I recommend: Stellar Blade (Review)
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- čas přidán 25. 04. 2024
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Stellar Blade takes its love of Nier Automata too far, cribbing story beats, tone, themes, settings and scenarios in a way that stifles any chance for Stellar Blade to develop its own unique identity. Luckily, the game plays brilliantly, with worthwhile open-world exploration, excellent combat and some truly superb boss encounters. Stellar Blade is a good game - it's just a shame it actively puts itself in the shadow of a better one.
Review code provided by Sony.
Video written and voice by Ralph P.
Edited by Austin B.
#Review #StellarBlade #PS5
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The issues with voice direction and delivery would’ve been meditated if you chose the native language of Korean. Playing the demo in Korean made the whole story a lot more tolerable.
So...with which hand did you play the game?
Finally a truly balanced and objective review, thanks.
(And indeed, the issue with Eve doesn't seem to be how "sexy/eye candy" she's supposed to be, but how dull and bland she seems to be. Your comparison to Nier bursting with the emotions she's not supposed to feel is exactly on point!)
@@Atum_Kami, thing is: the English dub exist, and will be the version experienced by thousands of players...
The korean version is probably superior, that said, it has nothing to do with how the English dub does come across
@@ChristmasLore yes I don’t disagree, I was just offering a better experience since I figured the English dub would’ve been bad especially from a developer this new in the “AAA” gaming space.
Yoko Taro 100% thought stellar Blade was a better game because Eve has a bigger and higher res ass then 2b
And because Yoko Taro is a massive troll, and never takes interviews seriously
Yeah this a man who made video explaining while persona 5 will shit all over nier. Why I do think he was being genuinely in his praise for stellar blade, yoko is no stranger to throwing shade at his own games.
This man gets it
U undercover buzzfeed user or something?
Tbh Stellar Blade's combat is straight up way better than Nier Automata's combat, and I say that as a huge Nier fan. I'm still only a few hours into Stellar Blade so I won't pass too much judgment on the story, but so far I would say that while it has potential and has some intriguing elements, Nier's storytelling is better in both presentation and narrative (and character, dialogue, themes, etc...). Also, while SB's music amazing, Nier's is still better.
“I love your game more!”
“No I love your game more!”
Which is kinda cute
Yoko taro and toby fox did the same thing years ago.
Player 3 enters the game:
IGN: You're games sexist!
Humility is asian culture.
Western ppl might think its cringe 😅
@@funnyk2755 I love that shit, respect your fellow man it feels real and not superficial
As someone who just finished Stellar Blade, expecting the game to get worse over time because of the mediocre reviews, all I can say is WTF were people talking about. Stellar Blade is amazing. As someone who also reveres Nier Automata, it's a wonderful game that was born from the inspiration of Nier. Don't tell me that Destiny, CoD, Overwatch, and Counter Strike don't suffer from similar tropes or mechanics. Nier walked so that Stellar Blade could run. Both have their place in gaming history as must play video games that are iconic.
As a Korean speaker, hearing a game fully dubbed in Korean is a landmark achievement for my culture. Every word hit hard. Every disappointment and moment of sadness hit hard. Stellar Blade was made for me, and I connected with the game in a way I haven't connected with games for a long time. I was fully immersed and strapped in.
All of this, as someone who just platinumed Persona 3 Reload. The music in Stellar Blade was phenomenal, the gameplay was like riding a bike, and the visuals were the best eye candy that I've ever seen from an increasingly failing gaming industry.
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.
Sounds to me Nier would’ve been a better book than a game. I know Nier has some gimmicks in terms of gameplay but when that’s all you have it doesn’t make up for a lackluster gameplay loop.
this comment actually got me thinking about a what if scenario where both of'em work together to make a new game.
Then the next step for Shift Up is obvious. Collab with Yoko Taro to make a new game. Taro writes the story while Shift Up crafts the gameplay.
@DionPanday A musical book? Automata excels in character design, story and MUSIC.
@@NigelPlusJimenez I wish it would excel in gameplay but it doesn’t
It feels like the voice actors were directed by someone who didn’t speak English as a primary language.
the devs are korean what do you expect
@@heromedleyfor good localisation team. Look at FFXVI
Play it in Korean
@@heromedley You really think Korean devs directed the English voice actors? I guarantee you that Sony will have hired a localization company to do the dubs. No way Shift Up is responsible for English voice direction.
