Stellar Blade is an action game that very few people talk about because of the action. The game put itself on the map due to its sexualised protagonist, Eve. In her skin-tight battlesuit, with a body that would benefit a model more than it would an android designed to kill all the monsters taking over the Earth, she quickly became the new standard for attractive female protagonists for a certain angry, reactive portion of the internet.
For the sequel, we've got a new Eve, one that still has a skin-tight suit, but is a bit different in terms of design. "We intentionally set EVE to be shorter and look a bit younger, but we worked to ensure she fights in a very tough manner and exudes a cool, stylish character presence," said Kim Hyung-tae, CEO at Stellar Blade developer Shift-Up, in an interview with InvenGlobal.
The smaller stature and younger appearance may raise a few eyebrows, considering how the internet treated Stellar Blade's first protagonist, but for the series' second outing, the team was focused on personality first. "When making the first game, I struggled with the character EVE—specifically, whether to leave the character as a blank slate for player empathy or to fill her with personality. Seeing the reactions of players who finished the first game, I realized that players can fully immerse themselves even in a character with a strong, distinct personality. So, this time, we are designing EVE to have an even more defined character," Hyung-tae explained.
"For combat, I thought it would be very appealing to have a small-statured character engage in intense CQC. I felt that using the same weapons from the previous game would make it difficult to show something entirely new, so we chose a new approach to CQC. However, various weapons, including the reverse-blade sword, will be expanded for logical reasons within the context, and the range of player options will be much wider."
The first game focused on melee, but from the trailer for the second, it seems we'll be getting even closer, using our fists and powerful gauntlets to punch enemies into a red mist. The new protagonist is something fans will be keeping an eye on, but hopefully the purposefully younger look doesn't mean we'll see the same kind of outfits as in the first game.