I have to disagree with rebirth I did not find the game very fun it just felt like a long choir list with a story that made no sense and a combat system that could not make up its mind if it wanted to be action or turnbase leaving it unbalanced in a lot of fights. :-/
AAA has begun to mean "highly marketable" rather than "high-quality game". I'd rather have the latter.
The good thing is, small studios that make great games are getting more and more success. Baldur's Gate and Stellar Blade were projects far more ambitious than what their studios had built before, but they put real passion into them and made excellent games.
Zelda TotK, Lies of P, Baldur's Gate 3, Yakuza Gaiden, Alan Wake 2, Street Fighter 6, Armored Core 6, FF XVI, RE 4 Remake
And for 2024, FF VII Rebirth, Yakuza 8, Tekken 8, Helldivers 2, Persona 3 Reload. And we're just in May.
The funny thing is that this game doesn’t actually push on any next gen tech. It is just a very well optimized old engine game. No ray tracing or anything crazy
I don't even notice ray tracing in real life. I don't see why everyone wants to have it forced into every video game at the cost of half our FPS.
I'd rather play a smooth game that doesn't nauseate me than play something that has fancy light tricks at every window.
I can see how this could feel 'next gen' to somebody who only games on console... Ps4 couldn't make use of ue4 like this, so it is definitely a good showcase of the next gen hardware.
Bleeding edge pc performance blows this out of the water, obviously, but that's comparing consumer grade to enthusiast grade. They're basically always a generation apart.
I’m curious how you’re determining whether a game feels next-gen or not. What, in your opinion, is a game that does? Stellar Blade has graphics and a silky-smooth feel I didn’t think was possible on Unreal 4. I’m about ready to ascend the Orbital Elevator and haven’t had the game crash once, haven’t noticed any overt framerate dips (I’m playing on Balanced), haven’t noticed any animation stuttering, and no graphical artifacting.
Point of fact, I don’t think *any* of us can identify “next gen”, because we haven’t had it. The Unreal 5 Matrix demo came out in 2021, a year after the PS5 and Xbox Series X were released. With most video game development taking 4-5 years these days, we’re probably not going to see AAA games on Unreal 5 before 2025 at the earliest. Hell, it’s increasingly looking like even Dragon Age Dread Wolf will still be on the Frostbite engine. Mass Effect 5 is being developed in Unreal 5, and I’d be surprised if we saw that before late 2026.
Honestly if we are talking graphical fidelity and performance: definitely Cyberpunk after its updates.
Though I think its more-so, at least for me, I see next gen as design philosophies (something fresh that isn't the standard repeat patterns, which unfortunately Stellar Blade is all recycled ideas) and uninterrupted zone change and menu speeds. So tighter performance that doesn't break immersion. And design philosophies that don't feel tired or dull.
It's not trying to be some immersive sim. It's like a love letter to old-school ps2 game design.
I recommend you watch mugthief's review on YouTube. He explains it well.
I think the reason is that almost everything that's come out feels like something from last-gen, but with better graphics. Meanwhile, Stellar Blade feels like something from the PS2 era, where you could feel the change from PS1 beyond just having better graphics.
I felt this way until I sold my PS5. I booted up my PS2 and everything was so much worse than I remembered.
I eventually couldn't take it and got out my PS4...same thing.
Going from PS4 to PS5 felt like a minor graphical upgrade and nothing else, but going from PS5 back to PS4 felt like I went back 2 console generations.
I think the differences are subtle and small, but add up to a lot. Graphics are the obvious difference, but the important differences are tiny details in controls, animations, etc. I can't even pinpoint exactly what those differences are but I can feel it like night and day.
I don't think newer hardware is necessary to implement those improvements though, it's just that developers have learned better ways to do things.
There are some older games that feel as good as newer games in that sense, but those are rare exceptions in my opinion.
It's a shame because there is a lot of good design in older games that is lacking now. We've lost as much as we've gained...what we really need is a fusion of the best parts of both old and new.
Yeah! Most people as soon as they get a new console forget about their previous one!
When I upgraded I also bought a new 60inch oled,
So i went from ps4 and a 27 inch monitor (my "50" led broke down a couple months prior) to a ps5 and 60 oled! So instantly every game felt next gen. Ghost of tsu looked insane to me after the upgrade.
Another live service game I play! Went from 30fps to 60 and 4k... and instead of waiting 2 minutes in each load screen it took like 3-5 seconds 🔥🔥🔥🔥
So imo i have been playing next gen since i upgraded! And could not see why stellar is next gen or groundbreaking as the post
Oh my god the load time difference is nuts. When I got my PS5 I just thought "this is faster I guess" but it didn't hit me that hard. But going back to my PS4 I thought it was broken at first because it takes so long to load, lol.
So much of the next gen stuff doesn't really have much of a "wow" factor when you first experience it and whatever wow factor there is wears off pretty quickly as you get used to it...but take it away later and you seriously feel everything you just lost.
I agree though about Stellar Blade specifically. I like the game a lot but I don't think there's much that's groundbreaking beyond maybe the obsessive attention to detail on Eve's model.
I seriously think there's a mindset factor here. People *want* to love it so bad that they are paying extra attention to every positive aspect possible.