@@heromedley Localisers doing the direction.
2 men arguing about the other ones game being better is the most Japanese thing I've ever heard
except one of them is korean...
edit: I'm not saying this person's racist, yall need to calm down. It's a pretty minor mistake
Literally came to post this. Yoko Taros modesty is wild because Nier Automata is in my top 5 of all time. Route E is staggering.
@@pastlives8420 Zawsze się trochę rasizm 👀ツ
==>
We are all racists but it's mainly (little) huge misunderstanding
¯\_(👀)_/¯¯\_(ツ)_/¯
My personal experience,
Story: Nier
Character: Nier
Gameplay: Stellar blade
Tech: of course stellar
..and when they don‘t get a conclusion, THERE WILL BE WAR. Japanese are weird.
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. 😂
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.
Wow, this was a very thorough and interesting take on the inside of games voice acting. Thank you! So much complexity goes in the making of any media, it's mind blowing really.
I actually skipped the TL;DR since walls of text actually entice me. Glad I did, as this was a very interesting read. Thank you for taking the time to shed some light on this.
Thank you for that insight, that was a really interesting read ❤
🤩🌟🤩
This was a huge effortpost, wow. Just chiming in that the Korean VA feels very natural, the English did not. I switched in near the beginning of the demo and haven't felt any urge to change it back.
Came for a stellar blade review, stayed for the nier automata glaze session.
GLORY TO MANKIND
Skill Up will never stop glazing Nier Automata and Outer Wilds. Rightly so.
@@Mohgenstein And I also feel he's on point with his assessment. Automata feels like a beautiful human work of art, Stellar Blade kind of feels like you showed Automata to an AI and told it to "make that again but bigger and flashier" and it looses that awe in the process. Still looks fun tho.
@@aeztral It's more like fanfiction where it's obvious the person writing it doesn't have anything to add and just wants to insert legaly distinct characters into it.
@@janogabor7697 but it's not even that. If it was just Automata again i wouldn't even mind it because Automata was phenomenal. This is just a cheap knockoff, not a direct copy.
Aww hearing those two gush about each other's games is super sweet
Now kith
That's a refreshing back-and-forth after seeing too much of Stellar Blade's insufferable discourse on Twitter and CZcams.
Idk. I feel like Yoko Taro is pretty relentlessly self deprecating about his work. It feels like he uses any chance he can get, sometimes completely unprompted and without anyone to compliment instead, to completely denigrate himself and his work.
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 !
hahaha, i was thinking the exact same thing.
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)
I watched Korean Dramas and listen to KPop, just heads up for those who don't know this, Korean sounds very different than Japanese, they will not sound alike one bit, so it might be just a little jarring for someone who's not familiar with the language but that's only at the beginning... You'll get used to it.
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
That’s especially true of Japanese developers. It’s two developers being humble and glazing each other up.
and to add, yoko taro is yoko taro.
I love the dude, he's amazing and a genious, but fuck me if he isn't weird and dumb.
he would say the most stupid shit and actually believe it, you can't trust the dude to be serious
Just Asian curtesy and high manners??? Also he meant it more in a way that the Nikke studio has bigger creative freedom when he is under Square Enix scrutiny 24/7 when he makes games.
not to mention he's Japanese. They're expected to be modest in general
yoko taro's also the definition of an unreliable narrator who occasionally makes bad things on purpose just so he can bamboozle people when he works on something good
Considering this is shiftup first non mobile game, im impressed
I’ll go one better: The fact that this is ShiftUp’s first non mobile game that not only has some of the absolute best combat in the genre, but puts most “AAA” games to shame with how good its performance & frame rate are is a borderline miracle. ShiftUp should be legitimately proud of themselves
@@mrsquee9280 too expensive, this game is not that good.
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.
Nier actually sucked. Not sure that game became a classic all of a sudden
@@bwreckstrying to be different so hard.
@@voncroii He's wrong if he thinks it just suddenly became beloved but it's flawed enough that someone could easily dislike it.
Nier has a great story but very mediocre gameplay.
It's one of those games that has a very protective fandom.
Nier Automata is great in the sense that it tries so many experimental new things, including the way it tells it's story. Stellar blade is much more safe. For example theres no way you need to beat tgis game 4 times to get the actual story.. or wait.. did anyone do that yet?
