Stellar Blade Complete Edition: The Review for Switch 2

Stellar Blade Complete Edition: The Plot

After garnering significant acclaim in 2024 on PlayStation 5 and in 2025 on PC, Stellar Blade arrives on Nintendo Switch 2, and it does so with an edition that includes all DLC released over these two years: and here is our review of Stellar Blade Complete Edition for Nintendo's hybrid console! The South Korean team Shift Up decided to dedicate themselves to what, from the outset, seemed like one of the most complicated conversions in recent times, given the limitations of the available hardware. Indeed, we are talking about a product that made its graphical quality one of its calling cards, and managing to reproduce it on Switch 2 was certainly not a foregone mission. Stellar Blade is an action-adventure with clear inspiration from the soulslike world, set in a dystopian future where planet Earth is now devastated and dominated by the terrible Naytiba. Of the human race, only a few survivors remain, and most of the survivors have fled to a space colony.

From this very colony, an aerial squadron is launched with the mission to cleanse the planet of the Naytiba and allow humanity to reclaim its home. EVE, our protagonist, is part of this military force, but from the very first moments of the game, she will discover that the enemy's power is enormous, and in no time, what was supposed to be a large-scale operation becomes a desperate mission, in which EVE fights alone, relying only on the support of the few human survivors left on the planet. The recipe that made Stellar Blade's fortune is clear: EVE is a beautiful protagonist, with breathtaking curves, created by the Shift Up team with the clear intent of presenting gamers with a character who is as strong as she is hypersexualized, placed in a post-apocalyptic sci-fi context. EVE's adventure will not be a simple battle to achieve final victory, but a journey in which we will discover secrets, confront philosophical themes about existence, and understand the reality of facts, going beyond the classic facade of "evil invading monsters."

Stellar Blade Complete Edition: Soulslike Gameplay

The gameplay owes a lot to the soulslike tradition, but it doesn't fully embrace it, mixing it with more action-oriented mechanics. EVE has an extremely elegant combat style, made up of attacks, dodges, and parries. Timing is essential, and parrying makes the difference between victory and defeat. Successfully landing perfect attacks, parries, and dodges means accumulating energy to use Beta and Burst abilities, activated via button combinations with the shoulder buttons, which will allow us to deal a lot of damage to our enemies. There are classic skill trees to unlock, and with a bit of experience, you can create your own build, although after a while, it becomes clear that some skills are much more useful than others. Stealth attacks, ranged attacks, and the ability to exploit environmental elements are also present, all to provide good variety to the combat system. Exploration offers fairly limited freedom, but the most curious players can find collectibles and secrets. Camps serve as soulslike bonfires, allowing us to perform various actions and rest, at the cost of resurrecting already defeated enemies.

Regarding difficulty, even at a medium level, we are facing a challenging title, and the Naytiba only need a few hits to make us read the words "Game Over." There is also a "Story" mode that lowers the dangers and should allow players to follow the plot with less effort, but even here you will need to maintain a minimum of attention to avoid succumbing to opponents.

Stellar Blade Complete Edition contains all additional content released since launch, starting with many costumes for EVE, an element that enhances the protagonist's physicality and adds a glamorous touch to the game. The latest additions dedicated to Bayonetta or those in collaboration with NieR: Automata are also present, along with gadgets and clothes for Adam and Lily, two non-playable characters who will help us in some phases of our adventure. A new boss, a mode to fight defeated bosses, and New Game Plus are also included. All things considered, we are talking about fairly limited content, given the absence of a true expansion.

Stellar Blade Complete Edition: Graphics and Technical Aspects

As we have already mentioned, Stellar Blade has never made a secret of focusing heavily on its visual impact, both stylistic and technical, and, in addition to the striking EVE, the Korean title is synonymous with high quality in both artistic direction and technical execution, with excellent animations and enormous attention to the realization of every element. Needless to say, managing to bring all of this to the Nintendo Switch 2 hardware was a significant challenge that Shift Up won, albeit with some difficulties. Stellar Blade Complete Edition clearly shows several visual compromises, including artifacts, a noticeable drop in resolution, and a loss of sharpness that becomes very evident in EVE's long hair and particle effects. To improve the overall rendering, NVIDIA's DLSS was used for image upscaling, but the comparison with previous editions is (obviously) lost from the start.

Then, a discussion related to the frame rate is necessary, available at both 60 FPS and 30. The first solution is made possible by the use of AMD FSR 3.1 Frame Generation, which generates intermediate frames between those rendered by the game, bringing the displayed frame rate to 60 FPS starting from a base of 30 FPS. The result guarantees good visual fluidity, but the command response suffers, losing reactivity. All of this inevitably impacts command response, at the expense of precision. In a title like Stellar Blade, where gameplay relies on perfect parries and dodges, the result is disappointing, so much so that I abandoned the generative option after a short time to play at 30 FPS, with lower fluidity but more immediate and satisfying gameplay. All graphical flaws are accentuated when playing on TV, while in portable mode, the size of the Japanese console's screen manages to mask some shortcomings. Special mention for the sound, where good effects blend with very varied music, including rock, techno, and more melancholic pieces. A highlight is the Italian localization, which also includes excellent voice acting in our language, an increasingly rare element in modern gaming.

Stellar Blade Complete Edition is a good port, and the developers certainly had to sweat a lot to bring their creation to Switch 2, but this does not negate that the graphics department does not allow for full enjoyment of a title that has always made visual impact one of its strong suits. If you really don't have other platforms and want to experience EVE's adventures, you might decide to purchase Stellar Blade Complete Edition, but my advice is to play it with a Pro Controller, the best solution for managing its gameplay.