Ever since I rolled credits on Stellar Blade, I have been looking for a reason to come back to it. I spent dozens of hours slaying Naytiba, killing bosses, getting my ass kicked by said bosses, collecting outfits, etc. I couldn’t get enough of Stellar Blade!
I knew that Stellar Blade was Shift Up’s first major console release, and the fact that the game was as good as it was really was a testament to the talent at the studio! But what did they do before Stellar Blade? Well, they have a massively popular mobile game called Goddess of Victory: Nikke, a third-person shooter RPG for Android and iOS.
Scarlet, a stylish and deadly warrior from Goddess of Victory: Nikke, enters the world of Stellar Blade. Ultimately, your goal is to defeat her in battle. If you are able to do so, you’ll unlock a brand new costume, hairstyle, and music track as rewards. What’s fun is that you can also play various minigames to unlock currency to purchase additional outfits and hairstyles from a shop run by Scarlet’s robot dog, Volt. These minigames are pulled straight from Goddess of Victory: Nikke; they’re third-person shooting sections where you kill Naytibas by firing projectiles at them. You bounce side to side to various barriers for cover. As you kill more enemies, you unlock stronger projectiles and are able to wipe a ton of bad guys out at once. I have not played the mobile game myself, but I have watched a lot of videos on it, and the gameplay seems to be extremely faithful to the source material. I guess that makes sense, as Shift Up made both games!
The Scarlet fight was a serious challenge, and that’s coming from somebody who has already beaten each boss a few times over! As cool as the Scarlet boss fight is, I really enjoyed clearing the minigames because it meant I would be able to collect more outfits! Stellar Blade already has a ton of great outfits to wear, so any time I can unlock any additional ones, I’m thrilled!
Again, I’ve never played Goddess of Victory: Nikke, but I think this collaboration is a very smart way to get eyes from both fan bases onto the opposing game. My only major issue is that this DLC is over pretty quickly, and other than the boss fight, I didn’t find it particularly challenging. However, any excuse to jump back into Stellar Blade, even for a little bit, is a great thing!