@@bwrecks nier and nier automata are 2 different games
what audio languages are available for this game? I'm kinda curious if the feel of the game changes with different audio
German, Spanish, French, Italian, English, Korean, Portuguese.
French is the best by a longshot.
@@danielfreezer8469 much appreciated. I'm currently debating if I want to pick up a PS5 for a bunch of games or if I should just wait for them to get ported to PC (if they do)
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
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.
Weird as it inspiration put story front and center to the entire experience.
The one positive this game has compared to other Korean games (possibly due to Sony's involvement) is that it's not horribly monetized and full of microtransactions. The fact that they had the restraint not to sell coomer costumes in a cash shop for real money is honestly impressive.
There's nothing wrong with that, of course. If an idea/concept works, why change it? The story, while an appreciated addition, clearly stands secondary to the gameplay loop, just like in Metal Gear Rising Revengeance. Both it and Stellar Blade are blood-pumping hack-and-slash action games, and that's all they really needed to be. Not every game needs a gripping narrative, so long as they're fun.
Interesting bc there are multiple other critic and content creator reviews that say this story is much more engaging then its predecessors🤷🤷🤷
Lies of P is a Korean Action RPG, an does not do what you describe.
The bunny suit is wild. Respect for not giving a fuck
The first half of this review just sounded like a very powerful recommendation to play the game with Korean voices.
JAPANESE ❤
@SpaceBird24most of Ralph’s complaints have been about how the characters SOUND
@SpaceBird24 But bad VA may or may not be until you check, and good VA can turn change a bad story into a decent one.
@SpaceBird24 You don't seem to realize just how much more terrible Suicide Squad's story would have felt if the VA was ALSO lifeless and flat.
They sound better but the French dub is really good.
7:28 My man, calling Eve 'flat' is a very bold statement...
He is a Dumb Ass for saying that!
Dude just finished FF7. Tifa's a hard act to follow lol.
@@Mattsen87 *Ocean Maid intensifies*
Stellar Blade: “notice me, unnie!”
Nier: “I have! Now go out there and be great”
Stellar Blade: “….no but really, NOTICE MEEEEEE”
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?
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.
A game with a soul. Truly a soul type game. Or dare I say.. nah I better not 😁
I found it funny that a game about androids pretending to be human actually made me feel humanity more than any game of recent memory.
GLORY TO MANKIND
that game changed my life. I now study philosophy at university. I probably wouldnt have if not for automata. also, A2 is one of my favourite characters ever
well then you should definitely watch ShillUp's Nier:Automata video...
Nier Automata: deeper narrative
Stellar Blade: better combat system
A lot of stellar blade gameplay feels like it takes cues from Sekiro mixed with Nier which I like. I wish there are more action games Sekiro's combat system. Although not as complex, it is still satisfying to play.
Stellar Blade: deeper Jingle Physics
@@Jericco8 does it even have that? I wouldn’t know I don’t have a PS5
I don't know about that, Automata's combat can be pretty damn sweet. In terms of combat: if you're coming from Souls you'll probably prefer Stellar Blade, if you're coming from Devil May Cry or another character action game you'll probably prefer Automata. The combo potential in that game is wild.
@@Chopzi11a It has it in spades
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?
No
Didn't know this was a comparison video
I said this to another commenter too but…
Relating a game to another is not an unsound way of reviewing a game. It’s a way of describing something that people have not played to something they probably have so that they know what to expect. After all, a game review is just that - a way to tell people what a game is like. In this case, it’s a lot like Nier.
* Play it in korean with subtitles
yep, i do amd recommend it
Same here, 10 hours in and it's amazing. The English voice acting was terrible when I started so I changed the settings and it changed everything
I was planning on doing this, the only thing I'm worried about is that the animations are synced to the English audio. I'd love to hear that this is not the case.
Has anyone played with japanese dub? Is that good?
Problem solved. Seriously Ralph is such a bad reviewer in some aspects. Why couldn't he just review the native language also and tell people about it? Isn't that his job? He spent most of the review whining about Nier Automata instead of basic things like that.
NieR: Automata: Actual android feels like a human.
Stellar Blade: Actual human feels like an android.
What are you talking about? EVE is an android, too!