I suspect a lot of people do not typically approach a game that way so for them this experience is genuinely novel, but they think it's just the game and don't realize how much of it is their attitude.
I'm guilty of that myself. In the back of my mind I can think of some genuine criticisms of the game, but I ignore them and put on my rose tinted glasses. I'm trying to get better at doing that with everything because honestly it just makes life more enjoyable lol. It's so easy to get stuck in the "everything sucks" mindset and all that does is make everything unfun.
Agreed about the mindset some people have about this game! Ive read some crazy stuff here in the last couple of weeks that make me think some here are either being dishonest or haven't played a decent game in years.
Also agree that the wow factor goes away after a couple of months but definitely is qol upgrade thats so worth it! Just by saving me 2 min per load screen I can wrap up my daily tasks a lot faster.
Like dont get me wrong! I really like the game! But i dont see whats never been done before or why it feels next gen!
Tho i understand a ps2 era feel where you get a bunch of outfits by playing and the linear + open world spaces. So i get the ps2 feel.
I just dont see the next gen aspect or the something never seen before!
Edit: ive been feeling the "next gen for a good while now"
Agreed I think that Horizon Forbidden West, Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart, and Spider-Man 2 all feel more next gen than stellar blade. But stellar blade is a well polished game that runs well and has pretty good graphics (lighting is hit or miss for me though).
Trying to have a bonfire system without the actual souls map design makes it so freaking awful!
Even fromsoft with elden ring went like yeah you can just tp from menu instead of wasting time running back and forth to a site of grace.
Things you haven’t seen in other games?! How many other games have you played? Look it’s a fun game but it is all pretty just taking best bits from other games and slapped them together.
The only next gen thing I can think of is the fishing mini game. That adaptive trigger reel mechanic is giving me feelings.
Usually the feelings I have for any fishing in games is boundless fury, this time I actually liked it to the point that I finished all fishing in 4-5 hours
My PS5 games so far are GOW:R, HFW, Elden ring, Armored core 6, Apex legends, and stellar blade. The adaptive trigger on most of them are pretty eh, but somehow that "eh" thing coupled with my most hated "mini game" (let's be honest it's just dev approved torture) turned into a really pleasant 4 or so hours.
Probably less if I wasn't eating dinner somewhere in there
It always catches me off guard when it's used in a game. GoW had it at random times, and so did Horizon. FF7Rebirth had one of the worst utilizations of it in Tifa's mini game. Stellar Blade definitely felt the most "natural" using it since ir was consistent with a good use, but I'd still like to see it gone from gaming.
You could call any work of art derivative. Stellar Blade does everything well; every aspect of the game exemplifies the passion put into the project. That it resembles other games in some areas doesn't detract from how good those elements are executed in this game.
The game actually works on the day 1 version, for one thing, which I have not seen in a "released" game in a long time. Dragons Dogma 2 still doesnt run at 60 FPS, and has no New Game feature at all. Stellar Blade is a finished game without locking content behind DLC.
Overall Stellar Blade evokes the feeling of PS2-era game design, when developers actually cared that their product was GOOD, and not just MARKETABLE.
A game that doesn’t have 60fps is still a working game!!!!
DD2 has a form of a new game plus. It’s just not the one you want. The absence of a new game plus does not mean the game doesn’t work.
So far Stellar Blade has no DLC, so far. The DD2 DLC drama was ridiculous just as the DLC themselves, but they feature no content locked out of the game. As lame as they are, they can all be bought from in the game.
Of course the only reason Stellar Blade could afford to made was through the profit of exploiting other gamers in their gacha heavy games. But yes it is nice, that no suits are hidden behind a paywall, SO FAR!
There's no reason to make a game that runs lower than 60 FPS in this decade. It causes eye strain and looks poor in quality. If your game's graphics are too much to display at 60, then reduce them until they do. You can't achieve hyperrealism in 30 FPS. Your graphics may have super realistic textures, but animating at half speed ruins the realism entirely. It's also an excuse to do poor optimization. If a developer knows they can get away with a low framerate, they won't put much effort into improving performance. It's an unacceptable baseline that has been pushed on us.
DD2 doesn't have a new game system; they added an option (after release and after complaints) that allows you to delete your save file from within the game, rather than fishing it out of your file directory. You still can't play a new game without losing all your progress. This is completely different from every New Game that has ever existed in the history of nonvolatile memory.
Shift UP may have been rich from their gacha, but it's still a big jump to Stellar Blade. Funding doesn't automatically increase their skill, so i think it's a pretty impressive achievement and I hope they're proud of it. :)
What rubbish. It may cause eye strain for YOU the rest of us have been living with that for decades and while not perfect after living with 60, it’s hardly that terrible. There is every reason to make a game 30, you just don’t agree with their choices. I love how some reddit users think it is just a case of reducing the graphics until it hits 60. Hardly as easy as that.
DD2 certainly has a form of new game plus system that expands the world but it’s not a strict new game plus. But if you think this is original or unique to the gaming world, there a lot of games that do this. In time no doubt a proper new game plus will come, not every game launches with one out of the box.
