Stellar Blade: Blood Rain has given us the Stellar Blade 2 announcement we were looking for.
Revealed at tonight's Summer Game Fest live show, Stellar Blade: Blood Rain "will continue the story beyond the events of the first game and introduce a new protagonist, Evie," per the trailer blurb. I look forward to getting Evie confused with Eve, and also the Pokemon Eevee.
SGF host Geoff Keighley notes that the game takes place in "the same universe" as the original Stellar Blade, but it sure looks completely different, from Evie's fighting style to the world around her. The trailer begins in a dense, sophisticated cyberpunk city – a far cry from the ramshackle towns and ruins that covered much of the first game.
Developer Shift Up says Blood Rain is "the next chapter" in the series. Evie sports gear from the CDDP faction also seen in the original Stellar Blade, providing one link to the first game. Another connection is clear from the first moments of the trailer: the soundtrack is pure vibes.
Shift Up said earlier this year that it wouldn't reveal its new Stellar Blade game until it was ready for prime time, and it certainly looks good in motion. Combat was always Stellar Blade's strong suit, and this is one area where Blood Rain clearly looks like a successor.
However, where Eve used a sword, Evie is a gauntlet fighter and weaves in a lot of kicks for good measure, making short work of familiarly hideous monsters in the trailer. It looks like she's got a blade in reserve for some special attacks, as well as plenty of dodge and parry counters. I wonder if Shift Up will bring back the skill tree unlocks seen last time.
Storytelling and exploration are the main areas for improvement, so it'll be interesting to see how Stellar Blade: Blood Rain utilizes its cyberpunk city, and who all we meet as we roam around it. I'm also a little curious about where this game picks up following the events of Eve's journey. Without wishing to spoil, it's very relevant to the state of the planet.
Stellar Blade: Blood Rain might not be PS5-exclusive as Sony isn't publishing the sequel.
