Poll: Are You Playing the Stellar Blade Demo?

Personally don’t enjoy playing demos. But I’ll definitely be playing the game on release

Definitely want to give it a shot if I find the time. Always appreciate an action game that's just happy being an action game.

Played it and liked it. Day one buy for sure.

Played it and absolutely loved my time with it.

Glad I played it, because until today I wasn't interested in the slightest. Well, now I am.

The demo was brilliant as expected, so 100% I am going to get it, but not day one as I have too much of a backlog of games that I definitely want to play. I suppose it will be a bit cheaper when I do which is worth it because if I buy it full price at launch, it is going to sit on the shelf for a few months anyway.

Gonna wait for full game, last SoP secured it for me but also the feedback from folks playing it is good. Gotta support these action games! We getting less and less of them.

I won't be playing it as I'm already sold on the game and want to go in "blind" as they say, I did the same with FF7 ReBirth and I don't regret that.

What I do like to do though is read people's opinions/reactions of the demos on here, if the majority are positive then my hype for the game goes up.

uh , no . not into games like this , but it’s cool that it has fanservice

Tonight is the night! Pausing my Rebirth journey to rock some Stella Blade!

Edit: WOW! Fantastic demo, absolutely in love with this game already. Gameplay is fantastic, and LOVE the creature design. Now I have to finish Rebirth in 3 weeks… Preordered!

Pre-ordered as soon as soon as i finished it.

Guys, any way to unlock the chest you find in the bar? I have managed to unlock the one in the drugstore but I’d love to get this as well.

P.s. upgraded the parry window and now it’s much easier

I played a little bit of it. Seems alright, I definitely wasn't blown away. I'll check out reviews and if it's well received I'll keep an eye out for it down the road.

Between Helldivers and this, it's nice to have some games that are simply just good fun to play recently.

Playing it but am currently stuck on a boss fight, so I can't vote as there is no option for having played it without having completed it

I'm loving it so far especially the music. What a turn around, I was initially skeptical mainly cause I didn't really think it would actually come out. But playing it now feels good. The story is intriguing and pretty gruesome. The enemy designs are awesome. I love what exploration the demo has. I'm definitely pre ordering as soon as I'm able to now

The only thing I'm a little iffy about is the EN dub. I wish we got the JP dub too and I don't really feel like importing but oh well

Something about attacking and defending feels off to me. I dunno if it’s input lag since I don’t see anyone make any mention of it.

Played it, enjoyed and wishlisted. Performance, presentation and gameplay were top notch, but i have too many games to play and this one is quite expensive in Brazil, so I'll pick it up later. Didn't think i was gonna enjoy it and in the end i was impressed

I've played it twice already. Normally I don't play demos more than once, but this one's got me feeling a certain way.

Played it and I like it. I was already sold on the game regardless of the demo.

I originally planned on waiting until closer to launch...but I gave into temptation!😄

I haven't finished the demo yet but I can already confidently say this going to be a long month waiting for the final release. A very nice breath of fresh air. Combat is great, enemy design is excellent, intriguing world building...yeah I definitely dig it. Looking really promising!

Literally just finished it and now I wish I wouldn’t have played it because I was already hyped and that demo just blew my already high expectations away like damn lol.

I played about 45 minutes on story mode, plan on finishing it tonight. As long as it doesn't get ridiculously hard, I will pick it up. As I'm not into Souls games at all.

I played it until I died. May play it again on story mode this weekend.

Just completed the demo and very impressed - it’s a lot of fun.

Sure. Played this (kinda game) 100 times before but giggly wiggly! Which, to be honest, is or rather are the only reasons for this game. Would never pay money for it but could be fun for some hours when on PS+

@ShogunRok It's very fun. Game looks great in max fidelity option.

@Shepherd_Tallon @Fishface45 there is a perk in the skill tree that allows for an easier perfect dodge and one for an easier perfect parry. Im guessing it extends the window of each button press. Dont sleep on these perks, especially the parry.

An interesting game. I don't know if its for me but I'll consider buying it if I have the bucks.

Absolutely loved it, I'll be there on release day.

Edit: I need more Tachy in my life..