@@dchassan EVE is a cyborg. 2B is an android. This means Androids 17 and 18 from DBZ were named incorrectly. 😂
@@georgesmith5201 EVE is not a cyborg. She was created from scratch to look like human and act like human but she has no human DNA at all.
To be exact, her kind is called "Andro-Eidos".
damn everyone just talks out of their fucking ass when it comes to this game lmfao
Eve ain't human
I was initially confused when he gave this one a recommendation when he spent the first half of the video crapping on it. I like that the combat, open world and even platforming didn’t feel like every other Sony exclusive.
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.
They all went to the Peter Dinklage school of voice acting
That guy sucks
That wizard came from the moon
thats an insult to voice actors
@@Jim26D 😂
...UNTIL THEY DID
Stellar blade: the Nier Automata review. By skill up
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!
I get the Final Fantasy XIII vibe
👍
This game is my 2024 GOTY
The love and understanding of Yoko Taro's work is part of why I love this channel. Good to hear this is still fun.
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.
Imagine if shift up and Yoko Taro made a game together.
Now that I think about that, cover 2B eyes was a very clever move. Our brains just fill the gap without expensive animations.
What? A lot of the Nier characters, including 2B, show their eyes, and the faces are well-animated and emotive. I understand the spirit of what you're trying to say, but it just doesn't apply to Nier:Automata.
@thatdarnskag5043 Yeah, it was very well made, indeed. Even at scenes with just the mouth showing. I was just thinking out loud. 😅
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.
yeah that was the most surprising thing with me getting into nikke recently and seeing how middling Steller blade story is because nikke has good writing and,.. more than 5 characters!
It says something when "Nier Automata" is said more times than "stellar blade" on a stellar blade review
100% Agree
@@ctiger789 he means the game lacks identity
Some people can't get past babby's first weeb game. Auto was a 7.
Yeah, it says that he should talk about the game he’s actually reviewing more lol.
He keeps comparing it to Nier when they aren’t even the same type of game. Stellar Blade is closer to Elden Ring souls-like than it is to Nier
@@CurtThaFlirt He mentioned Nier specifically for the concept and story beats he thought were too close to Automata.
C'mon, clearly sexualized cybergirl folllowed by small drone fight for rhe future of mankind. Apparently both with existential crisis as well. Can't really criticize his comparison.
“by far” and “far and away” are two separate phrases
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
To me I did not even consider playing the game in English. It’s a Korean studio, the characters are obviously Asian, and I could tell from the first second that the English voices would not be optimal. Korean was so so much better. It’s like watching dubbed anime…
The story was also so good. The premise was amazing and the way it developed I did not see coming. I’m watching this review after completing the game and I don’t know how it’s all so obvious apparently haha. I also never played or heard of Nier:Automata like skill up has which is most of the review 5 min in so maybe that’s why I had a better experience
I just came off Lies of P and was expecting linear level design throughout so the open world was crazy to me. My feeling playing this was like 60% of what I felt playing Elden ring. I loved it and loved exploring every nook
@@Sarsaparillamann Glad you enjoyed the game aswell ^^
If it was in the game’s origin language do you think that could change the bland tone a bit?
It does. It totally changes tonally the lines emoted in the Korean dub.
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.
Ditto
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.
Ralph recommending this with how much he bashed it but not recommending FFXVI is absolutely blasphemous.
@@ThePokestopPapioh my god opinions
Other people have them?
And they can be different,?
Wild
I was kind of surprised too, but it just goes to show how much he got out of the combat system, open world stuff, and the horror segments. The narrative usually is the central pillar for a good game, and normally has to be at least okay in order for a game to be good (unless it deliberately avoids having much of a narrative), so it is weird to know a game is being recommended _in spite_ of its story.
I think he recommends it, but he doesn't think it's high art in the same way Nier is...
And because it's gonna be easy to put them next to each other, just be warned that SB will seem of lesser quality when it comes to certain aspects like VA, story, dialogue, etc.
SB won't get you thinking as much, nor as hard, nor would it knock your socks off in terms of philosophical concepts or lore discussions. In this regard it doesn't hit the highs NA hit.
Combat is great, soundtrack is great, main character is sexy just like Bayonetta and 2B. But if you played Nier for more, for all that it had to offer, SB is not in the same league...
And that's ok. That doesn't make it a bad game.
