Shift Up's upcoming action-adventure title Stellar Blade has been turning heads since its announcement, and it appears its popularity has only increased since then. Fairly recently, the developer released a demo for Stellar Blade, likely due to it being a new IP and therefore having an unpredictable reception ahead of it. However, players have been enjoying Stellar Blade so much that Shift Up has not come out asking fans to be cautious of how much time they spend with it, as it has been reported that some players have now invested nearly 50 hours on the demo alone.

While it might normally be counterproductive for players to spend so much time on a game's demo, Stellar Blade is a bit of a different story. Several variables factor into Stellar Blade's attractiveness — which just so happens to go far beyond the visuals and character models — and many of those variables can be experienced firsthand in the demo itself, justifying extended playtime with it. But despite the massive appeal of its demo, spending lots of time with it is a bit of a double-edged sword that players should be aware of before they commit any more time to it.

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The Pros of Spending Lots of Time on Stellar Blade's Demo

Committed Players Can Unlock a Lot of Skills Ahead of Launch

Perhaps the best feature of Stellar Blade's demo is the fact that players can carry over their demo progress to the full game, so long as they save their game right before the final boss and proceed to defeat the boss. Since the full launch of the game will honor players' demo save file, that means truly committed players can unlock a massive number of EVE's skills ahead of Stellar Blade's full release, inevitably preparing them for the challenge ahead.

Playing More of Stellar Blade's Demo Is a Great Way to Learn Its Combat Mechanics

Stellar Blade isn't the most innovative game when it comes to combat, but it is different nonetheless. Particularly, Stellar Blade's combat can be very challenging, especially for casual players and those who are unfamiliar with Soulslike combat similar to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. As such, playing more of Stellar Blade's demo can benefit players by allowing them more time to familiarize themselves with its combat mechanics.

The Cons of Spending Lots of Time on Stellar Blade's Demo

Spending Too Much Time on Stellar Blade's Demo Can Decrease the Full Game's Challenge

Much of Stellar Blade's fun lies in its challenge, which shows itself even in the game's first hour. Stellar Blade's enemies are largely unpredictable until their move sets are learned, and that alone takes quite a bit of trial and error, as much of it comes down to timing. Still, the challenge is a large part of what makes Stellar Blade such a gratifying experience. In light of that, players who spend too much time on the demo may find the full release to be too easy and therefore less fun.

Spending Too Much Time on Stellar Blade's Demo Can Lead to Preemptive Burnout

Another downside to spending too much time with Stellar Blade's demo is that it can lead to preemptive burnout. It has previously been confirmed that Stellar Blade's main story should take players around 25 hours to complete. If that's true, and some players have already spent 50 hours on the game's demo, they could be ready to retire the game before it even comes out. Players who are enjoying the demo should perhaps limit their time with it to avoid getting burned out too soon.

There are obvious upsides and downsides to spending lots of time on Stellar Blade's demo, and whether to spend more or less time on it really comes down to preference. That being said, players should be aware of the double-edged sword that Stellar Blade's demo is before they invest too much into it.

Stellar Blade

Platform(s)

PS5

Released

April 26, 2024

Developer(s)

Shift Up

Publisher(s)

Sony Interactive Entertainment

Genre(s)

Action RPG