@Shepherd_Tallon always welcome. They take 2 skill points each to unlock so very fast come the full game. I was impressed with the demo but the boss fight that unlocks after you beat the demo story section was tricky to beat. Very much looking forward to the full game tho.

@Weebleman agreed. HellDivers 2 was a pleasant surprise and I’m excited for Stellar Blade.

Just got home, but I plan on trying the demo. Probably won’t be a day one purchase no matter how much I love it.

What I don’t like about the gameplay:

• R2 to pick up stuff. Why not automatically?
• For perfect dodging, you must leave the analog stick in neutral position. Very unusual.
• Text of what you pick up is too small.
  What I like: Almost everything else.

@Max_the_German I think there is an option in settings >gameplay for autoloot

This game is a blast I was interested before the demo but now I am really hyped

Finally another game that feels truly next gen, the only other being Horizon 2. With the tight fitting outfits and the extreme violence is this Sony apologising for all its ridiculous censorship over the years. Can't wait to get stuck into the full game.

@Nei
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it's not possible in the demo

@Max_the_German

• theres a setting in options to auto pickup loot
• perfect dodge doesn't need to leave stick in neutral, there's a practice mode in the skill tree
• think you can change text size in the options too

Beat demo and boss mode and it's pretty awesome. More the likes of DMC or Bayonetta. Already preordered the deluxe edition.

I had a good time with it, parries in particular are really satisfying.

@Icey664 Okay, a bit more practice could help. For the text size: I‘m playing on PS Portal (extra lag makes it some kind of „hard mode“) and increased the text and HUD size to max. But this doesn’t include the text size for loot, „press R2 to open“, these stuff. Obviously, devs and testers sit in front of computer displays.

Got to the first area after the beach. I’m planning on finishing it today. It’s very nice looking, but I’m not 100% sure it’s for me yet. I said that about LotF though and ended up loving that game

Played it yesterday and now removed from wish list. Don’t like it.

@Icey664 @Nei
Yeah it definitely looks like something you need to circle back to in the full version - the level clearly doesn't end with that boss fight

I did and it was great, very promising for the full game!

Not yet. I'm still lost in DD2. I'm hearing good things about it though.

It’s really good seeing all the positive reactions here. I’ve gotta admit I thought this was going to be an overhyped flop so pleased to see I’m probably going to be wrong. I have the demo downloaded so will dip in at some point this weekend

I've been on the fence about it so waiting for reviews. Not a day one buy because I'm still nowhere near completing Rebirth. Then I've got Baldurs gate to go back to. I do love a good anime inspired action game though

@Icey664 @Voltan
Well, for my exploration yes! I made a second play through (very rare for me for a demo) and now I am before the boss grinding enemies for skill points and exploring but I couldn’t find it :/

@Enuo because the demo is great or because the main protagonist is sexy babe? Lmao 🤣

Played it and completed it. Definitely will get it at some point, gameplay was really fun, souls like but more forgiving, will take some skill to master I feel. Visual fidelity is excellent, character models are really polished, didn't notice any drops in performance either (on balanced mode) which is really good considering a lot of releases lately. Also there's a boss challenge mode which will give it a bit of replay-ability. Really cool game.

Played through once, struggled to enjoy it.

Combat just feels off to me. Not fast and fluid like Bayonetta, not slow and methodical like Elden Ring, but feels like an unsatisfying no mans land somewhere in between.

Will try another playthrough tonight and see if I can click with it though, visually it looks amazing.

I'll go in day one without playing the demo. This often works out for me. I remember getting mass effect just by the box art back when it came out.

@soyabean135876 Exactly that feeling of no mans land I had as well. But maybe it takes some time before it clicks, as it did with the Souls games.

I played enough of the demo to decide that I wanted to buy it, there was no need to beat it.

Played the demo for 30 mins.. not my style.. looks too ‘Asiany’ for my style and my wife kept talking about how weirdos would probably pause the game to go relieve themselves every 20 mins 🙄

@AdamNovice There is a toggle in the settings to auto pickup things. In my opinion that should be on by default.