I expevted this level of critique from all the moustache faced, monacle wearing Soulsbourne elitist and highly professional game reviewers who think of videogames as "art" and judge accordingly. They won't be head over heels for this one, but that's alright ... It doesn't have to be Elden Ring to be a "good time" (And trust me this isn't an innuendo, though there will be a lot of that, and that's part of the experience lol That, by definition, cheapens it as a "work of art" seeing that it can't be taken seriously).
It's akin to something Guy Fieri made, and I like me a good cheeseburger. 😅
@@ThePokestopPapiI knew this was gonna be an issue tbh, that all other games that were popular but reviewed for lesser scores are going to be brought up when this game receives praise.
Lords of the fallen getting blasted as a soulsbourne title by hardcore genre fans is also gonna be brought up if they give SB a good review while "not being kind" to that game...
Yeah... There's that.
this video is more like an indirect comparison rather than a review
A bit like his Call of Duty / Spec Ops: The Line review :D
Agreed, I was very annoyed he didn't talk about anything without comparing the two.
And your point is?
@darinherrick9224 the point is stated in his comment.
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
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.
I can still remember the Over Zone story and damn.... And that's what boggles my mind as they can clearly make an impactful story.
Dorothy Eng dub in Over Zone is nowhere near as impactful as Saitou Chiwa doing the JP dub. Especially during its highest moments.
Saitou Chiwa (her JP VA) sounded like she was really crying and frustrated just like Dorothy was (as shown by the cutscene CGs) when Oswald delivered them the final nail in their "coffin" and Ark turned their back on the Goddess, Eng dub just sounds like a Karen looking for the manager.
@@seija8588 I am also playing Nikke in JP dub, and Saitou Chiwa is one my favorite VAs particularly because of Senjougahara, so yeah.. that was really impactful for me and Overzone is probably still my favorite event. I never knew that the EN voices were that bad? My only exposure to the EN voices is during the livestreams, and those were at least passable. Just that here in Stellar Blade, it just feels lifeless (also sucks that we can't go for JP voice). Really hope they can improve on that if they will make Stellar Blade 2, and maybe Nikke can benefit on it as well.
Quit playing gacha garbage
I do have to wonder if it’s because it’s a gacha mobile game that relies on seasonal updates that it has more of a room to tell a complete, in depth story.
I really dont get the comparisons to this games story and Automatas. This game doesnt try to reach for anything nearly as profound, like you suggest it shouldve done in the video. The story is really straight forward, and barring some of the VA direction, Eve is simply a quieter, more stoic character than say, Bayonetta. I dont think shes boring or bad because of that. But yea, the outline of the story beats are completely different, along with the game structure too. You dont need to beat SB 5 times for the true end...
Idk, i love both games and I just think its a weak comparison.
name one positive and negative character trait of her. I cant
@@Flotron3 Positive: Shes the type to go out of her way to help people (but not ALL people), as evidenced by many sidequests. Requests that dont seem very urgent or like they arent a big deal, she happily ignores.
Negative: Shes very naive. She doesnt know much about the world at all, and at the very start of the game shes a total brat to Adam, like after the Abaddon boss fight. She actually seems to have a bit of a temper. Its justified considering the plot, but when she gets mad she gets mad. She doesnt really hold those feelings back.
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
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.
Yeah, I did a double take when he said the VA was flat, but I'm playing it on Korean with subtitles. The English dub is pretty bad.
It feels more expressive to non speakers. That's usually the case when listening to a foreign language.
Stellar Blade is meant to be an international release and the onus is on them to make it work for an English speaking audience.
Thank god i played it with Korean Dub,as i predicted english dub will sucked,Korean dub for more emotional voice acting !
@@mechanicalmonk2020 I'm an English speaker but understand that native formats will always be better because there'll be nothing lost in translation with the direction, especially if the directorial staff aren't native English speakers, so I developed the uncanny ability to read subtitles.
More "international" audiences need to be as versatile and literate.
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.
No time for deeper thoughts on Stellar Blades, he was to busy reviewing Nier.
@@ctiger789 a shame indeed, excellent hitbox was not in my checklist for this game but the devs still had it.
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.
Review is misleading. Doesn't really merit this kind of comment
This level of glazing is honestly crazy. Dial it back a bit homie.