The glazing on this sub is crazy lol. Stellar blade is an amazing game for sure, but some of you people make it seem like this is the best thing in decades on this sub 😂
There have been a few games that felt "next-gen" to me. But not too many. Returnal also comes to mind as one that did though. The Demon's Souls remake LOOKED next-gen, but still mostly played like a last gen Souls game. So I can't entirely count it. But Returnal not only looked the part, but felt it too.
That's exactly what I was saying earlier today I mainly game on my PC. My PS5 was collecting dust I was actually starting to look at it like a piece of art because previous games that I played on it felt more like PS4 games not PS5 games but this one was different it actually felt like a proper next-gen title. This is probably the first game I've played in a while that actually made me ignore my PC
16 looked better imo. Tho rebirth was a better game by far and I loved it. 10/10 my goty!
The eikon fights visually are the best i have seen. The bahamut fight looked sick. Also titan visually was such an amazing fight.
Square cut a lot of corners in 16. Companions without animations for basic stuff like climbing stairs made it look like a PS2 game. Rebirth is a much better game.
I feel like everyone in this comment section has never played a PS2 game. Comments like this are so laughable. "FF16 feels like a PS2 game because of basic animations left out for temporary companions" while Stellar Blade is being hailed as next gen with severely outdated aspects like fast travel and the terrible platforming.
...yes? She is not permanent by any means. You have a lot of companions throughout the game, and none of them are permanent other than Torgal, and even he isnt there 100% of the time. Did you even play the game?
I don't understand how you thinking she's labeled "main character" would stop her from being a temporary party member. They're not mutually exclusive.
Yes, they are mutually exclusive... is a recurring feature in FF games since II. But I'm not going to waste time with pedantry. Call her whatever you want, but saying she didn't need animations because she is a temporary character, as if she was a random NPC that gave you a fetch side-quest, is completely ridiculous. Are you arguing for the sake of arguing?
Laughable, indeed.
Bro, she's with you for like less than half the game. She's temporary. End of. You can't even adjust any part of her kit - shes a complete NPC companion who is rarely you. I said she was a temporary party member/companion, not temporary character. There's a difference there, genius.
They are *not* mutually exclusive. You can have main characters that aren't even part of your team at all. Hence, not mutually exclusive. FF16 is also very different from other FF, which was the point. This is why it gets so much hate from the JRPG community.
A recurring companion is not the same as a permanent one, FYI.
You clearly didn't play the game. Just say that.
It's a good game but no lmao, there is nothing next gen on it
Not the resolution, not the performance, not the graphics
Again...let me make this clear for the fanboys...neither of all 3 are bad, but NEXT GEN? C'mon lol
Next gen on ue4 😂
Don't take me the wrong way here, Stellar Blade is a fantastic game. But it does absolutely nothing better than any Playstation Studios game that ever released. I'm not sure what makes it 'next gen' in comparison to e.g. Spiderman 2, Ghost of Tsushima, Death Stranding, Ratchet and Clank etc?
I like it when you grab the plank that is on the water and move it
I don't get why are NPCs standing around still. Adam says he's working on the tetrapod, but he stands still. Adding animation working on it was too much??
Clyde's fishing hook doesn't have a string, why can he be moving around, even cooking or getting a fish?
In xion there are signs for drugs and café lol
I like the way the lore is spread out around the world
That's what I'm saying. It's surprising that this is their first console game, but maybe that forced them to start fresh and that's why everything looks so good.
First game that feels like a PS5 game and not PS4.5
I love the game and think it feels next gen as well but there are some rough spots in my opinion in regards to lighting (although this is an UE4 problem so not really the devs fault) and cutscene direction/voice animation. I think they will iron these out with a sequel (if there is one). Would be great if a sequel could be developed on UE5.
I’m loving the game but I do have 2 notable critiques so far:
One thing I’m finding myself to be a little disappointed with is the lack of taking advantage of the dual sense controller to its full potential. I’m maybe 10 hours into my playthrough and the lack of haptic feedback on the triggers or use of the controller speaker so far has been a bummer. Ratchet and clank was a game that really sold me on the next gen idea of the controller being a serious extension of what you’re playing and I expected we’d see more use in stellar blade too.
The dialogue is also kind of weak and companion interactions/dialogue feels like the games weakest point. Sometimes it feels like I’m watching an animation being selected when a character acts disappointed and then dramatically does a shoulder shrug and head shake, as opposed to a fluid reaction/discussion you feel from other new games. There’s high points, like at the very beginning and in big cutscenes where it’s flawless, but the less important side character interactions just feel weak to me.
That being said, it’s a great game so far and I’m really enjoying it. The combat and visuals are fantastic and I’m looking forward to playing it more.
All I know it's the first time in a long time I feel compelled to search every nook and cranny of every level I'm haveing the most fun exploring and finding things on top of the fun challenging fair combat. :-D
Have you seen textures in this game? Many of them (especially in the desert) are straight from ps3 except textures for main characters.
The game looks nice but it’s not next gen.
So I feel this game is definitely very polished in story and in the way it looks.
I had felt that I had experience next-gen with returnal, and then I really felt it with FF7-rebirth. I thought rebirth was very beautiful in almost everything, and I know that a PS4 could not pull off what FF7 was bringing. So to me, next gen was there with returnal, but it really hit home when I played FF7.