@Max_the_German @soyabean135876 I loved the demo, but I totally understand both your comments about the combat. It felt much more slow and deliberate than I expected, and initially did feel off to me. Seems like taking a more defensive, reserved approach is the game, at least in the beginning. But once it clicked and I understood the pacing of the combat, I began to do very well. Looking at the skill trees, though, I imagine you can become a lot more quick and aggressive as the game progresses. The awesomeness of this game has totally caught me off guard!

@adamnovice There’s an option in the menu to set pick-up collection to auto. Not sure why they default to off, but it’s there! Breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that, was totally annoying!

I was going to ignore it, tried the demo. It seemed pretty good, it looked great, enemies and their light was top notch.

I wonder how long it is and how varied the combat becomes as I imagine it's the same weapon all the way through. Unless it reviews very highly I'll be waiting for a price drop.

I have an absolute tonne of games to play through now and I don't see myself spending 70 on another one to add to the que unless it is exceptional.

@ear_wig it was a little slower than I expected, it was also a little harder tbh. I'm just playing through Spider Man now, on hard and I haven't died in over 14 hours, I died to to a mini boss in this..

It feels like shes takes a second to go through stationary to moving, plus I couldn't find the run button. IThe combat reminded me of Lies of P more than anything.

@AdamNovice there is a toggle in options to

@Icey664 thanks! The item pick-up is my only negative for this game. Games is a masterpiece!

Played it a bit yesterday. Got to the part where a bunch of ants attack at once and it tells you to hit barrels into them, which was a clunky af, no fun time for me lol, and quit shortly after that.

Although it may not be for me, I can absolutely see it being for others, and I hope they have a blast!

Great idea for the devs / publisher to put a demo out there for this. It definitely helped inform my buying decision. More new IP’s should be doing this, especially if the devs and publishers stand behind their product.

@mkr Click L3 stick for run. Yep there does seem to be a delay there. You must unlearn what you have learned!

I had no idea about this game but it seemed like a PS5 Nier Automata, it goes on sale the same day as Top Spin. :/

I preorder it from very when it dropped seems like a eternity ago. I'm away from home at the moment (work nothing exciting so missed the demo on Friday)
Defo be playing the demo when I get back tho

Tried the demo last night, really liked what I played. There's a few things that were a little rough i.e. fighting a big group of small enemies, the climbing is a little janky.

But the pros really outweigh the cons for me and It makes me even more hyped for the full game.

@Fritz167
My thoughts as well. The demo and music reminded me of Nier Automata. The Nier demo almost made me not buy the game. Luckily I did buy Nier and loved it but this will be a discount purchase if I get it.

I played it, I loved it!

Demo so far is great. Will pick this up. Live this style of game.

I enjoyed the demo. Definitely got me interested in it. I found perfect dodges very difficult to perform (even with the ability that makes them easier) on a consistent basis but I fared much better with the parry and blink abilities. Not sure yet if I’ll be a day one buy but this is shaping up nicely!

I played the demo, it’s fun, and my type of game, but I find the whole “I wanna have Nier vibes” a bit disappointing. Will eventually pick it up, but not on release day.

Played maybe 30 minutes and won't be playing anymore. The mechanics behind the game are good enough, but I found the basis for the intro mission annoying - you're Eve, an elite soldier sent back to earth to fight aliens and take Earth back! But once you land you become a fragile woman that needs help doing the most basic things like... healing.

There were just too many tropes for me to want to see the demo to it's end. Almost like the devs are going with the early 90's stereotype of what a female character should be. Instead of giving us a powerful character and teaching us the controls, they made the character weak (even though she's supposed to be powerful) and saddled us with another character to hold our fragile hands.

@mkr also thought it was slower than I expected, but I still really liked it. The graphics and animation are amazing and while the soundtrack is somewhat on the nose Nier inspired, I still can't blame them because Nier just has such an amazing soundtrack.

I started playing it. After a little while I paused it and stumbled across the “skills” page, and noticed that a lot of the unlockable skills require button combinations. I don’t like remembering button combinations. Needless to say I’ve lost interest in the game.

Have it downloaded but haven't played it yet. Fundamentally though, if Shu played the game in early prototype faze and liked it enough to come back with an offer, then that's more than good enough for me til further notice. In Shu I trust.

