Highlights
- Stellar Blade, developed by Shift Up, is an upcoming PS5 exclusive action-adventure RPG that shares similarities with games like The Last of Us and Horizon.
- The game follows the protagonist Eve, who has a connection to the threat plaguing the planet, just like Ellie and Aloy from other franchises.
- While it shares commonalities with its peers, Stellar Blade stands out with its heavy influence from Christian beliefs and references.
Stellar Blade, developed by South Korean studio Shift Up, is an upcoming third-person action-adventure RPG title and will be a Sony PlayStation 5 exclusive. At the PlayStation State of Play showcase held at the end of January, a new trailer and further details provided by the studio about Stellar Blade were shown off, giving fans a taste of what to expect from it ahead of its impending release. While it was previously announced back in 2019 under the codename Project Eve, it also experienced a delay from its initial 2023 launch date. Now though, along with the updated title, Stellar Blade is poised to drop this Spring.
And from everything revealed so far about Stellar Blade, it seems it will be the latest in line for a type and genre of game that Sony has frequently featured on its platform and continues to support and include in its catalog. Based on the footage and information on hand and by all appearances, Steller Blade is giving off quite similar vibes to other games in the same class, with two of these specifically being Naughty Dog's The Last of Us and Guerrilla Games' Horizon series, with all looking to share DNA in terms of their design and narrative aspects.
Stellar Blade is set to release as a PlayStation 5 exclusive on April 26, 2024.
Stellar Blade's Eve Walks the Same Road as Horizon's Aloy
Upcoming action-adventure RPG title Stellar Blade's protagonist, Eve, seems to have a lot in common with the Horizon series' Aloy.
Stellar Blade Appears to Be in the Same Family as The Last of Us, Horizon
Sony's Penchant for Modern 'Third-Person Post-Apocalyptic AAA Games'
A number of Sony's stable of AAA exclusives produced by its first-party partners from the past decade or so can be said to all share at least some major elements in common, with two of the most notable being third-person action-adventure/RPG games set within a variation of a post-apocalyptic setting. For example, in addition to the two The Last of Us and Horizon entries, PlayStation fans also received Days Gone in 2019, featuring a take on the tried and true zombie apocalypse framework. While some of PlayStation's exclusives were later released on PC, titles like these have been a mainstay for the company's flagship console for a while at this point, becoming something of a brand recognition throughout recent generations.
Stellar Blade Could Find Itself in the Same Conversation as Similar Sony Exclusives Like The Last of Us and Horizon
Given the high-profile nature of Horizon and The Last of Us as banner games for the PlayStation, it seems almost natural for Stellar Blade to join its ranks, particularly since, at least on the surface, it shares many commonalities with them already. Though each is distinct in other ways, the overall setup of all three titles has some clear parallels—Earth is on the brink of being, or has already been, overrun by monsters of some kind, whether they be alien, infected humans, or robotic.
Stellar Blade 's protagonist, Eve , like Ellie and Aloy from their respective franchises, is stated to have a vital, intrinsic connection to the menace plaguing the planet, and all are portrayed as the figures in their worlds best positioned and suited to thwart the threats.
One notable difference, however, is that Stellar Blade's plot appears to draw heavy influence from Christian beliefs and influences. Eve is shown to be meeting up with a character named Adam, with other references and allusions to religion possibly being incorporated into the story as well.
This will likely serve to set it apart from its peers even if it retains many of the other similarities described. Still, Stellar Blade does seem to sit within the same sphere as Horizon and The Last of Us in various ways, and may end up being the latest Sony title to continue its tradition of such games.
Stellar Blade
Stellar Blade is an action-RPG developed by Shift Up and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The game follows protagonist Eve as she attempts to save a devastated Earth from invaders called Naytiba.
- Platform(s)
- PS5
- Released
- April 26, 2024
- Developer(s)
- Shift Up
- Publisher(s)
- Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
