Knowing it was inspired by Nier Automata, I saw the twist coming that the original humans were really extinct, and the creatures you fight are actually mutated humans - thats also like Neir Replicant.
@@mrshark8826 Dark They Were, and Golden-eyed plays with the idea of humanity changing into something inhuman that wouldn't be recognized by native terran humans. Ray Bradbury wrote it in 1949
I don't think the people that thought Stellar Blade's story was bland or underwhelming delved deep enough into the lore collection to piece things together. This video would really help them appreciate the game's narrative more.
Not bland or underwhelming, but kind of degenerate. The view that humanity can be rewritten through guided evolution, whether via technology (IVF, gene editing, etc.) or eugenics, is a deeply morally flawed exercise in hubris that has only brought misery. Also, while the narrator insists that Eve has no soul, it is clear that she actually does, as a rational will and emotions are displayed in her character. While this makes her a better character, it doesn’t make sense, as a soul is not something you can mechanically create. The false premise behind the government of Brave New World is more of a threat to humanity than that of 1984. We are much closer to heading down the path of the former rather than the latter.
@@bluesdealer I don't think the rapid evolution the surviving humans went through was something they would have done if they weren't facing certain extinction against the AI's androids. However, reading some of the lore on one of the newspaper dispensers in the Wasteland that quoted Raphael Marks referring to "human instrumentality" and ranking humans based on that was very unsettling and reminiscent of some of our current thinktanks at the WEC. I was actually a big fan of Raphael until reading that one. I guess he was getting a bit full of himself like our world power brokers in thinking they can guide human behavior and value.
The other issue is that the lore is just hidden in the character bios. When I fought Adam he explained a lot but there’s something he never said (at least in the English version), Adam IS Raphael Marks. The character bio says it but Adam doesn’t. That single twist really changed the story a lot for me.
@@jimmyelkordy3752 The connection is seeing that the Elder Naytiba is a human, so that means he's from the time when humans first became Naytiba and then the Elder tells us he's the source of everything up till now and even before as another connection. Combining all that, you can make the leap that he's responsible for the Naytiba and obviously that would mean he's Marks who we're also told created Mother Sphere. But yea, while you're viewing the cutscene at the end, you're probably not thinking it all through as you had to sift through lore on gears, exospines, nano elements, publications, etc. to really understand the history of this world.
@@jimmyelkordy3752 When playing the game and coming back from Abyss Levoire, I assumed Orcal was Marks as he was old and said when we got back from the Orbit Elevator that he would tell us the rest of the history or that we could just ask the Elder. I thought he was going to reveal himself, but the Devs clearly telegraphed that to throw people off.
I hope so but I think devs mentioned this was like a one of and instead of multiple games they were going to do like a dlc maybe or something idk for sure just what I've heard through the grape vine might be misinfo though
In a way I hope it doesn't. Maybe a good sequel with a better crafter storyline and character development would be awesome. But if it turns into a franchise it's going to get inevitably ruined and milked just like every other franchise. It's best to leave something like this short, sweet, and memorable
@@keeganduncan5289 The secret ending got the most developer love in the game, so I wouldn't be surprised if they declared that ending the canon ending. It's also a better setup for sequels, since it turns into a three-way fight: EVE NG+ and her progeny (I won't say "children" since they might be made in a factory) vs. Mother Sphere and the surviving non-airborne squad Colony vs. wild Naytiba that EVE NG+ can't control.
This story has a lot of potential. I know that the directors main focus was the gameplay and action, but if he seriously taps into the story potential, we’re looking at a household name for the history books
I got the impression from the various endings that Mother Sphere's objective was not to save Earth but to conquer it. It's the only thing that makes sense as to why the next Airbourne squad attack EVE after merging with Adam (as they still see EVE as a Natyba). And why Earth was being encased in the ending where EVE doesn't merge (unless MS was preparing Earth for an alien invasion). Either way I think Mother Sphere was the actual villain in this story.
MS is definitely the villian especially if we get a sequel because MS wants the extermination of all Naytiba, which are actually the original humans. Thats why MS is says Eves decision is slightly disappointing in the 2 endings were EVE merges with Adam because technically Eve didn’t kill the Elder Naytiba but she did technically get rid of it by fusing with it.
They attack to test Eve so MS can discover if this fusion of Naytiba and Andro-Eidos is the true future manifestation of the human race. If Eve can survive then it shows this is the best evolved form of humans. I agree MS is definitely the villain.
The lore just spawned for me a definitive new type of scifi genre. I call it the artificial riddle. Considering the lore is of humans ending their issues with body part replacements, and the fact mother sphere isn't malfunctioning, it could entirely be interpreted that the ai was met with a riddle and answered it where humans couldn't because it can make such a change. It's the riddle that if you replace a part of a boat with another part, at what point does, after any number of changes, does it become a new boat? If mother sphere answered that humans with artificial limbs to organs are still human, and is supposed to ensure their survival, why wouldn't you replace humans with literally what is still "human." I think i want a bunch of scifi that tries to answer riddles humans try not to. We can save hollywood. Spam riddles with cool endgame stories!
