4 improvements I want to see in a Stellar Blade 2

Stellar Blade is an excellent souls-inspired action game that was released on PlayStation 5 last year before coming to PC earlier this year. That PC version is quite excellent, although there are mods to help improve performance if needed. While the game is great and has seemingly sold well, there are a few aspects of the game that could use improvement. ShiftUp has confirmed that a sequel is coming (via GamesRadar), and having recently played Stellar Blade, I felt compelled to put together a wishlist for the areas I want to see improved in the next entry. After all, who doesn't want the follow-up to a great game to improve upon the original?

4 More melee weapons for increased combat variety

The sword combat is solid, but more options would add more variety

The combat is the highlight of Stellar Blade, but there is one area that I would like to see some improvement in. That area is weapons. In Stellar Blade, you have a sword, along with a gun, but the sword is your primary weapon in combat. There aren't multiple swords, so instead, you have the same weapon, which means the same set of combos. You do unlock new skills and abilities during the game, which does add a nice change of pace as the experience goes on, but it could use a little more. I think a variety of weapons, either different swords that play differently or other melee weapons, would not only add more variety to the game but being able to pick the style of combat that fits me best is always a ton of fun. These weapons could also play well with the Exospine and Gears, letting you create even more complicated builds.

3 More personality for Eve in dialogue

Eve has tons of character in her animations and actions, but not in cutscenes

Eve is one of the main reasons Stellar Blade was so successful. Regardless of how you feel about it, her overly-horny character design did contribute to the success. But there are two aspects of Eve's character that could use some improvement, with the first being her personality. Eve's personality is all over the place in Stellar Blade, including being portrayed wildly differently depending on what you are looking at. In dialogue and cutscenes, Eve is about as close to a blank slate as you can get. Most line deliveries are flat, and she doesn't seem to have strong opinions on anything except that she likes to help people.

Even if this works in the context of the story, it is really boring, and her animations suggest something else. When Eve interacts with objects in the environment, such as putting a coin in a vending machine at a rest stop or opening a door, she exhibits a lot of personality in her movements. Her excitement over collecting cans in the environment suggests a far more vibrant personality than displayed in the cutscenes, and I would love to see more of that in the sequel.

2 Better platforming, or less of it

Moving around in combat feels fine, but the platforming is rough

Sometimes less is more, and in the case of Stellar Blade, cutting down on the platforming would only benefit the experience. You often have to climb up areas, jump from ledge to ledge, and generally follow some yellow paint. The yellow paint doesn't bother me that much, but the platforming feels stiff and imprecise, making it miserable to do, and you do it fairly often. The worst parts involve swimming, which feels closer to flying in some games than actually swimming. If ShiftUp wants to keep these in the next game, it has some work ahead of it to make the platform not feel miserable. If a game mechanic sucks, don't include it.

1 Make the costumes feel less like a mod and more like part of the game

I'm not asking for the costumes to go away or be toned down

Before everyone gets their pitchforks out, I am not advocating for a Stellar Blade sequel to do away with the overly revealing outfits. That's all fine, and it clearly propelled the game to success; however, there's something odd about its implementation in Stellar Blade. The outfits feel more like sexy mods you would install instead of actual outfits. The reason for that is that Stellar Blade doesn't seem interested in, or even responsive to, the outfits at all. I think it's telling that if you were to put Eve in an oversized hoodie that hid her figure, nothing else about the game would need to change, and that's weird for a game sold primarily on the outfits. Eve isn't a sexy character outside of her outfits. She is, in fact, a very bland and, by the books, a soldier in many ways, and no one else in the game ever bats an eye or even recognizes how her outfits look. It would be like if in Bayonetta nobody, including Bayonetta, commented on her appearance and style. It feels disjointed with the rest of the experience, and while I don't need NPCs drooling over her or anything, I just want it to feel like a real part of the game.

Stellar Blade is great, and I have high hopes for the future

While I obviously have a few small complaints about Stellar Blade, those only exist because I enjoyed so much of the experience. It looks visually stunning and has some truly impressive action combat, which is even more impressive considering how crowded the genre has become. I like Eve and enjoyed the story that was told, which is why I'm so invested in the sequel, which I will be playing on day one when it releases.