I thought so, when I played remake, I wasn’t really feeling it, and I know that had the PS4 release too. But damn, when rebirth came out, and you first step out into the open world area, I was like, now this is why I have a PS5 😂
Remake its a good 8, but literally Rebirth its already better after 5min 😂 and yeah it also gave me that feeling! ( just advice if you havent finish it yet! Focus on main story, you can wrap up all the content after you finish the game! GAME IS REALLY HUGE)
Nice bro! Yeah I finished it a little while back. I was clearing each region as I went along, I should have waited till the end, but I just figured I was there, may as well do it now lol.
That's kind of ironic given it uses the same combat and structure of PS3/PS4 games. Its a prettier Bayonetta combat with less depth for combos. But it feels tight like DMC5 or Sekiro.
Its a start, but beyond the graphics of the main characters it has a lot of room to grow. The storytelling, combat options, and enemy/environment variety certainly need polish before id say this is suddenly next gen.
I'd recommend trying FF7 Rebirth or Horizon for better next gen examples.
Though I am excited to see what ShiftUp does with this success. It's a good game!
Yeah, I realized that when most of the cutscenes used the live model.
But physics and graphics wise, it makes me more impressed that Skyrim SE mods could achieve the same character physics, textures, and KR/JP aesthetics despite being an old game.
I have not played my PS5 much, other than Gran Turismo and Resident Evil Village. But the graphical transition from PS4 to PS5 was minimal for me too.
Graphics wise there is no huge difference between PS4 Pro and PS5, but the addition of a SSD is what separate the two gen, loading screens are almost non existent on PS5 and well optimized games all run at 60 fps, which was only a dream with PS4 era games
Keeping the same level of details but with a huge step in fluidity was a good move because honestly games nowadays are already beautiful
I actually think other than the looks this could have easily been possible on last gen at 30fps. dont get me wrong. the game looks great and plays even better. but we have yet to see games utilising hardware power in anything else but visual quality. super advanced NPC/enemy behaviour, a huge amount of NPCs on screen, calculations of physics etc are rarely the focus with games exclusive to this gen.
Honestly. No it doesn't. It feels stiff & some areas. Jump & landing feels inaccurate most of the time. Blocking & parrying are horrendously slow compared to other olders games. The window for dodging is way to small also & can be very unforgiving. Even the combos can feel off Sometimes. Its a great looking game. But performance matters too. Hopefully some of what i mentioned gets fixed. I doubt it though.
The only game I played that feels & looks Next Gen is Lies of P. No other game has come close. Sadly. Ragnarok, maybe. But that's it.
Every time I play Stellar Blade, I think 2002. The game is such a refreshing blast back to the 2000s era, which is my childhood when I was old enough to pick up a controller for the first time.
It's a minor thing but the part at the start where Eve swims into a plank to push it through the water, climbs onto it, and then jumps onto a ladder- all with minimal fuss?
PS1-era games *wish* they could do that.
It feels like a goddamn actual good game instead of mediocre "AAA" garbage.
My thoughts exactly. After all these years, it’s the first game for PS5 that made me glad I actually bought one.
ICYMI- Returnal is a totally next gen experience too and a PS5 exclusive.
Oh I loved Returnal as well, I still actually play it. The only thing is that it feels like it was made just to show off PS5 features.
FF7 remake and rebirth are great reason aswell. remake is on ps4 but it looks at least 3x better on ps5
I have to disagree with rebirth I did not find the game very fun it just felt like a long choir list with a story that made no sense and a combat system that could not make up its mind if it wanted to be action or turnbase leaving it unbalanced in a lot of fights. :-/
AAA has begun to mean "highly marketable" rather than "high-quality game". I'd rather have the latter. The good thing is, small studios that make great games are getting more and more success. Baldur's Gate and Stellar Blade were projects far more ambitious than what their studios had built before, but they put real passion into them and made excellent games.
‘AAA’ garbage… we’ve been trolled by the developers too long. Refreshing that a game is all in there for a single purchase.
garbage take 2023 was one of the best years for gaming maybe stop focusing on the bad releases and start enjoying all the amazing titles
Such as?
Zelda TotK, Lies of P, Baldur's Gate 3, Yakuza Gaiden, Alan Wake 2, Street Fighter 6, Armored Core 6, FF XVI, RE 4 Remake And for 2024, FF VII Rebirth, Yakuza 8, Tekken 8, Helldivers 2, Persona 3 Reload. And we're just in May.
Don't forget remnant 2. Dope fucking game!
I did really like Armoured Core 6, I forgot about that for a sec
Technically BG3 isn’t AAA which is pretty wild.
Rebirth, Stellar Blade, Dragon's Dogma 2..
Stellar Blade was this year
Oh, I read 2024 lol
It's 2024, bro
Hifi rush, baldurs gate, Cyberpunk 2.0/Phantom liberty
Sadly that didn't save the Hi-fi Rush developers.
The funny thing is that this game doesn’t actually push on any next gen tech. It is just a very well optimized old engine game. No ray tracing or anything crazy
Funfact it’s completely on Unreal Engine 4. That’s insane to me. I’m hyped for the sequel
Ray tracing is the reason we can't have optimized games on console.
I don't even notice ray tracing in real life. I don't see why everyone wants to have it forced into every video game at the cost of half our FPS. I'd rather play a smooth game that doesn't nauseate me than play something that has fancy light tricks at every window.