The Nier inspiration is there and mobile to this like Grandblue Fantasy Relink. I'll give Shift Up credit it's a fair game.

The thing is the balance mechanic while good, the fall damage eh take or leave, the world is nice, the dialogue/voicing is fair. Ghe pole/bat spinning mechanics are fair of they even matter to get around more than the demo.

The keypads are fair. The loot and abilities/loot is fine.

My problem is the animations for the attacks are alright but the movement is so slow even probably then DMC5 the animations are fair movement is Souls slow. I'm sorry but did Shift Up miss the details of Nier or others in this hack n lash RPG kind of feel? Or was it just the world inspiration but Souls movement? If so I'm not buying it. But I think it's just Nier inspiration but they over did the feel too much where Platinum is consistent in their games. Nier, Babylon, Bayonetta, etc.

Even PN03 for tank controls as it was and heavy it made sense. This doesn't as much of feel to me.

I go back to old games a lot and to me many are next gen why because of touches and details left behind. I could go on and lost them but I won't even if difficulty tuning, AI adapting, dynamic moments and other factors as a little of that.

Granted Shift Up I will be fair but even AAA annoy me with so many missing touches of scripted perfection garbage and lacking details from PS1-3 that I laugh going ah yeah can't have that detail that is realistic or next gen nowadays of it returned and done well.

But the movement being slow was why I went hmm it's Souls slow then other character action game slows like DMC5 felt for me compared to Bayonetta 3 or DMC reboot or Valkyrie Elysium. Wanted Dead was a third person shooter and hack n slash like Devils Third so it doesn't count.

Bayonetta is fast but good flexible. Nier had the slow animations at times for certain weapons but fast movement to run around.

This just annoyed me and like Darksiders 3 being souls Meteoidvanias when 1&2 were for a character action/hack n slash audience yeah no. Its like that sort of.

This is a game for action game fans but doesn't feel right.

It's like with Uncharted I think the slow grounded movement for Nate is a bit much. It kind of makes sense but feels awkward and with no armour even less sense then other games to justify that or carrying an object or something you know as that to the weight would make sense in feeling and movement speed.

In a SciFi game with a special suit you aren't wearing armour like a Souls game. So why is it so heavy.

Heck rid very jelly like I guess or just very particular I don't know.

I mean I don't think that far into realism but even the suits I'm like they are holding the chest in place right not movement on the character wait what? So they are flexible it just seems weird to me. It's a minor detail but I mean fixed in place movement for a body of arms/legs or head to move around sure but something not wanting to but can in a suit seems odd to me.

Even Spyro is so heavy in the jumps or movement for the modern engines and modern design it annoys me on my mature or kids games.

The movement speed versus the dodges and the dodges work well. But the pacing would stop me from a purchase.

If like a racing game I hate the handling, physics and more I wouldn't buy the game the characters or cars aren't enough if the tracks suck and the movement sucks. That's how similar I'd out that. Gameplay matters not oh the pretty world and great characters.

The gameplay.

So same here. I would buy it as a fan of the genre and the RPG elements don't bother me as much as other games but the movement is so frustrating of the whole game I wouldn't buy it.

To me Bayonetta 3 sucked for the awful Astral Chain continuation mechanic and DMC5 3 characters on a few sticks and things. It's awful. Bayonetta Origins did it more fairly where 3 didn't. Besides the eh skill trees then an item/ability shop. Another menu to method to access differently and eh skills anyway.

They just don't have what Valkyrie Elysium's Solei or Platinum has with their action games feel and polish and I don't expect them to they haven't done this before.

Same with Rose of the Ronin a Team Ninja open world they have done some cool quality of life/mechanics and a fair open world for I think their first besides the souls games and we'll fighting, warriors or Ninja Gaiden games of their past they are used to.

Why so heavy and grounded is all I'm questioningm

I haven't played Total Overdose but heck even that PS2 era budget GTA/Saints Row clone with wall walking and flips and this and that. There is a reason I like games with more flexible movement, silly or not and to be floty.

But many Max Payne style games air shooting slow mo or other melee action games feel better or have more fair movesets.

The more grounded games get the more I want to not buy games from developers.

SciFi there should be no excuses for things to feel that annoying or be that oh third person prompt for a chest/other items syndrome.

