Fans of From Software’s Soulsborne series might have their new Elden Ring with a newly revealed Cyberpunk action game coming to PlayStation 5 next year.
Shift Up’s major hit, Stellar Blade, just announced a new sequel, subtitled Blood Rain, at Summer Game Fest’s main stage on June 5. The game seems to have a larger world than ever, with a huge futuristic city for players to explore. And aesthetically, Stellar Blade is heavily inspired by Yukito Kushiro’s iconic manga series Gunnm, the subject of the immensely popular 2019 film Alita: Battle Angel.
Unfortunately, that visual identity has sparked major online controversy since Stellar Blade Blood Rain‘s initial reveal, distracting from what could be one of the most ambitious upcoming releases in the action-adventure genre.
Stellar Blade Blood Rain’s Departure From the First Game Is Causing Controversy After Its Initial Trailer Release
Stellar Blade Blood Rain is the second game in the series, following up on the debut title released in 2019 as a PlayStation 5 exclusive. The original game followed a cyborg warrior named EVE, who fought to reclaim a dystopian Earth from a race of monstrous aliens known as the Naytiba.
The gameplay is fast-paced character-oriented combat with a high difficulty spike, known for being something like a blend of Devil May Cry, Dark Souls and Nier: Automata. In a recent interview about the new title, Stellar Blade director Kim Hyun-tae revealed the interesting sense of progression players will get from the weapons in this new entry:
To highlight the difference by having the smaller-framed Evie perform powerful melee attacks, we’ve chosen to focus on close-quarters combat this time. Although it doesn’t appear in this trailer, there will be scenes where she uses a sword. As the story progresses, she’ll naturally be able to use more weapons and skills, but rather than just adding weapons indiscriminately, we plan to give each weapon a reason for existing as part of the story, making combat more engaging.
Aside from upgraded graphics and deeper combat, Blood Rain’s most immediate departure from the first game comes by way of its new heroine, Evie. While Hyun-tae has confirmed there is some “secret” connection between Evie and EVE, the visual differences between the two characters have been the subject of heavy debate online.
There was immediate backlash following her reveal from gamers who felt Evie’s less curvaceous body type when compared to the original Stellar Blade’s Eve was a result of “censorship” or “woke” politics.
Alternatively, others have actually claimed Evie is too sexualized, especially because her petite frame and youthful face feels “child-like.” However, it’s worth noting that, aside from her design actually getting a bit closer to the series’ Battle Angel Alita inspiration, even Eve’s original design was criticized for looking too “child-like” when the first Stellar Blade first came out, despite Eve having been based on 34-year-old Korean model Shin Jae-eun.
Stellar Blade Blood Rain Wears Its Cyberpunk Influences on Its Sleeve
Despite the mixed reactions online, the design of Stellar Blade Blood Rain’s Evie clearly follows in the footsteps of several Japanese cyberpunk heroines before her. Sporting a short pixie haircut and clad in a skintight jumpsuit, Evie has already drawn plenty of comparisons to Neon Genesis Evangelion’s Rei, and Ghost in the Shell’s Major Kusanagi.
But of course, the most obvious inspiration for Evie’s new look is definitely Battle Angel Alita’s titular character, who is herself known for her short hairstyle, petite body type and metallic white armor.
In an interview released by PlayStation prior to the original game’s release, Hyun-tae explicitly stated that Battle Angel Alita was “one of the most inspirational” stories for guiding the game’s “theme and design.” The latest game seems to be leaning into that influence even further.
While Stellar Blade was originally based on Battle Angel Alita, and the sequel leans into that inspiration as well, the new game also wears its obvious Ghost in the Shell inspiration on its sleeve. The way Evie dives through the cyberpunk city at the start of the trailer is a very clear callback to Major Kusanagi’s own iconic scene at the start of Ghost in the Shell.
In fact, during an interview with Need4Games, the game’s composer, Hyunmin Cho, cited Yoko Kanno’s Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex soundtrack as a major influence on the music in the game. With Ghost in the Shell getting a beautiful new reboot from Dandadan studio Science SARU in July, there has truly never been a better time for this Stellar Blade sequel to arrive.
Stellar Blade Blood Rain is currently scheduled for a 2027 release window. While the game has not yet been announced for any specific platforms, the original was a PlayStation exclusive, so fans should expect it to come to Sony’s flagship console at the very least.
- Released
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April 26, 2024
- ESRB
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M for Mature
- Developer(s)
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Shift Up
- Publisher(s)
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Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Engine
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Unreal Engine 4