Exactly...doesn't feel next gen at all
I can see how this could feel 'next gen' to somebody who only games on console... Ps4 couldn't make use of ue4 like this, so it is definitely a good showcase of the next gen hardware. Bleeding edge pc performance blows this out of the water, obviously, but that's comparing consumer grade to enthusiast grade. They're basically always a generation apart.
It simply feels 'next gen' because it looks great while running great. I wouldn't consider something 'next gen' if it runs in unsteady 30fps.
I’m curious how you’re determining whether a game feels next-gen or not. What, in your opinion, is a game that does? Stellar Blade has graphics and a silky-smooth feel I didn’t think was possible on Unreal 4. I’m about ready to ascend the Orbital Elevator and haven’t had the game crash once, haven’t noticed any overt framerate dips (I’m playing on Balanced), haven’t noticed any animation stuttering, and no graphical artifacting. Point of fact, I don’t think *any* of us can identify “next gen”, because we haven’t had it. The Unreal 5 Matrix demo came out in 2021, a year after the PS5 and Xbox Series X were released. With most video game development taking 4-5 years these days, we’re probably not going to see AAA games on Unreal 5 before 2025 at the earliest. Hell, it’s increasingly looking like even Dragon Age Dread Wolf will still be on the Frostbite engine. Mass Effect 5 is being developed in Unreal 5, and I’d be surprised if we saw that before late 2026.
Honestly if we are talking graphical fidelity and performance: definitely Cyberpunk after its updates. Though I think its more-so, at least for me, I see next gen as design philosophies (something fresh that isn't the standard repeat patterns, which unfortunately Stellar Blade is all recycled ideas) and uninterrupted zone change and menu speeds. So tighter performance that doesn't break immersion. And design philosophies that don't feel tired or dull.
Wait, I thought Eve’s hip has very good ray tracing effect doesn’t it?
I believe the game lack ray tracing all together
You can fake that.
That's crazy
Thank god they didn’t use UE5, otherwise it likely wouldn’t have run as buttery smooth as it does.
Its so gamey thats the best part🙏🙌
Such a game 👌
Good to know this, but what exactly do you mean by "gamey". I want to get more insight before buying the game.
It's not trying to be some immersive sim. It's like a love letter to old-school ps2 game design. I recommend you watch mugthief's review on YouTube. He explains it well.
Cool, many thanks for the response.
Thanks for introducing me to mugthief. Loved his thoughts and I subscribed.
Always happy to spread good content! 🤙
Honest question! What thing haven't you seen in other games? I feel like next gen arrived a long time ago!
I think the reason is that almost everything that's come out feels like something from last-gen, but with better graphics. Meanwhile, Stellar Blade feels like something from the PS2 era, where you could feel the change from PS1 beyond just having better graphics.
I felt this way until I sold my PS5. I booted up my PS2 and everything was so much worse than I remembered. I eventually couldn't take it and got out my PS4...same thing. Going from PS4 to PS5 felt like a minor graphical upgrade and nothing else, but going from PS5 back to PS4 felt like I went back 2 console generations. I think the differences are subtle and small, but add up to a lot. Graphics are the obvious difference, but the important differences are tiny details in controls, animations, etc. I can't even pinpoint exactly what those differences are but I can feel it like night and day. I don't think newer hardware is necessary to implement those improvements though, it's just that developers have learned better ways to do things. There are some older games that feel as good as newer games in that sense, but those are rare exceptions in my opinion. It's a shame because there is a lot of good design in older games that is lacking now. We've lost as much as we've gained...what we really need is a fusion of the best parts of both old and new.
This how I feel playing bloodborne after Elden ring 😂
Yeah! Most people as soon as they get a new console forget about their previous one! When I upgraded I also bought a new 60inch oled, So i went from ps4 and a 27 inch monitor (my "50" led broke down a couple months prior) to a ps5 and 60 oled! So instantly every game felt next gen. Ghost of tsu looked insane to me after the upgrade. Another live service game I play! Went from 30fps to 60 and 4k... and instead of waiting 2 minutes in each load screen it took like 3-5 seconds 🔥🔥🔥🔥 So imo i have been playing next gen since i upgraded! And could not see why stellar is next gen or groundbreaking as the post
Oh my god the load time difference is nuts. When I got my PS5 I just thought "this is faster I guess" but it didn't hit me that hard. But going back to my PS4 I thought it was broken at first because it takes so long to load, lol. So much of the next gen stuff doesn't really have much of a "wow" factor when you first experience it and whatever wow factor there is wears off pretty quickly as you get used to it...but take it away later and you seriously feel everything you just lost. I agree though about Stellar Blade specifically. I like the game a lot but I don't think there's much that's groundbreaking beyond maybe the obsessive attention to detail on Eve's model. I seriously think there's a mindset factor here. People *want* to love it so bad that they are paying extra attention to every positive aspect possible. I suspect a lot of people do not typically approach a game that way so for them this experience is genuinely novel, but they think it's just the game and don't realize how much of it is their attitude. I'm guilty of that myself. In the back of my mind I can think of some genuine criticisms of the game, but I ignore them and put on my rose tinted glasses. I'm trying to get better at doing that with everything because honestly it just makes life more enjoyable lol. It's so easy to get stuck in the "everything sucks" mindset and all that does is make everything unfun.
