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This year's Summer Game Fest showcase saw the reveal of Stellar Blade: Blood Rain, the next game from Shift Up – one that strives to make its protagonist more than just eye candy, according to director and studio CEO Hyung-Tae Kim.
If you're out of the loop – although I doubt anyone is, considering the storm surrounding her appearance – Eve, protagonist of the original Stellar Blade, was well known for her… erm, assets. Outside of her appearance, though, many fans found that her depth was lacking as a character.
In Blood Rain, Shift Up hopes to shake things up a bit with new lead Evie. She might be pretty, much like her predecessor, but there should be a bit more to her.
As Kim explains in an interview with Famitsu (as translated by Automaton), "Of course, I really like Eve's appearance too, but rather than simply creating physical attractiveness, with Evie, we're focused on making a character that players can genuinely come to love."
That's certainly notable, considering the chatter about how Stellar Blade might've improved upon Eve's character – but what makes this even more interesting is Shift Up's approach with Evie.
According to Kim, the studio is using lessons it learned from interacting with the Goddess of Victory: Nikke community and witnessing just why its fans were so attached to their favorite characters.
That's, um, perhaps a bit mind-boggling to me, seeing as that's another Shift Up game known most for its female characters and – sigh – butt-jiggling physics. But, it is fair to say that Nikke thrives on player attachment to and engagement with the cast as a gacha title.
So, I suppose it does make a little bit of sense – Shift Up wants folks to love Evie for more than just her looks so that they might be better invested in her, and in turn, Stellar Blade: Blood Rain. We'll just have to wait and see how that goes.
Searching for something else to wishlist? Here are the best new games coming this year and beyond to look forward to.