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.
so the takeaway is Nier for better narrative, stellar blade for better combat , got it
Nier for one of the best narrative experiences in all of gaming, and stellar blade for decent combat
@@DoggyP00nier for one of the worst combat systems of all time and stellar blade for a great combat system
@@Julian_14what? lol nah nah get out of here with that
@@Julian_14 that's plain bs lol
Nier for better narrative, better characters, better side quest, better environments, better music, better themes, better endings.
Stellar Blade for decent combat and better graphics.
The only thing i find reprehensible about Eve's design is her hair constantly clipping through her body. COME ON.
that really distracted me in the demo. I'll be setting the ponytail to short in the full game😂
You can turn on short hair in the options menu
Apparently they spent a lot of time trying to get that right but yeah it was very noticeable in the early trailers.
Reprehensible 😂
why did they not add a collider though xD
Just curious, are you able to change audio language? I'm wondering if the writing is just bad or if it's the direction of the English voice acting
There are 7 or so languages. French being the best emotionally. Korean VA isn't that good tbh.
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.
Oh well. Would be cool to see Yoko Taro work with them in the future on a Nier sequel perhaps. Their gameplay and tech, coupled with Taro's unique character writing, story and design would make for some truly powerful combo. 7 years later, Automata is still one of a kind, aside from it's predecessor and it's remake at least.
Ohhh this is actually a Nier Automata vs Stellar blade comparison video, not a review at all💀
salty
What was that other souls like he showed with the Giant steampunk robot?
Would you say this is a “rebel moon” was inspired by Star Wars and Seven Samurai level of inspired?
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.
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.
I mean the core story of Nikke is also just a weak re-telling of Nier. The key difference is that since it's gacha it has a bunch of characters and when you throw so many at the wall some will stick. Stellar Blade core cast is small.
@@janogabor7697 I don't agree with that at all. The story is VERY good so far and i'm only at chapter 11 and have not gone through many event stories.
The even stories i have gone through have been great plus the main is great so far wit ha lot of great foreshadowing and inter twining plots.
@@ghost7685 I like some of the character bits, but I do not agree that the core story is more than just decent. It's well acted at times (played in japanese), but it's nothing where I would point to it as amazing.
@@janogabor7697 I can agree to disagree.
@@janogabor7697"re telling of nier" outside of aliens invading earth and making robots to fight them there are 0 similarities beyond that. Nier was a game about philosophy. Nikke is not.
Anyone know if the voice acting is a lot better in the native language? Can you play it with subs?
It is indeed, even the personalities sound different, a bit.
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.
I played this game today FOR EIGHT HOURS today, it's so unbelievably fun! The boss fights are just pure eye candy
honestly the fact that this studio is relatively new to making this kind of game it's kinda impressive that they built something this good, and hopefully they can improve with the next one.
I love how wholesome the interaction between the two devs were.
I wonder if this was an issue of localization. Makes me want to check out if there's any major differences with Korean dub/English subtitles. 🧐
Wish there were timestamps in Australia
I think the dumbest thing about this game is Eve’s face shape. Dorito head.
I would've loved to see a meeting of Miyazaki and the Lies of P developers
Honestly I would have linked your review to nier automata in this video. It’s some of the best work you’ve done and it deserves those views
Leeeets goooo. My friends are going to have to hell dive alone for a few days.
'General Brasch Approves'
@@Dabwil Gonna have to liberate eve for few a days. Heyoooooo
Just go play bayo 3. It's a actual good action game
@@666slateran666 I already grabbed all 3 of those games on emulator. Just recently got a great gaming PC. I’ll play those in a row later.
@@The_Primary_Axiom For Managed Democracy!
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.
ta?
@@Evoke-Chaos Have you tried pronouncing Tay first?
@@Evoke-Chaosteh
I really hope after this game Hyun Take Kim makes a spiritual successor to Magna Carta, since he designed the character models for that game series too.
The love fest between Kim and Taro makes it even better.
You know we're in the wrong timeline when someone is praising a game for not crashing or stuttering
i was just thinking abt this and kinda feel it's more of a japan/asian dev thing. when playing nintendo, konami, or capcom games i can't help but to compare that buttery smooth bugfree feels to the jitters of bethesda or CDPR games
I liked seeing Ralph's outfit changes throughout the review
He's a man of culture
i muted the music and play only with the skinsuit for that soulslike feel and it's been great lol
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.
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.