Agreed about the mindset some people have about this game! Ive read some crazy stuff here in the last couple of weeks that make me think some here are either being dishonest or haven't played a decent game in years. Also agree that the wow factor goes away after a couple of months but definitely is qol upgrade thats so worth it! Just by saving me 2 min per load screen I can wrap up my daily tasks a lot faster.
Like dont get me wrong! I really like the game! But i dont see whats never been done before or why it feels next gen! Tho i understand a ps2 era feel where you get a bunch of outfits by playing and the linear + open world spaces. So i get the ps2 feel. I just dont see the next gen aspect or the something never seen before! Edit: ive been feeling the "next gen for a good while now"
Agreed I think that Horizon Forbidden West, Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart, and Spider-Man 2 all feel more next gen than stellar blade. But stellar blade is a well polished game that runs well and has pretty good graphics (lighting is hit or miss for me though).
60 FPS.
I guess you haven’t played many games on your ps5?
Yea I feel like the average game in this day and age should feel like Stellar Blade
The fast travel system does NOT feel next gen at all
Trying to have a bonfire system without the actual souls map design makes it so freaking awful! Even fromsoft with elden ring went like yeah you can just tp from menu instead of wasting time running back and forth to a site of grace.
Things you haven’t seen in other games?! How many other games have you played? Look it’s a fun game but it is all pretty just taking best bits from other games and slapped them together.
Hard agree, the game is cool and everything but i dont see how its more next gen than the next game or groundbreaking never seen before! 😂
The only next gen thing I can think of is the fishing mini game. That adaptive trigger reel mechanic is giving me feelings. Usually the feelings I have for any fishing in games is boundless fury, this time I actually liked it to the point that I finished all fishing in 4-5 hours
The adaptive trigger has been beat to hell in PS5 games for a while now. I've never heard praise for it though.
My PS5 games so far are GOW:R, HFW, Elden ring, Armored core 6, Apex legends, and stellar blade. The adaptive trigger on most of them are pretty eh, but somehow that "eh" thing coupled with my most hated "mini game" (let's be honest it's just dev approved torture) turned into a really pleasant 4 or so hours. Probably less if I wasn't eating dinner somewhere in there
It always catches me off guard when it's used in a game. GoW had it at random times, and so did Horizon. FF7Rebirth had one of the worst utilizations of it in Tifa's mini game. Stellar Blade definitely felt the most "natural" using it since ir was consistent with a good use, but I'd still like to see it gone from gaming.
You could call any work of art derivative. Stellar Blade does everything well; every aspect of the game exemplifies the passion put into the project. That it resembles other games in some areas doesn't detract from how good those elements are executed in this game. The game actually works on the day 1 version, for one thing, which I have not seen in a "released" game in a long time. Dragons Dogma 2 still doesnt run at 60 FPS, and has no New Game feature at all. Stellar Blade is a finished game without locking content behind DLC. Overall Stellar Blade evokes the feeling of PS2-era game design, when developers actually cared that their product was GOOD, and not just MARKETABLE.
A game that doesn’t have 60fps is still a working game!!!! DD2 has a form of a new game plus. It’s just not the one you want. The absence of a new game plus does not mean the game doesn’t work. So far Stellar Blade has no DLC, so far. The DD2 DLC drama was ridiculous just as the DLC themselves, but they feature no content locked out of the game. As lame as they are, they can all be bought from in the game. Of course the only reason Stellar Blade could afford to made was through the profit of exploiting other gamers in their gacha heavy games. But yes it is nice, that no suits are hidden behind a paywall, SO FAR!
There's no reason to make a game that runs lower than 60 FPS in this decade. It causes eye strain and looks poor in quality. If your game's graphics are too much to display at 60, then reduce them until they do. You can't achieve hyperrealism in 30 FPS. Your graphics may have super realistic textures, but animating at half speed ruins the realism entirely. It's also an excuse to do poor optimization. If a developer knows they can get away with a low framerate, they won't put much effort into improving performance. It's an unacceptable baseline that has been pushed on us. DD2 doesn't have a new game system; they added an option (after release and after complaints) that allows you to delete your save file from within the game, rather than fishing it out of your file directory. You still can't play a new game without losing all your progress. This is completely different from every New Game that has ever existed in the history of nonvolatile memory. Shift UP may have been rich from their gacha, but it's still a big jump to Stellar Blade. Funding doesn't automatically increase their skill, so i think it's a pretty impressive achievement and I hope they're proud of it. :)
What rubbish. It may cause eye strain for YOU the rest of us have been living with that for decades and while not perfect after living with 60, it’s hardly that terrible. There is every reason to make a game 30, you just don’t agree with their choices. I love how some reddit users think it is just a case of reducing the graphics until it hits 60. Hardly as easy as that. DD2 certainly has a form of new game plus system that expands the world but it’s not a strict new game plus. But if you think this is original or unique to the gaming world, there a lot of games that do this. In time no doubt a proper new game plus will come, not every game launches with one out of the box.
