Stellar Blade

Stellar Blade is an action-adventure video game set on a post-apocalyptic Earth, played from a third-person perspective. The combat system emphasizes understanding enemy attack patterns and countering them with precise timing. Eve's Beta Gauge fills as players successfully parry and evade in combat. The Beta Gauge can be used for skills like piercing super armor and interrupting enemy combos.

Eve also possesses a Burst Gauge, which fills through successive parries and combos, allowing players to activate buffs and execute powerful attacks. The game makes use of the PlayStation 5's DualSense controller, utilizing its haptic feedback to enhance the feel of enemy attacks and weapon accuracy. Exploration mechanics include wall scaling and rope swinging to traverse the environment, with rewards like extra costumes to be found. The overworld is populated with NPCs who offer side quests, which the player can choose to accept or ignore.

Stellar Blade takes place in a post-apocalyptic world set on Earth. At the start of the 22nd century, the scientist Raphael Marks created Mother Sphere, an artificial intelligence made to advance the human race. Through her efforts, humans are able to undergo rapid biotechnological and nanotechnical evolution. However, the arrival of monstrous creatures called Naytibas threatens humanity, and ultimately humans lost the war against the Naytibas.

Forced to abandon Earth, the remaining humans find sanctuary in outer space in a place called the Colony with Mother Sphere as their leader. In an effort to reclaim their home, the Colony periodically sends out squadrons of elite soldiers to continue their fight against the Naytibas. Eve, an elite soldier from the 7th Airborne Squad, is deployed to Earth in their most recent attempt. Along the way, Eve encounters two survivors, Adam and Lily, and eventually settles in Xion, the last surviving human city on Earth.

On April 4, 2019, the Korean studio Shift Up (founded by Blade & Soul illustrator Kim Hyung Tae) announced Project Eve for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. The game was set to be developed using Unreal Engine 4. A prototype showcasing new gameplay and art direction was presented in late 2020, but the game's release platforms were not mentioned. In the September 2021 PlayStation Showcase, the game was announced as an exclusive for PlayStation 5 and would be published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.

In a September 2022 PlayStation State of Play, the game's final title was revealed to be Stellar Blade, accompanied by new gameplay footage and an original release window scheduled for 2023. The next day, MONACA announced their involvement, stating that their members, Oliver Good and Keita Inoue, are participating in the music production of the game, which has been reiterated multiple times prior to release. The game uses 3D scanning for some character models, with Eve being based on the model Shin Jae-eun. The Naytiba enemies were designed by Korean movie monster designer Hee-Cheol Jang, who created clay models that were then 3D scanned to produce the game's 3D models. In December 2023, the game was delayed to 2024.

Stellar Blade received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to the review aggregator website Metacritic, based on 136 critic reviews. On OpenCritic, 81% of 167 critic reviews recommend the game. Much of the initial reception addressed existing online discourse around the character Eve leading up to Stellar Blade's release, with several critics questioning the validity of the discourse and how it overshadowed the quality and other aspects of the game.

Benjamin Schmädig of Eurogamer.de gave Stellar Blade a 5 out of 5, describing Stellar Blade as "an adventure that scores with motivating level design as well as its sophisticated combat system and furious boss duels. And that, despite its minor weaknesses, completely captivated me both in terms of gameplay and narrative." Matt Miller of Game Informer gave the game an 8.75 out of 10, stating Stellar Blade is "unabashed in its titillating approach to sex and violence, but unlike so many games that use those appeals as a crutch, it's also a top-notch action experience that can easily stand with the big girls."