Summary
Stellar Bladeis already one of 2024’s most impressive games visually, taking full advantage of the PS5’s hardware to enhance the gorgeous world design and character details. WhileStellar Bladeboasts solid combat and exploration gameplay, its visuals are what really set it apart from other games in its genre. However, these visuals have a downside in one major area, as the hair physics on EVE can often be distracting in the heat of battle, which leads the game to end up sacrificing fluid combat in favor of visual style.
As anaction RPG with Soulslike elementsto its gameplay,Stellar Bladeplaces heavy emphasis on its solid combat mechanics to make battles feel impactful and challenging. In most regards, the game does a great job of prioritizing the combat experience first and leaving the visuals as set dressing to enhanceStellar Blade’s gameplay. However, EVE’s hair physics, while impressive, can end up being more of a distraction than a unique detail and calls into question the reasoning behind this part of her character design.
Stellar Blade’s Impressive Visuals Can Also be Detrimental to its Gameplay
A lot of the discussion surroundingStellar Bladehas centered on protagonist EVE and her design, with some fans going as far as tocreate a petition to undoStellar Blade’s alleged censorshipof her model with its day-one patch. However, not enough discussion has been had about EVE’s hair and its physics, which shows that a clear level of detail was put into crafting its realistic movement. Hair is often one of the most difficult parts of a character’s model for designers to nail, and the natural look and movement of EVE’s hair inStellar Bladeis one of the best examples of successful hair physics in recent games.
The Cons of EVE’s Realistic Hair Physics
However, there is a reason whyprotagonists from other Soulslike gamesdon’t have such long, flowing hair with an intricate physics system. It can be difficult to focus on the battle at hand and manage the precise timing needed to pull off a parry inStellar Bladewhen the movement of EVE’s hair is distracting the player from the enemy’s movements. As a result, it feels like EVE’s hair is one detail that could have been toned down for the sake of improving the overall combat ofStellar Blade.
For players who are struggling to manage EVE’s hair, there is an option hidden in the game’s setting to reduce the length of her ponytail that can help make her hair movement a bit less distracting.
Although EVE’s default hairstyle is the most distracting, players do have the option to change her hair once they reach a certain point in the game. Once players unlock access to Gwen’s Salon in Xion, they canchange EVE’s hairstyleto better suit their preference, though doing so still retains her default ponytail. As such, this customization doesn’t go far enough to reduce her hair’s long, intrusive nature and mostly involves changing EVE’s bangs and hair color.
While this hair customization option is nice, the question of why the developers decided to make EVE’s hair so long and detailed in the first place still remains. Her hair is a great way to show offStellar Blade’s physics engine, which would normally complement an action-packed game like this. However, it was an odd choice to make a part of the protagonist that the player always sees move during combat in ways that disrupt the player’s attention, and EVE could ultimately have still been a successfully designed character by following the example of protagonists in games likeBayonetta 2andNier: Automata.
