PlayStation fans have been frustrated by Sony’s seeming overemphasis on live service game development behind-the-scenes, but that makes Stellar Blade a real breath of fresh air. A staunchly single player PS5 character action title, it marks Korean developer Shift Up’s first foray into the world of consoles – and it’s generating an enormous amount of enthusiasm due to its dazzling visuals and throwback vibes. We caught up with Game Director Hyung-Tae Kim and Technical Director Dong-Gi Lee to learn a little more about the upcoming outing, due out on 26th April.
Project Eve was first announced for PS4 almost five years ago. Can you talk a little bit about how the project has changed and evolved since then?
Hyung-Tae Kim: In the beginning the platform wasn’t completely decided, but we had the idea that we wanted to create a single player action-adventure game. Once we’d completed our playable prototype, Sony came into the picture.
Since then, we wanted users to have a next-generation gaming experience, so we shifted development to the PS5. We changed the title from Project EVE to Stellar Blade, and with Sony’s help, we’ve now completed the game.
Can you explain what makes Stellar Blade’s combat system unique compared to other character action games on PS5?
Kim: Battles occur with an attractive female protagonist who uses a blade. We put practically everything you can do with a blade into the game. You get to use different combos and skills, but that doesn’t mean you can just thoughtlessly use them. Instead, you need to learn the patterns of the monsters and think about how you want to attack. It’s a bit of a back-and-forth between you and the enemies.
In addition to the melee combat, there’s a third-person shooter mode where you get to experience ranged combat, and also you get to use items. So, it’s blade-centric, but you’ll experience all different kinds of action throughout.
Notably, there are different support features that will make the game accessible to those who aren’t as familiar with action games, so you can still experience it.
Eve appears to have lots of different outfits and hairstyles in the trailer. How important is character customisation in Stellar Blade? Approximately how many options will players have in the final game?
Kim: There are about 30 different outfits available in the game, and they’re all acquirable through gameplay. So, you can explore, go on a quest, or go to the in-game shop to purchase them. You can enjoy that collecting element of the game.
Also, by going on quests you get to unlock hairstyles, so you can customise different looks. And there are other accessories like earrings and glasses. But the important part is that these are all acquirable in-game without any additional purchases.
The latest gameplay overview trailer showcased the English dub, but will it be possible to select Korean or Japanese voices with subtitles in the Western version of the game?
Kim: The game offers a total of 22 different languages, and nine voiceover dubbings. The user can freely select from these options. But we do have to tell you that the Japanese voices will only be available in Japan. The Japanese text will be available, but it’s the voiceover that won’t be. This is due to the voice actors, as they’ll only be available in the Japanese region. But Korean will be available
Dong-Gi Lee: English, Japanese, and Korean all have lip synced animations, so the users will get to experience more natural voiceovers.
A fan account last year claimed Eve’s character is based on Korean model Shin Jae-eun. Are you able to confirm that’s the case? If so, why did you select her as the face of Eve?
Kim: Yes, we did base the character of Eve on the model Shin Jae-eun. We thought that her body shape would be a good reference for the character that we were pursuing. But the face was created originally in-house – it’s just the body of the model that we scanned for the game.
Of course, it depends on how you define beautiful bodies, but for us we wanted to come up with the most attractive looking body for the user, so this is why we made the decision to work with her.
Music seems really important to Stellar Blade. Can you talk about how you decided on the songs and what we can expect from the soundtrack?
Kim: The music is an important element in the game that really portrays the world view of Stellar Blade. We have about 100 tracks on the soundtrack, and most songs have a kind of chorus or some kind of human voice in them.
Around 60 per cent of the songs were created in-house, while the other 40 per cent were created by a sound studio called Monaca, led by composer Keiichi Okabe. Okabe-san was the composer of NieR.
Shift Up is best known for NIKKE: Goddess of Victory on mobile. Will there be any crossover between the games fans can look forward to?
Kim: Yes, of course, if that’s what the users want then we can do anything that will please them. We’re currently just discussing how we can do this in order to maximise the attractiveness of the event. We’re also considering how we can maximise the synergy between the two titles.
Stellar Blade feels like a big moment for Korean games on console. How are you dealing with the weight of expectation?
Kim: The Korean gaming market is very mobile-centric, so everyone is developing for smartphones. We felt a single player console game with a definitive ending is still valid and still very important, so we’re hoping Stellar Blade will be a significant title that will encourage other Korean developers to see this as a starting point and be inspired for future projects.
It’s not an easy path we took, but we decided to take on the challenge and we hope the users enjoy it.
Thank you so much for your time. As we’re big fans of NIKKE, it was very cool to do this.
Kim: Thank you so much! We’ll work hard to come up with more attractive, diverse gaming content.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and readability. We’d like to thank Sony and Shift Up for organising this interview, and both Kim and Lee for setting aside time to answer our questions. Are you looking forward to Stellar Blade? Cut through the crap in the comments section below.
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Was awesome to talk to Shift Up, as I'm a big NIKKE fan. Really looking forward to this game!
