The accidental release of a demo for Stellar Blade has got the internet chatting about the hack and slash action game. Not about its gameplay and combat, though, but rather protagonist Eve’s… assets and outfits.
In case you’ve not heard of it before, Stellar Blade will be joining Helldivers 2 and Rise of the Ronin as one of 2024’s PlayStation 5 exclusive titles. Over the weekend, a demo dropped on the PlayStation Store earlier than it was supposed to and was subsequently removed. It was up long enough for plenty of people to play through it, and become obsessed with Eve’s butt to the point where it’s practically dominating the conversation surrounding the game.
One of the top clips on X (formerly Twitter) at the moment is from Pure_PS, and is simply of Eve climbing a ladder, highlighting the game’s jiggle physics with every step she takes. The demo also featured a selection of alternate costumes, with the most commonly shared one being a skin tight, flesh colored outfit that almost makes Eve look naked, as highlighted by THELEGACYOFSEGA.
All the butt talk has unsurprisingly invited comparisons with Nier: Automata and its protagonist 2B, such as this one by TeffyTheGamer. The similarities make sense when you realize Stellar Blade takes deliberate inspiration from Nier: Automata, which one of the developers, Kim Hyung-tae, explained in a February interview with IGN.
While development studio Shift Up is likely pleased with the publicity, some prospective players who weren’t able to try the demo are frustrated that all anyone seems to talk about is the sex appeal rather than how Stellar Blade actually plays. “My only concern over Stellar Blade is that the gameplay might be shallow and the super sexy girls are just to cover that up,” said Mister Eerie. Users such as redheadreplica think the game is allowed to be “as horny as it wants,” but they’d rather learn more about the gameplay and story.
If you’re curious to know how Stellar Blade plays, there are plenty of full playthroughs of the demo on YouTube and, despite all the ass talk, some have shared their thoughts on the combat on social media. Reddit user EgyptianAfroMagician, for example, has run through their personal pros and cons, in particular complimenting its decent challenge and dedicated training mode, but criticizing the camera and the graphics mode, which “stuttered like crazy” compared to the performance mode.
Considering a demo for Stellar Blade exists to begin with, Sony is bound to make it available again in the near future, so those who missed it the first time can try it out ahead of the full release on April 26.
