you beat the final boss of the demo they play a trailer and at the end of it there is a clip of the same boss fight but with someone using more advanced moves. It really highlights how there is some nice depth to the combat and you'll be able to do cool shit once you start to master it.

Visually it's solid, no mindblowing visuals and the environments can look a bit bland, but in "balanced" mode it seemed to run well while maintaining decent IQ. Performance seems good, Eve is hot, the enemy designs are cool and the animations are really nice, can't ask for more.


My only negatives are some nitpicks.
Holding down R2 to pick up item drops is annoying and adds nothing, I hope there's an option, skill or accessory later on to pick shit up automatically.
Also having to manually enter the codes to open certain chests and doors is annoying, if I already found the code just enter it automatically.

Auto loot is in the options.

 

[Filben]

Just played for roughly an hour and so far liking it. Top notch voice overs in my native language; exploration feels rewarding and requires at least some observation. Combat isn't as hard as any Soulsborne but still requires consideration. Characters so far seem okay and likeable, dialogues aren't yet JRPG cringe, which I also like. All graphic modes deliver consistent frame times with no stutter in the slightest.

Climbing mechanics feel a bit janky but it's okay.

Probably gonna get the full version

 

[R6Rider]

This game is fucking awesome.

Parries are tough for sure.

I'm currently playing on performance mode, but curious to what balanced is exactly.

 

[FunkMiller]

Horny Weeb Dark Souls is shaping up nicely.

Not one I'll be buying straight away, as have too much in my pile right now, but I'll pick this up down the line when I have less games to get through.

 

[Garibaldi]

Auto loot is in the options.

First thing I turned on (after short ponytail)

 

[Muffdraul]

I was afraid it was going to be too souls-y for me. Ah well.

 

[Crayon]

Gonna try it out right when I get home and then I'll be back to chat!!

 

[FunkMiller]

I was afraid it was going to be too souls-y for me. Ah well.

Kinda more Lies Of P to be honest... but then that is of course a Soulslike

 

[FunkMiller]

Gonna try it out right when I get home and then I'll be back to chat!!

Judging from your avatar, you'll fucking love it.

 

[Fbh]

Auto loot is in the options.

Should have checked. But good to know

This game is fucking awesome.

Parries are tough for sure.

I'm currently playing on performance mode, but curious to what balanced is exactly.

Balanced felt pretty smooth to me and looks a bit sharper.

I imagine performance will basically lock to 60 while balanced might have some drops when things get too crazy

 

[midnightAI]

I was afraid it was going to be too souls-y for me. Ah well.

I didn't find it too souls like to be honest (it is a bit), I did spend a bit of time in the training section once I got to the camp though, there are loads of moves already unlocked so learning those probably helped a lot and made it more combat action focused.

 

[Giallo Corsa]

I was afraid it was going to be too souls-y for me. Ah well.

What do you mean ? it's the complete opposite of "Souls-y", this is more like DMC/Bayo/Nier than a Soulsborne

 

[Vasili2K38]

Played a hour of the demo, it seems a mix of NieR Automata, GOW and soulslike influences.. and I like it a lot. Great productions values, OST is great, gameplay and presentation are good, and I personally find both the character anod monster designs very good. EVE is great, but I hope we see more of Tachi . I have to play more, I wanted to buy in 2024 only the Elden Ring DLC full price, and then deal with my huge backlog, but I think Steller Blade will come day one.

 

[Muffdraul]

What do you mean ? it's the complete opposite of "Souls-y", this is more like DMC/Bayo/Nier than a Soulsborne

Now that the demo is finally available to all, it seems like 90% of players are saying it's definitely in the soulslike camp, and 10% are just straight up in denial.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Size of the demo?

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Is the team size really 260 employees or is Shift Up making multiple games?

 

[Blindy]

I am in with this. Really liked the demo but the boss challenge swayed me over, the different types of parrying/dodging you can do is wicked. I wish the Blink mechanic was introduced sooner as you fight enemies with a blue glow that you think you parry when(at least for me) could not do a thing about. The color indicators work so well, if you follow that, you can really feel it when it comes to the parrying. I was catching the 3rd boss by the very end with some tight parries, reminds me of Lies of P actually.