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
It was the first video I ever watched on this channel, and it is what made me respect Ralph's opinions/reviews, and it's made me a fan of games in general. It was important for him, and it is impactful for me.
Idk dude, with how much he's harping on Nier in a Stellar Blade REVIEW, it just paints him as biased and having rose-tinted glasses. I get that reviews are by nature subjective, but comparing to Nier at every corner doesn't really help the average consumer who doesn't care about Nier.
My ps5 turns off every time I fight raven. What’s going on?
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.
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.
100%
Yeppppppp!!!!!!!! I’d never buy a decent game like this for $70. This is not well priced in my opinion
Well over in the Netherlands the standard is 80 Euro's which equals 85 US$ 😞So yeah SB for me is a bargain bin game (i loved Nier A and even without Skill-up's review the story trailer HEAVILY had Automata's story beats in it that it felt like a complete copy already so i was skeptical of this before) - which is fine, i've currently got a lot of 100hr games to go through (currently going through infinite wealth, then BG3, then P5R) and a giant backlog. So by that time the game`ll surely be severely reduced in price.
I agree.
Because it's a game that I don't feel like I have to play "right now", I will wait (even though I know it will be a fun experience). That right now status is reserved for stuff like.. Elden Ring.
Had this launched with the Assassin's Creed Mirage discount, I honestly would have picked it up - after saving a little I'm so broke right now 😂. But I just can't, the wallet can't take it.
@@NL0Gwenster Oh, that's a great back log to have to work through. For me, I just finished Infinite Wealth and P3R... then finally went back to finish Elden Ring, so I needed a break from the 100+ hrs RPGs. I picked up SB because I wanted a fun game with great gameplay, without having to think too much about the story. I'm only a couple hours in, but I've enjoyed it a lot so far, and having not played Nier (just couldn't get into the gameplay and enemy designs), I don't have the constant comparison. It's definitely worth considering playing when it goes on sale at some point. My hope is that this will carry me until summer and FF7 Rebirth goes on sale by then, lol.
Man this was a really in depth nier automata review.
The voice acting examples sound like something out of Deadly Premonition
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.
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.
Tbf, if you look at the subreddit for the game it's pretty clear that the audience is mostly horny incels. I don't mean incel in a negative sense, I mean they're literally dudes who can't get laid.
seriously. the whole discussion from both ends is the stupidist thing.
what could have been a healthy discussion about sexualization in games, it became a pissing match
Look, I got my biases, but you have to admit one side is being a bit more ridiculous than the other. And openly hostile, you didn’t see that when Nier came out. If actual incels like the game because of the character model, let them. People who aren’t incels like the game too. Guys like pretty women, and one side of this argument thinks that’s a crime.
Isn't the discourse mostly some people saying "I preordered the deluxe version to send a message, because woke games media is pushing propaganda of ugly girls on us and I want to protect our right to see jiggling tits and ass", and some other people saying "dude, sounds a weird thing to rant about on the internet".
@@Chopzi11aI would argue preordering the deluxe version of a game (particularly given this industry's form with preordering) in order to "send a message" is also ridiculous. Suggesting it's all one-way is disingenuous if not blinkered.
Eh in the clips you showed about the voices to me it just sounds like the characters where meant to be understated which is pretty common in anime it just doesn’t bother me
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
"the game becomes survival-horror shooter"
Sorry but I can't take that statement seriously while seeing eve wearing a freaking bunny costume lol.
RIGHT?😂
Loving the game
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)
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 😞
Ralph, I really want you to do more reviews. I understand you got other people to do them, but I miss the days we heard more from you. The others are amazing, but having them in the channel shouldn't mean we get less from you but more from your channel.
You're great man!
I feel like he still does regular reviews? I think his output didn't really change much. We are just getting more in total.
@@Jmdeleeuw- Yeah, maybe a little less since he has the podcast and whatever other projects in addition now. But having Austin also review some stuff mostly just means more reviews overall than in the good ol' days with 20 minute intros.
@@Jmdeleeuw- Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he's not regularly doing reviews, but I get the feeling that in the past, there was more of them. He does other things now and I very much look forward to them weekly or bi-weekly, but the highlight is always his reviews for me. Maybe I'm wrong, but I just feel we got these hefty, insightful reviews more often up to maybe 5-6 months ago.
Bring laymen gaming back
@@Kat1kafka Nah, he's better alone, but as a side thing, it would be great!