Aside from the controversy surrounding communications surrounding Stellar Blade, the PS5 exclusivity was a huge hit with gamers.
We can definitely see this by browsing user reviews on various aggregation sites like Metacritic. In fact, Stellar Blade has the best average player ratings of any game released so far in 2024. This means EVE can hold its own against other big titles that are also very popular.
Stellar Blade hits the stars
The PS5 exclusive Stellar Blade seems to have pleasantly surprised everyone. If we knew everything about EVE, its main protagonist, the rest of the game would have remained a mystery for a long time. They seem to have really enjoyed what players have seen since April 26th. In particular, on Metacritic we can see that the title Shift Up has an average user rating of 9.2/10 across almost 2000 reviews. Without any pressure, the PS5 exclusivity is currently considered the best-rated game of the year by players.
This means Stellar Blade beats big names from 2024 like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Helldivers 2 and Persona 3 Reload. These have an average score on Metacritic of 9.0 for around 3400 user reviews, 8.5 for 1600 reviews and 8.2 for 600 reviews. We find similar results on other websites like Opencritic.
EVE stands up
While Stellar Blade probably owes some of this praise from players to EVE’s (too much?) plasticity, we can bet that’s not the only valid argument. The Angel also suffered from somewhat extreme controversy surrounding accusations of censorship. However, Shift Up’s title otherwise hid its game quite well. His chemistry with NieR: Automata must have particularly appealed to fans of Yoko Taro in distress. Players also clearly enjoyed its controlled gameplay, great soundtrack, and cyberpunk/post-apo atmosphere.
Whether or not this gives Shift Up ideas for developing a sequel remains a mystery. The Korean studio definitely has another game in the works. However, this should not only apply to the PS5, but should have many similarities with the setting of the EVE adventures. Can this warm welcome from players influence their future project? Only the Matri Ark can say that at the moment.