I always like how I find games I like of Pikmin 4, this and Bayonetta 3 and to me it's either the movement or its the garbage trending skill trees and other crap that didn't need to be in the formula.

It's a good game but as someone hyped for it and as someone who doesn't put big games as my game of the year I put smaller or AA because that's all I play and actually like of genres and ideas of mechanics in games.

Yeah to me this was underwhelming.

They went too far in areas
Some touches are nice but man general movement sucks and would annoy me the whole game.

I hate modern gaming for its lacking cool touches for garbage quests and sub par cutscene animations. To just eh movement to be grounded when it doesn't even feel realistic it feels pathetically heavy for no reason.

@Nightcrawler71 no with this game you just dash in and out any generic hits woll do besides the face buttons attackd. You don't need to memtoise them I know I play many of these games. It isn't the type to require a move to get past enemies you just use whatever and still win.

God of War (even if old was a like Stellar Blade kind to changed with 2018+), Uncharted, Spiderman all had combos. I'd you have played mostly souls, EPGs or whatever then sure but just saying some action adventure games have had them, even platformers gens ago did.

But just becythis game is very action game audience hack ns lash like me I get by and suck but still enjoy the genre even if came into it late.

Either era has combos you don't need to remember them. Just press the generic attacks and side ones that's it. It's easy. Don't look at a combo list and think you have them required . They are optional. They aren't like that dedicated anymore. Many are easy and flexible to many players.

Fighting games yes you do need to memorise them, character action hack n slash that this is you don't need to memorise them not in years has that been the case basic and other special attacks you can do the whole game and still win. Besides the movement is so slow as it is it threw me off.

You can get by with the abilities on the right side of the screen in Stellar Blade or just dodge and mash I'd you want even if the flexibility of veterans will use the combos it's called offering enough for both easy and higher skill level audiences. It isn't a tough to master only kind of game.

If need be people can used the ombos. You most dash in and out and hit I'd not sheidlsed. Dodge a bit or keep your distance.

I can't even memorise enough combos. I just get by with a few key ones in other games and still win.

I know as I hate souls games and the movement speed and animations matter to me in trailers/demos. I have to be picky due to the cult following of the Souls in AA games push and it annoys me so I go back a few gens to find ones like this besides the few that have been out besides a big name DMC/Bayonetta, God of War being for a different audience now and Wanted Dead/Valkyrie Elysium or Atlas Fallen as the only few besides Stellar Blade to pop up or well Nier. Action RPG or hub based then linear of some of them too but these depth or easy to ignore all that combat.

I knew when looking at footage if I didn't what to play this or not and the feel versus the genre of audience it appeals to made me confused.

I'd say give it another go. If not that's totally fine.

I am underwhelmed with it so don't think it's me saying oh believe in the hype. I am the target audience and was disappointed.

From the beginning minutes demo felt like a copy of Nier Automata with added parry mechanics. Combat is a little clunky at times, but it’s working okay-ish. Another thing is the way main enemies are called, so weird that minutes after playing the demo I forgot about it. Starts with N…

Hopefully full game might have somewhat interesting story and it’s not copy pasted Nier Automata storyline with changed names…

I played through around 30 minutes of the demo, completing the first section.

The game looks stunning, and I like the combat mechanics. I'm not really familiar with these type of games, so I would be quite interested in discovering games that have similar combat mechanics as Stellar Blade

I don't really see the controversy regarding Eve's portrayal. She looks like a really athletic (albeit with some unrealistic proportions) woman.

I'm in two minds regarding the art direction. The enemies I faced in the first section grossed me out quite a bit; I felt like I was facing off against some sort of malignant demonic fetuses.

Also, there's was a lot of brown and grey in the environment for the first section, which reminded me of the PS3 era.

I don't think I'll be interested in purchasing the full game, but at least I have a better understanding of the game going forward.

Great engine, cool aesthetics, fantastic creature design.
Combet feels fine, like theres plenty of room for additinal skills and tweeks which will suit several play styles.

This looks like a very solid game Im keen pick up next month!