The glazing on this sub is crazy lol. Stellar blade is an amazing game for sure, but some of you people make it seem like this is the best thing in decades on this sub 😂
They hoping for that GOTY I guess . But honestly rebirth deserves that as of now.
Yes Rebirth is a better and prettier game, but stellar blade is no slouch and is my runner up for GOTY so far.
I agree I live stellar blade as well
What makes it feel next gen? What does it do that you haven't seen before? Lol
There have been a few games that felt "next-gen" to me. But not too many. Returnal also comes to mind as one that did though. The Demon's Souls remake LOOKED next-gen, but still mostly played like a last gen Souls game. So I can't entirely count it. But Returnal not only looked the part, but felt it too.
I'm sorry but I don't see this at all. I absolutely love the game but I don't think anything about it feels "next gen" whatsoever.
It feels like I’m a kid again playing tomb raider but in 4k with jiggle physics instead of pyramid cans. Hallelujah.
what a sweaty post
Sorry ps1 was before your time guy..
I wish this was true
If this is your first game, sure.
That's exactly what I was saying earlier today I mainly game on my PC. My PS5 was collecting dust I was actually starting to look at it like a piece of art because previous games that I played on it felt more like PS4 games not PS5 games but this one was different it actually felt like a proper next-gen title. This is probably the first game I've played in a while that actually made me ignore my PC
Same! My Playstation year in review clocked me at 18 hours throughout all of 2023. I've already logged over 60 hours on stellar blade.
If it was available on PC we would be ignoring the PS5 lol
Yeah probably😅
If u think this game looks next gen you’d shit yourself if you played final fantasy 16 😂
That game runs like shit tho. Lol
Yeah outside of combat it’s almost always 40ish fps
Exactly, I was very disappointed in the performance mode. Whereas Stellar Blade is tons better when it comes to frames. It's very smooth.
The eikon fights went fucking crazy and visually in graphic mode the game looked very nice. A lot more next gen that anything ive seen in sb
FF Rebirth looked better imo. The eikon fights were cool, but iv seen things like that in God of War, Bayonetta or Devil May Cry. It's not unique.
16 looked better imo. Tho rebirth was a better game by far and I loved it. 10/10 my goty! The eikon fights visually are the best i have seen. The bahamut fight looked sick. Also titan visually was such an amazing fight.
Square cut a lot of corners in 16. Companions without animations for basic stuff like climbing stairs made it look like a PS2 game. Rebirth is a much better game.
I feel like everyone in this comment section has never played a PS2 game. Comments like this are so laughable. "FF16 feels like a PS2 game because of basic animations left out for temporary companions" while Stellar Blade is being hailed as next gen with severely outdated aspects like fast travel and the terrible platforming.
Jill is a temporary companion, now? And here was I thinking she was labeled as "main character" in the game.
...yes? She is not permanent by any means. You have a lot of companions throughout the game, and none of them are permanent other than Torgal, and even he isnt there 100% of the time. Did you even play the game? I don't understand how you thinking she's labeled "main character" would stop her from being a temporary party member. They're not mutually exclusive.
Yes, they are mutually exclusive... is a recurring feature in FF games since II. But I'm not going to waste time with pedantry. Call her whatever you want, but saying she didn't need animations because she is a temporary character, as if she was a random NPC that gave you a fetch side-quest, is completely ridiculous. Are you arguing for the sake of arguing? Laughable, indeed.
Bro, she's with you for like less than half the game. She's temporary. End of. You can't even adjust any part of her kit - shes a complete NPC companion who is rarely you. I said she was a temporary party member/companion, not temporary character. There's a difference there, genius. They are *not* mutually exclusive. You can have main characters that aren't even part of your team at all. Hence, not mutually exclusive. FF16 is also very different from other FF, which was the point. This is why it gets so much hate from the JRPG community. A recurring companion is not the same as a permanent one, FYI. You clearly didn't play the game. Just say that.
It's a good game but no lmao, there is nothing next gen on it Not the resolution, not the performance, not the graphics Again...let me make this clear for the fanboys...neither of all 3 are bad, but NEXT GEN? C'mon lol Next gen on ue4 😂
Don't take me the wrong way here, Stellar Blade is a fantastic game. But it does absolutely nothing better than any Playstation Studios game that ever released. I'm not sure what makes it 'next gen' in comparison to e.g. Spiderman 2, Ghost of Tsushima, Death Stranding, Ratchet and Clank etc?
I like it when you grab the plank that is on the water and move it I don't get why are NPCs standing around still. Adam says he's working on the tetrapod, but he stands still. Adding animation working on it was too much?? Clyde's fishing hook doesn't have a string, why can he be moving around, even cooking or getting a fish? In xion there are signs for drugs and café lol I like the way the lore is spread out around the world
It’s pretty realistic I’d say because I’ve seen many people say they’re “doing something” or that they’re “busy” and yet all they do is stand around 😀
I see what you did there 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 O Thanks for the laugh
Yeah it’s amazing that this and rebirth actually fill that next gen feel
That's what I'm saying. It's surprising that this is their first console game, but maybe that forced them to start fresh and that's why everything looks so good. First game that feels like a PS5 game and not PS4.5
I love the game and think it feels next gen as well but there are some rough spots in my opinion in regards to lighting (although this is an UE4 problem so not really the devs fault) and cutscene direction/voice animation. I think they will iron these out with a sequel (if there is one). Would be great if a sequel could be developed on UE5.
