Shift Up Announced Stellar Blade: Blood Rain—the Sequel to the Original Game With a Brand-New Protagonist

Another major announcement at the recent Summer Game Fest show was the sequel to Stellar Blade from Shift Up, which received the subtitle Blood Rain. The developers presented the debut trailer, smoothly transitioning into gameplay, and several radical changes immediately caught the eye.

It has been confirmed that the events of Stellar Blade: Blood Rain will take place after the first part, but we will get a new main heroine - Evie, who will replace Eve. Although the project is still in its early stages of development, the graphics, physics, and level of detail look, without exaggeration, excellent. By the way, the cyberpunk setting also looks impressive. You can check out the first trailer for Stellar Blade: Blood Rain below:

Plot details of Stellar Blade: Blood Rain have not been announced yet, but shortly after the conclusion of the Summer Game Fest, Famitsu interviewed Shift Up's CEO, Kim Hyung-tae, who slightly lifted the veil of mystery around the game. In particular, he confirmed that the events of the sequel take place many years after the original, and the new heroine, Evie, has a certain connection to the heroine of the first part, Eve, but the studio is not ready to reveal this. It was also noted by users that the entire gameplay of Stellar Blade: Blood Rain was recorded on PC, which indicates that the game, unlike the original, will not be a PlayStation 5 exclusive at launch.

But it was not without scandals and heated discussions regarding various aspects of Stellar Blade: Blood Rain. In particular, Chinese players noticed that Shift Up might have used generative AI to create background elements of the game’s world. However, as was noted, on the posters where Chinese characters were supposedly indicated, there was actually just a random set of symbols with no logic or meaning. This was also stated by one of the representatives of GamesIndustry.Biz, Daniel Camilo:

AI-generated elements are indeed present in the "Stellar Blade Blood Rain" trailer.

Some of the "Chinese writing" is very visibly AI slop.

I didn't want to point it out earlier because I presume these are placeholders to be replaced throughout development (and mostly because I'm not comfortable enough with Chinese writing to authoritatively point the finger).

Still, not a good look to have these in your reveal trailer. It's... sloppy.

There is another detail that has perhaps become the most discussed point not only in the Stellar Blade: Blood Rain trailer, but in the entire Summer Game Fest presentation, namely - the appearance of the main heroine, Evie. In particular, some users concluded that, despite her noticeably good figure, t he main heroine might have a somewhat imperfectly mature appearance, and her face seems far too childish.

You can also check out everything that was revealed and announced at Summer Game Fest.

Are you excited about the announcement of Stellar Blade: Blood Rain? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The game doesn’t have a release date yet and is likely to be in development for PC and PlayStation 5.