The boss of Stellar Blade: Blood Rain developer Shift Up has discussed the design of new main character Evie, highlighting the differences between her and the protagonist of the first game, Eve.
Shift Up announced Stellar Blade: Blood Rain at Summer Game Fest last week with an eye-catching trailer that revealed Evie, a brand new main character who prefers to punch her way through enemies than take the slice and dice approach favored by her predecessor.
The biggest talking point coming out of the trailer reveal was the design of Evie herself, with some expressing concern about her seemingly child-like face in the context of her more adult-sounding voice acting and body design.
In an interview with IGN following the Summer Game Fest reveal, Shift Up CEO Hyung-tae Kim confirmed that Evie being Eve’s junior was a conscious design decision.
“Yes. She is younger. She’s smaller in size. She’s shorter than Eve,” he said, “but she has a stronger personality and engages in much tougher battles. And she’s actually part of a special squad that chases after a group of terrorists who cause terror attacks here and there in the city.”
Eve in Stellar Blade is a highly sexualized character, so we asked Hyung-tae Kim if he was worried that by using a young-looking character for Blood Rain, Shift Up was running the risk that some people would view Evie in a way the developer doesn’t want.
“If you actually play the game, you will not think that,” he replied. “I definitely like how Eve looked in the previous Stellar Blade. But this time, Evie, not just her physical looks, but her personality, the way she talks, the way she engages in battles, all that will combine together, and you’ll see that she’s a very lovable character.”
The first Stellar Blade is known for its revealing, unlockable outfits, and from the sounds of things there are no plans to tone things down for the sequel. “It will be even more appealing,” Hyung-tae Kim said of Evie’s outfits. “That’s all we can say.”
Elsewhere in our interview, we asked Hyung-tae Kim why Shift Up decided to go with a new protagonist instead of sticking with Eve in the first place, given her popularity with players. He replied to tease a plot point that will eventually help to explain the decision. “We cannot tell you everything right now because this would be a spoiler,” Hyung-tae Kim said, “but once you have played the sequel, you will see that Eve’s backstory will be more memorable. It will be more attractive in a way.”
So, is Eve’s story over, or will fans get more Stellar Blade story involving Eve?
“Well, first of all, the sequel story, it stands alone so you don’t have to know the previous story to properly enjoy this,” replied Hyung-tae Kim. “But if you did play the first one, you will see a lot of points here and there, very memorable and impressive moments where it’s like, ‘Oh, so that’s what happened. That’s what it turned out to be.’”
Shift Up has said Blood Rain is the “next chapter” in the Stellar Blade franchise. It’s set in the same universe as Stellar Blade, and continues the story beyond the events of the first game. It’s still early in development, but, Shift Up said, the development team “has made incredible progress.”
As IGN has reported, Shift Up has yet to decide on Stellar Blade: Blood Rain launch platform plans, but given it’s self-publishing the sequel, the door is open to a day one release across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