"But the important part is that these are all acquirable in-game without any additional purchases."
That sadly became very rare nowadays, I wish more devs/publishers would do that
@mariomaster96 Yeah, it was interesting to me how eager they were to point out that you can unlock everything in-game. They really repeated that point.
"Of course, it depends on how you define beautiful bodies, but for us we wanted to come up with the most attractive looking body for the user, so this is why we made the decision to work with her."
Love these developers and also love the sound of the combat! I hope it is as expansive as it sounds.
Awesome excited for this, the Chinese and Korean AAA gaming market is nascent right now, but I think we're at the start of the explosion. Both Black Myth from China and this from Korea are hugely anticipated titles for me!
I think I need to get this. So many games, so little time.
I just want nikke boob and butt physics on eve and crew. I preordered today, hopefully shin jae euns body wont disappoint. Also who is calling it korean nier? I thought the combat was slower paced than what platinum games has developed.
@get2sammyb who isnt? Anyone whos a nerd will like 2d waifus that has butt jiggling in front of them
Preordered this yesterday. I like everything I hear!
Got this pre-ordered, I am very excited to play this!
I would have liked to know a little more about length of the game, difficulty options, possibility of DLC etc, but nice interview nonetheless.
Gona show the west how it's done! I can't wait. I upgraded my order to delux!
"We felt a single player console game with a definitive ending"
Exactly my sort of game. These guys really seem genuine and passionate about their project. I can support that.
Sony very wise to explore these partnerships in Korea and China. Will be fascinating to see what titles come from them over the next decade
@Perturbator I didn't ask, but in another interview they said 25 hours for the main story and 50 hours if you do everything.
@DonkeyFantasy as the camera is usually situated from the rear im guessing there just wasnt enough junk in your trunk 😂
Can't wait for this game, I really hope the game is good, and make squareenix make nier automata sequel 😃
Gameplay time about 25 - 30 hours is perfect I think, like nier automata normal ending. Nier automata gameplay time is crazy though, after getting the normal ending its like we got the sequel already with the additional story and endings. When I finished it and got platinum for the game, my gameplay time is at 123 hours.
I was already down for this game but this interview was awesome to hear the pride they have for this project...April 26th I'm ready
In game free add ons and difficulty options for the W. Sony know that not locking this and Rise of The Ronin to just a souls like difficulty will net them more profit. It means I'll be buying both when I wasn't planning to before. Many others who dislike souls like games will follow alongside those who want a challenge.
Is Sony really, really smart?
If this studio can start converting their mobile fanbase to consoles and single player games the market will grow and hopefully the desire for more single player games will grow with the younger audiences and PlayStation will benefit.
If this is successful it could be the saviour of the gaming experience we love
No Pressure 😬😁
The more I see about this game the more I like it, and the fact they’re so passionate about this being a full-blown single player experience without parts locked behind an extra paywall automatically makes makes me route for them.
Really hope it lives up to the hype and does well.
Could this even be the beginning of a new big franchise?
Another fantastic article - thank you Sammy.
The quality of articles and interviews on this site is growing from its already high bar, and makes it a pleasure to be a regular visitor.
This game has always looked special, and the nearer we get to release, and the more we hear about it, its becoming more self evident.
I hope its a huge hit for the devs and for PS. I would like to see many more passionately developed full experiences. Bravo!
@get2sammyb
Enjoyed the interview, thanks for posting. Also happy that it's going to take fairly long to complete, but not something overwhelming (I sometimes have to stop playing the 100+ hour games for 1-3 weeks before returning). Definitely going to take a chance on it and buy day one.
@get2sammyb That's a good length, perhaps there is a NG+ as well. Anyway, good work!
@get2sammyb completely off topic, but when is your banishers ghosts of new Eden review up 😁
Not sold on it being a good game yet. At this point we've seen nothing but short montages. There was a clip In the last trailer where the combat looked super janky.
Just want to know more about combat and actual Gameplay loop. At least more be discussed beyond this whole cringey 'look at this hot anime girl protagonist, she jiggles and smashes stuff with blade.' it comes off as borderline perverted in this interview. The real thing is far better. This fascination with toon T&A is prepubescent stuff.
To hear devs so focused on it, to me suggests this may be it's defining gimmick. Pretty lame if so.
@Shushibda great question. Looking forward to that one!
It’s kinda weird to me that so many are focused on the main character being attractive. I dunno, the game looks awesome b it seems to come second to how the girl looks.
@AhmadSumadi I think it's the novelty of a developer who is unashamed to shoot for sexy. It goes against the grain these days, with so many devs reluctant to show skin or create 'unrealistic' beautiful female characters.
If this game had come out in 2007 that selling point would not be so interesting. Tons of other devs were chasing the same at that time.
I see it as a reaction to what some gamers perceive to be female characters becoming uglier, and/or devs being guided by puritanical values when designing costumes (Mortal Kombat shying away from skin, but still tons of gore, is a good example). This set are eager to vote with their wallets, and vocally support the iconoclastic bent of this developer in hopes the pendulum begins to swing away from abhorring sexiness or things that please 'the male gaze'.
