After the surprising announcement of “Stellar Blade: Blood Rain”, developer Shift Up provides solid information about the sequel: a new combat system, a deeper heroine and lessons from “Goddess of Victory: NIKKE” are intended to take the action hit to the next level.
That Shift Up is working on a successor behind the scenes „Stellar Blade“ was already well known. But when the official unveiling took place last week as part of the Summer Game Fest, many fans were probably surprised: There was no trace of the beloved heroine Eve in the first trailer.
Instead, the South Korean studio sends along „Stellar Blade: Blood Rain“ a new protagonist named Evie comes into the race – and apart from the main character, they also seem to want to break with some of the traditions of the first film.
In a recent interview, studio founder and director Kim Hyung-Tae took a deep look and revealed exciting details about the new heroine and the revised gameplay.
Why not just Stellar Blade 2?
For anyone wondering about the additional title, Kim Hyung-Tae provides a simple explanation. The studio deliberately avoids classic numbering: that is simply not the way Shift Up approaches game titles. You want to give each game its own, appropriate name.
Despite the independent name, it is a direct sequel that takes place in the future and continues the story of the world. Fans of the first part will definitely get their money’s worth.
“This game has a very clear narrative connection to the previous title. Of course, there are sections where you see what happens to the characters from the first game,” Kim explained in an interview with Famitsu.
At the same time, however, the director emphasizes that you can enjoy “Stellar Blade: Blood Rain” completely without any prior knowledge. So if you haven’t experienced Eve’s adventure, you can still have fun here without any problem.
Evie: More depth thanks to lessons from NIKKE
The biggest change in “Blood Rain” is of course to the main character. Because instead of Eve, this time you slip into the role of Evie, a member of a special military unit. She hunts down a terrorist organization that is responsible for a devastating attack in a futuristic metropolis.
The mysterious logo “CDDP” is emblazoned on her back – the meaning of which Kim is still keeping top secret due to the acute risk of spoilers. This also applies to the relationship with the old heroine: Although Eve and Evie are connected to each other, the exact nature of this relationship remains a secret for the time being.
Particularly exciting: Shift Up wants to tackle the criticism of the first part directly – many players complained about a flat story and pale characters. Evie should have a lot more to her personality than just a pretty appearance. To do this, the studio uses its experience from the successful mobile RPG “Goddess of Victory: NIKKE”.
“Of course I really like Eve’s looks too, but rather than just creating physical attractiveness, with Evie we’re focusing on creating a character that players can really grow to love,” Kim continued.
In “NIKKE,” Shift Up binds players to the characters primarily through emotional character writing – and it is precisely these lessons that are used to make Evie an extremely captivating personality instead of just relying on looks.
Gameplay Evolution: From Fists to Swords
In addition, Evie also brings with it a significantly different combat system. The new protagonist is smaller than Eve, but she’s even tougher. At the beginning of the game she relies entirely on close quarters combat and uses her high-tech gauntlets.
Kim explained: “The combat system is evolving in such a way that you can theoretically complete the game using only pure melee combat (CQC) while still feeling the charm of its predecessor. The difference is that the character’s power is far more overwhelming than before, and every weapon and every stance has incredible depth.”
Only as the story progresses do you unlock additional weapons – including swords – which are firmly linked to the narrative progress. The popular system of perfect parry and evasion returns, but is modernized with smoother tracking shots and a completely redesigned user interface to dramatically improve visibility in the thick of battle.
A vibrant city and changing publishing
According to Kim, the urban area shown in the first trailer, which was strongly inspired by Asian megacities such as Chongqing, represents a kind of “own character”. And while the section is still structured quite linearly – although you can enter shops – the city structure will be presented in more detail later. One thing is certain: the optional additional content should be significantly increased.
And there is also a huge change behind the scenes: As is already known, Sony is not on board as a publisher this time. Shift Up takes over publishing single-handedly. The goal is clear: you want to make the game accessible to as many platforms as possible in order to achieve maximum global reach from day one. A simultaneous release for PS5 and PC is therefore almost certain.
Until then, fans will have to be patient. “Blood Rain” has only been in development for over a year and is therefore still in an early development phase. Although the visual direction has already been determined thanks to Unreal Engine 5, intensive work is currently still being done on the combat system and especially on the second half of the story.
Accordingly, “Stellar Blade: Blood Rain” currently has no release window.
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