Just hope there's enough enemy variation as they all look like one brown color. Fall damage is a little cruel with an action game like this but it's a Soulsbourne inspired action game so I get it.

 

[WitchHunter]

Sigh, another let's scavenge the good looking game mechanics from other games, put it together, slap some borderline idiotic story on top and feed it to the peplz. Look at the cleavage, look at the ass. MMmmmmm, we made this shit for you hormone monkeys. Using your brain is exhausting, just think with your dickah. Fukken big explosions, everything falling, they envied some Michael Bay movies too, so they upped the ante with even more nonsense falling and exploding things.

Story is the usual, look ma big explosions, we coming, dey defendin. Pwaaaah, we landed, some of us died, now we avenge and find out shit why these monstarrz look like a horribly mutated back orifice.

Protagonist have big tittaz, big arse, narrow shoulders, expressionless angel face, dialogues from someone with a mental handicap.
You can't highlight points of interest with moving the camera, NOPE! You have to stand right in front of it. Thoroughly tested.
English voiceover is just plain terrible.
You can't break action animations, so dodge is a bit erratic.
They stole GOW's sidekick idea, but this time it's a fucking robot. It's just there, you don't have to do shit to acquire it. And you can't fucking destroy it. At least it's not speaking all the time.
They stole Uncharted's dead boring wall climbing... really? Also, there are ladders!
They also stole the pole jump. But why?
Sprinkled with idiocy: No auto loot by trampling on shit, you have to scan to see things, then collect the shit. Ehhh, in 2024.
Enemies have zero thought in them. Like they asked some soon to be AI to vomit out monsters one after another.
Totally unnecessary here is the door, you can't open it from this side stupidity. Lies of P maxed out this useless mechanic, of course they borrowed it.
+1: They also stole the fucked up camera positioning from someone. Why on earth is it not at a higher point and why is it so far? I know the last one: because you wouldn't see the ASS all the time!

I hope there won't be any obstacles that you can only destroy later.

The end boss was not bad.

 

[Daneel Elijah]

First thing I turned on (after short ponytail)

Why? The long one is so much better!

 

[Giallo Corsa]

Now that the demo is finally available to all, it seems like 90% of players are saying it's definitely in the soulslike camp, and 10% are just straight up in denial.

Amazing.

A game having the lock on button on the right stick, parries and a dodge button, apparently, equals to a souls-like...

Fucking hell, I don't know if it's due to A) the FROM circle-jerk, B) complete ignorance of action games before the souls era and C) most users being gen Z and getting accustomed to action games with the introduction of Demon's/Dark souls.

DMC had dodge, parries and a lock on button since 2001 for fuck's sake.

Friggin' gen Z man, everything is "souls"

 

[Aenima]

Ok finished the demo and the extra boss fight. Serious GOTY contender. Combat at the beginning of the demo took some time to get used to, not button mashing friendly against big enemies as they require the use of dodge and parry. I used some of my skill points to improve the parry and was already feeling like a bad ass, even with alot of combat skills still locked. Killed the final boss of the demo on my second try, by parrying alot of his attacks.

Extra boss after completing the demo was more challenging and Eve has more combat skills available. Amazing fight, boss has some nasty attacks but not hard to read after a few tries. Using the skill Blink to avoid a deadly blow from the enemy feels great.

Also liked the level design, the demo part is linear but the level design allows you to explore side alleys and climb some buildings to find extra loot and secrets, and even open shortcuts. So even in the linear part of the game, thers still exploration to be made.

Really nice OST too, but that was not surprizing considering Nikke OST.

Thers not much story telling in the demo section, so curious to see how it will shape up in the full game. Going by the great story Nikke has, im expecting Stellar Blade to also deliver.

Silky smooth 60fps in performance mode.

Eve is gorgeous, and the underboob with the racer outfit is something else.