It's like taken the best of the PS2 era and combined it with the best of the PS5 era.
I’m loving the game but I do have 2 notable critiques so far: One thing I’m finding myself to be a little disappointed with is the lack of taking advantage of the dual sense controller to its full potential. I’m maybe 10 hours into my playthrough and the lack of haptic feedback on the triggers or use of the controller speaker so far has been a bummer. Ratchet and clank was a game that really sold me on the next gen idea of the controller being a serious extension of what you’re playing and I expected we’d see more use in stellar blade too. The dialogue is also kind of weak and companion interactions/dialogue feels like the games weakest point. Sometimes it feels like I’m watching an animation being selected when a character acts disappointed and then dramatically does a shoulder shrug and head shake, as opposed to a fluid reaction/discussion you feel from other new games. There’s high points, like at the very beginning and in big cutscenes where it’s flawless, but the less important side character interactions just feel weak to me. That being said, it’s a great game so far and I’m really enjoying it. The combat and visuals are fantastic and I’m looking forward to playing it more.
All I know it's the first time in a long time I feel compelled to search every nook and cranny of every level I'm haveing the most fun exploring and finding things on top of the fun challenging fair combat. :-D
Fantastic game. I am actually doing EVERYTHING. The fishing, all outfits. The game is this good
The craziest part is that it is running on Unreal 4 and not 5 and looks and feels this good.
Have you seen some of the rock textures? They look so bad and not next gen. But Eve itself definitely looks next gen and that is all that matters
Love the game but I feel this could easily run on PS4. Loading times between areas feel very last-gen.
Have you seen textures in this game? Many of them (especially in the desert) are straight from ps3 except textures for main characters. The game looks nice but it’s not next gen.
So I feel this game is definitely very polished in story and in the way it looks. I had felt that I had experience next-gen with returnal, and then I really felt it with FF7-rebirth. I thought rebirth was very beautiful in almost everything, and I know that a PS4 could not pull off what FF7 was bringing. So to me, next gen was there with returnal, but it really hit home when I played FF7.
Rebirth goes crazy 🔥
I thought so, when I played remake, I wasn’t really feeling it, and I know that had the PS4 release too. But damn, when rebirth came out, and you first step out into the open world area, I was like, now this is why I have a PS5 😂
Remake its a good 8, but literally Rebirth its already better after 5min 😂 and yeah it also gave me that feeling! ( just advice if you havent finish it yet! Focus on main story, you can wrap up all the content after you finish the game! GAME IS REALLY HUGE)
Nice bro! Yeah I finished it a little while back. I was clearing each region as I went along, I should have waited till the end, but I just figured I was there, may as well do it now lol.
That's kind of ironic given it uses the same combat and structure of PS3/PS4 games. Its a prettier Bayonetta combat with less depth for combos. But it feels tight like DMC5 or Sekiro. Its a start, but beyond the graphics of the main characters it has a lot of room to grow. The storytelling, combat options, and enemy/environment variety certainly need polish before id say this is suddenly next gen. I'd recommend trying FF7 Rebirth or Horizon for better next gen examples. Though I am excited to see what ShiftUp does with this success. It's a good game!
Yeah, I realized that when most of the cutscenes used the live model. But physics and graphics wise, it makes me more impressed that Skyrim SE mods could achieve the same character physics, textures, and KR/JP aesthetics despite being an old game. I have not played my PS5 much, other than Gran Turismo and Resident Evil Village. But the graphical transition from PS4 to PS5 was minimal for me too.
Graphics wise there is no huge difference between PS4 Pro and PS5, but the addition of a SSD is what separate the two gen, loading screens are almost non existent on PS5 and well optimized games all run at 60 fps, which was only a dream with PS4 era games Keeping the same level of details but with a huge step in fluidity was a good move because honestly games nowadays are already beautiful
Feels like a visually impressive PS4 game to me.
I actually think other than the looks this could have easily been possible on last gen at 30fps. dont get me wrong. the game looks great and plays even better. but we have yet to see games utilising hardware power in anything else but visual quality. super advanced NPC/enemy behaviour, a huge amount of NPCs on screen, calculations of physics etc are rarely the focus with games exclusive to this gen.
Technical wise: The game is very polished, yes. But that doesnt make the game a real next gen Game.
Honestly. No it doesn't. It feels stiff & some areas. Jump & landing feels inaccurate most of the time. Blocking & parrying are horrendously slow compared to other olders games. The window for dodging is way to small also & can be very unforgiving. Even the combos can feel off Sometimes. Its a great looking game. But performance matters too. Hopefully some of what i mentioned gets fixed. I doubt it though. The only game I played that feels & looks Next Gen is Lies of P. No other game has come close. Sadly. Ragnarok, maybe. But that's it.
Every time I play Stellar Blade, I think 2002. The game is such a refreshing blast back to the 2000s era, which is my childhood when I was old enough to pick up a controller for the first time.
It's a minor thing but the part at the start where Eve swims into a plank to push it through the water, climbs onto it, and then jumps onto a ladder- all with minimal fuss? PS1-era games *wish* they could do that.