Summary
Kim Hyung-tae, the CEO of Shift Up and the lead director behind the popular PS5 exclusiveStellar Blade, has addressed criticisms regarding the story and writing quality of the hit action-adventure game. It’s typically uncommon for developers to directly comment on negative reception regarding their latest games, so to see the head honcho at Shift Up respond toStellar Bladeplayers' feedback is encouraging, as it shows the company’s willingness to improve instead of resting on its laurels.
Stellar Bladelaunched to widespread acclaimfrom critics and fans alike when it released on May 20, 2025. By the time most reviews rolled out, the game had garnered an overall score of 81 on Metacritic and an 84% rating on OpenCritic. More impressively, though, it earned a 9.2 User Score on the former of the two sites, making it one of the highest-rated PlayStation exclusives in the last few years. Players who enjoyed the game primarily praised it for its approachable yet thrilling combat, its bombastic presentation, and its top-notch boss fights, among other things. Not all aspects ofStellar Bladewere received positively, however, as the game’s storyline was considered forgettable and underwhelming by some.
Responding to these complaints, Shift Up CEO Kim Hyung-tae expressed an understanding of gamers' disappointments with some ofStellar Blade’selements during a recent press conference.As reported in an article from This is Game(translated from Korean via Google Translate), the game director stated that, althoughStellar Bladehad achieved its goal of making Shift Up more recognizable to a global audience,the PS5 adventure gamesuffered from some “really unfortunate” problems, specifically regarding its screenplay, script quality, and localization. “We will do our best to strengthen the quality in these areas so that we can be recognized by gamers in our next work,” said Hyung-tae.
Stellar Blade’s Story is Seen as a Disappointment By Many
Leading up to its release,Stellar Bladewas consistently compared tothe critically-acclaimed PlatinumGames titleNier: Automata. Though the two were visually distinct in terms of art style, they both shared some common similarities with their female protagonists, their post-apocalyptic settings, and their dazzling, action-packed setpieces. The one thingNier: Automatareally excelled at, though, was its thought-provoking story, which covered themes like existentialism and the meaning of life. This is the area thatStellar Bladefell short in, as many gamers considered the plot in Shift Up’s action game a disappointment in comparison.
Ultimately, though, the story inStellar Bladeis just a small part of the entire experience, and although it may not be amazing, it certainly doesn’t detract from the game’s immensely enjoyable gameplay, among many of its other elements. Despite some issueshere and there,Stellar Bladewill likely continue to be considered asone of the best singleplayer games on PS5for the foreseeable future.
Stellar Blade
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RECLAIM EARTH FOR HUMANKIND The future of humanity hangs in the balance in Stellar Blade, an all-new story-driven action adventure. Ravaged by strange, powerful creatures, Earth has been abandoned, and what is left of the decimated human race has fled to a Colony in outer space. After travelling from the Colony, 7th Airborne Squad member EVE arrives on the desolate remains of our planet with a clear-cut mission: to save humankind by reclaiming Earth from the Naytiba – the malevolent force that has devastated it. But as EVE tackles the Naytiba one-by-one, piecing together the mysteries of the past in the ruins of human civilization, she realizes that her mission is far from straightforward. In fact, almost nothing is as it seems…