Anybody has a link? I see nothing on the austrian and italian ps store

Demo was cool, but for USD 70 bit steep for a 25 hour game. Will most likely get it when it's like USD 40 range in a sale (or on PC when it releases as a timed exclusive, PC games are cheaper anyway to buy).

Probably a 7 or 8/10 game imo.

@N1ghtW1ng yeh i dont get why they made her face so unrealistic and the boobs so tiny realistic

@pirlega just click on PS5 standard edition on the app on your phone and the demo pops up or just click on the circle with 3 dots icon (...) on the PSN store stellar blade page on your PS5 and the demo comes up as an option.

@pirlega

I can see why there's a lot of comparisons to the main character in Bayonetta (I think her name is Bayonetta?). Eve's face just isn't in proportion to the rest of her body, so it's a bit weird.

Enjoying the demo, the world gives me Nier vibes. Combat is more sekiro than souls

@Frmknst What are games you would compare it to? Without having played the demo yet only NieR springs to mind.

@Nei I was wondering that too. The USB drive you find on the body nearby is broken, and I couldn't find any other matching passcodes for that chest.

Also, what's up with that statue near the big ravine? It has clearly marked handholds for you to climb, but there's really nothing at the top to collect.

@Darude84 though there are some similarities in the setting that are enhanced by the music, the game is very far from Nier in terms of gameplay. This is more like Lies of P or boss fights in GOW (2018).

@pyrrhic_victory love your Roman history user name. Yeah I was wondering about the statue too, seems pontless for like 3 vitcoins. I also found out that when you come close to the first body of water, you can go right and find a rare enemy thingy.

Honestly, I'm getting a lot of NIER: Automata vibes from Stellar Blade. In no way is it bad, just not my thing.

Might grab it if PS+ throws it on offer at some point.

Wasn't sold at first based on the trailers but I found the demo to be not bad. Rarely play these sort of games, so my timing for dodges and parries kinda suck.lol I also prefer Tachy's face design over Eve's which I find a bit generic looking.

Not sure if I'll pre-order it, though since the bonus is just early unlocks for items. Maybe I'll get it at some point.

Just finished the demo. Combat is so good. Really love the parry/dodge system. Release cant come soon enough.

Just gave it a go
It has potential aside from the hyersexualized nonsense.

The main problem I have with it is its slow pace and accompanying animations. For the genre it's combat speed and animations are really stilted, and slow especially for the actual movesets that take place on screen. It makes the combat feel so much more janky than it is. Its a weird choice for sure. The very basic level design thus far is not great either.

We shall see how the full package is recieved. For now it's not a must buy for me.

@Zenos I'm not upset at all my critiques were on the damn animation and combat speed. You just latched on to one thing to fit this us VS them narrative the hive mind thrives on for survival. Have a good night. There is not middle ground in an echo chamber indoctrinated mind. So move on to the next opportunity to parrot the same nonsense.

Have a good night.

It looks a lot less embarrassing than I thought it would at first. I'll give it a go if reviews are good

@Zenos there he is. Byeeeeee.

Gameplay seems enjoyable enough. Graphics and art style are okay-ish. Eve, the protagonist seems very shallow, both in appearance and substance. I could be wrong, but I'm not really excited right now. I'll probably pick this game up in a deep sale.

I played the demo a bit. Excellent graphics and controls. The only thing holding me back is my backlog. Still working on FF7 Rebirth, and Dragon’s Dogma 2 looks like my kind of time sink.

Not yet, but I have it downloaded to my PS5.

Just another leap around hack n slash. Pretty as hell but no different. That's just me and mine, loads of others may not have played so many similar games yet.

It's a very impressive looking game from a technical point of view but it feels like the art style has been done to death. Hopefully the full game will have more variation.

As others have said, the combat feels a little off. It's not quite one thing nor another.

Was ready for fan service but the soulsborne death stuff and the parry/dodge stuff just wasn’t my thing. Just wanted a good hack & slash.

I played for a bit, will try more later. So far not impressed at all. It feels somehow like a mobile game, the character seems to have zero weight and the combat feels dull and empty so far, reminds me of Skyrim.

So weird the controversy over this game just cause it has an attractive female lead and everyone's losing their mind over it. Is this how every game with a good looking female will be from now on?