About 30 different outfits available in the game, no DLC required. That right there is amazing.
I wish there wasn't so much attention being drawn to the body type or the attractiveness of the characters in this game. Not only will the crazies come out to either defend or criticize the decisions of the game designer, but it makes everyone look woefully unaware that games made in Japan, China or Korea always have had this aesthetic. Has no one seen the absolute Waifus in Like a Dragon or Grand Blue just to name a couple of recent games? Bayonetta, Genshin, Street Fighter. I mean, attractive females in video games are not new in games from these countries.
European and North American-made games are going after more realism and with that more realistic character models.
Neither of these choices in art direction is better than the other, but to make a great big deal about it is just attracting the wrong people to both sides of the conversation.
@MikeOrator
"European and North American-made games are going after more realism and with that more realistic character models."
I would agree with you,except when Insomiac goes out of their way to alter MJ character model to look less attractive than her irl model. Which was really a weird thing to do,lol.
@KundaliniRising333 You really do have a weird hate boner for anime, to the point that you come off as snobby and patronizing towards anything that has anime or anime inspired culture in it.
I don't see how a dev talking about their character makes them a perv, or anything of the sort,and I also don't see how it's lame that they take pride in it.
@KundaliniRising333 I love anime, but i totally see your point , I dont have a problem with the main character, but that 13 year old girl in the lingerie in the trailer, made me feel a bit uncomfortable.
@Shushibda Agreed, but for me it's not even the overarching trend with the art style in these types of games. What really comes off as a step even further toward cringe is the developer focus on highlighting this as a main feature of the game. The fact that the developers initial response to a question asking them to describe combat was basically "We have an attractive female swinging a sword, " is just bizarre. A Lot of the hype around this games seems largely focused on this FETISH.
Is that it? Play dress up with provocative toon outfits and swing sword with hot toon girl? Is the game and dev focus really that shallow or is there more to this? That's all I'm saying.
@rachetmarvel
Realism is that I would, on average, see more females that look like in-game Mary Jane than the actual face model for Mary Jane.
@Titntin Thanks for the kind words, appreciated!
@Shushibda Next week!
@Shushibda “That 13 year old anime girl in lingerie made me feel a bit uncomfortable.” 🤓
God I can’t stand when people try to equate fiction to reality!
This game has been on my buy list ever since the first revealtrailer came out a million years ago. And now that Stellar Blade is arriving and more info keeps leaking, the more I'm looking forward to getting my hands on it. 25-hour story, 50 hours to 100% is exactly my kind of game length. And the fact that everything is unlockable without additional purchases is something I can support! Based on that alone I hope the game sells well so the industry can see that not everything needs an online mode or sell costumes etc. at an extra cost.
@ProjectEve-Lover123 people who try to justify the sexualisation of children in whatever media, be it drawings ,cartoons or video games, knock me sick ,just because it's not real life doesn't make it right , ok jimmy.
I had read this game was being compared to Nioh, which I bounced off of so I wasn't that excited, but then I read this: "Notably, there are different support features that will make the game accessible to those who aren’t as familiar with action games" and now I am interested again!
@Shushibda
As I said in my earlier post above, that particular poster is an example of the wrong people defending idealistically attractive female character models in video games.
I liken it to NAMBLA wanting to be part of the LGBTQ because it is a preference, not a deviance
EDIT: If you don't know what NAMBLA is don't look it up unless you want to get angry
@get2sammyb reminds me of older tales of games so many unlockables in the older games
@KundaliniRising333 This. I have exactly the same feeling. So far we have just seen pictures and videos of the butt and breast of the protagonist, or from the barely naked woman who served as a model (without her face...). I can definitely understand the average teenage boys getting excited (hey I was in the same state when Tomb Raider was released), but now for me it's more skepticism than anything else.
@AhmadSumadi It's crazy weird. I'm looking forward to this game, because I like stylish character action games, but everybody fixating on the attractiveness of the main character is starting to make me feel gross. Unattractive ladies, attractive ones, I'm down with all, because I like diversity. I wish we could ignore that aspect and just focus on the gameplay and story/setting.
@B0udoir yeah that's exactly it. I'm pretty used to seeing the childlike thirst take but in the case of trying to understand the game and it's quality. Basically we. Have heard the devs boast about attractive female, alongside news stories of toxic. Mysoginy within the devs mgmt.
Can we get a friggin dive into. Combat, gameplay loop, and other mechanics?
Oh and I hear you on the childhood tomb raider thirsting 🤣
@MikeOrator I looked it up, I shouldn't have , how does this even exist, why has it not been burned to the ground along with the people involved, absolutely disgusted.
@SlySnake0407 I have no issue with the sexy female lead , its the jiggle on the 13 year old girl I found unnecessary, I was watching it and thought this looks great , then the jiggle and I thought, felt embarrassed that I actually liked the look of the game, just a bit weird that grown men would put that in there to be honest.
The fans are already asking, will there be a sequel.
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