What was the hype about this game? Ah, right... Boobs and ass. I get it, it started promotion amidst news about upcoming or even released games with very... "Unique" character models, but so a more "classic" female model could be a breath of fresh air, but is that enough? Well, I tried the demo and it's kind of "meh".
Voice acting (English one, at least) is quite poor, around the same quality as English dubs for some anime. World introduction is not interesting (although, perhaps some cinematics are missing in the demo). Combat is... Fine, I guess. It has potential, does have a bunch of combos unlocked from the start, those combos feel fluid, but it did not feel as impactful to me as combat in Devil May Cry games (even older ones), and even with the combos it felt more clicking-fest with periodic blocks (or dodges). I remember DMC games being more engaging.
Animation outside of the combat also seems stiff, which feels very weird. Especially the jumping. That's like taking most physically-incapable girl, who never did any physical activities in her life and asking her to jump. You know like those parody-like scenes of girls running with very stiff form? Or maybe it's just me, don't know. But then they also pair this with traversal using poles, which feels very slow, too... But, yes, at least the cheeks and boobs flutter in the air, I guess.
But on the other hand, maybe I am just biased, because the game tries to be NieR: Automata, and I tried that one multiple times and just could not get into its core gameplay either. This pseudo-open world with endless resources collection for the sake of resources collection while attempting to tell a serious story. NieR, at least did have signs of a proper narrative design, even though it still was not my style. But the voice-over was better and character and world building were better, too.
To be honest, I would even prefer Bayonetta. I did not get into it back when I tried the demo on Xbox (360?), but it had... Style. Yes, the lead was also sexualized, obviously, but it felt more... I don't know... Natural? Like, the character seemed to be doing that intentionally, because she was confident in herself and her body, and it worked into this "I am so good, that I can allow myself to look sexy, while beating you up" kind of attitude. In Stella Blade, there is really no reason for that besides the hype. And Bayonetta (the game) also was not trying to take (or present) itself as "serious", giving us intentionally over-the-top moments, which is why I do believe it deserved the praise even I did not got into it myself.
So, I dunno. Maybe if you like this style of combat or don't know where else to find women in tight clothing... Maybe then this game is for you. But even if that's the case, I am not sure it would be worth the full price. Or maybe you like the resting-bitch-face that Tachy has.