They can go so many ways with this story/game. They could go back in time way before the Naytiba takeover and let us explore the very developed and technological world the humans built, with the androids or humanoid things as enemies. Or, they can do a continuation of this story! The endless possibilities with this game! I can’t wait 😊
I finished the game, and had most all of it figured out. The thing i missed though, and appreciate you pointing out, is/was, that Adam was actually Rapheal Marks. I had missed that in my game play.
Pretty sure it was never mentioned in the gameplay tbh, so no need to feel bad. The only reason I figured it out is his Naytiba entry says it if you get the ending where you fight him.
This was amazing. Exactly what I was looking for! Using data entries as references and everything. Had Story Recapped vibes and made the story a much more clear. One of the biggest things for me was Adam being Raphael Marks. 4 playthroughs, reading all the data, and I couldn’t figure that out.
Glad you enjoyed! Yeah, I wish it was a little clearer and that they actually revealed in dialogue that he was Marks during their final cutscene in the Nest
It is revealed in Adam’s character info after the reveal of him being the elder naytiba. So if you die during the final boss battle you can see it when reviving or during NG+
@@M00SHTY im talking about purity of form, where it favors ability instead of purity of essence where it favors evolutionary traits. so in starcraft 2 it is protoss with the purity of form
You’re right, but the problem is a machine cannot embody the form of a human soul, which is what this game attempts. StarCraft’s Protoss were at least alive with souls. I think the choice to make Andro-Eidos purely mechanical (rather than cyborgs) was a mistake.
@@bluesdealer but doesn't the game also tried to answer the question whether Eve has a soul? Throughout her journey, she developed understanding of what it means to be a human, and that's what Adam saw in her that made her a worthy candidate
@@InnerFire6213 that’s the problem with a lot of android fiction, though. It assumes a soul can be mechanically constructed, but this is a false premise
@@KaoticIndustrial maybe, there are some strange interactions. But I also think that they could've done much better in regards to Eve, especially her relationship with Tachy. Like show us a bit if what her life was like in the colony, don't kill Tachy right away, let us a bond with a bit before she dies so we feel something when she's back. Show us what Eve thinks about mother sphere, show us her devotion and how dhe slowly starts doubting her. Adam needed to not look bored all the time, he needed to do some kind of bonding with Eve. There's just so many missed opportunities, it's insane.
@allandm in the Korean version it seems to feel better. And look it's their 1st game so to me I'm willing to give them benefit of the doubt. If they can build on the story on the next one I will be happy
A little bit of context. Life in South Korea isn’t as glamorous as their media exports. Koreans fight against impossible odds and overwhelming chaebols/consortiums on a daily basis. Just like most Korean games, Stellar Blade is a reflection on the South Korean society. It’s literally in the face, Samsung means 3 stars, and there’s a Tetrastar Electronic in game.
I really was not expecting such an interesting world and deep lore with this game. I imediatly wanted to know more when i finished playing. thanks for this video
You have a much more optimistic read of Mother Sphere in the epilogue than I do, particularly in the EVE joins Adam ending. I don't read Mother Sphere as testing EVE one last time. More like, the Eve Protocol is a failure, what am I going to do with all these airborne squad members? They're a liability to Mother's rule and might also uncover the truth behind Mother's lies -- a calculated risk when Andro-Eidos dominance was at stake, but now that that is resolved, too big a risk to continue -- so why not have EVE NG+ tie up this loose end? It's win-win for Mother Sphere. In the unlikely event that EVE NG+ is defeated, great! Victory snatched from the jaws of defeat. Otherwise, EVE NG+ wipes out the remaining super weapons and buries the truth under yet more bodies.
The story was GOOD, the issue was the characters are really flat for most of the game and their relationship doesn't develop deeply or organically. A huge mixed opportunity, they had everything they needed to make this as impactful as a naughty dog game
Yeah I feel like more quests and cutscenes with actual Lily and Adam would've strengthened the bond and emotional aspect. Couple that with way better voice acting, gg
I think it was intentional to some extent. These are artificial beings, with implanted/programmed memories and ideas, and limited in emotion. Of course they are going to seem flat and be incapable of developing relationships at the level of real humans. Not saying translation and/or voice acting couldn't have been improved, but people are criticizing the performances a little unfairly, and missing the point slightly imo
@@ChuckBrailsfordthank you for saying that I feel a lot of people miss this very point. It makes sense for Eve to be a little naïve because she doesn’t know she never been to earth. The characters like Eve and Lily, only know what they’ve been told from the colony.
@@ChuckBrailsford it would be totally fine for them to be flat at the start, but not for 80% of the game. At the end of the day the game is played by humans and characters need to be engaging for the player. I'm all for the concept of them starting robotic, and slowly developing and learning about what it means to be human. This development just isn't good sadly
@allandm wait you're expecting human development in a robot? You do realize how virtually impossible that is right? Especially considering there isn't a single actual human being in this entire story that's alive. Expecting human development and character depth from a being ru Ning strictly on code in face value with any amount of actual critical thinking skills.Is absurd and asinine. Whom were they supposed to learn all this human behavior from exactly? A book? A data log? Data from StarTewk TNG spent 9 years around actual human beings and never evolved past a flat personality. Even when he obtain human emotions he's still a machine and never was able to fully process them. Yet you want androids in a game with the time span of a week to a few months. To evolve to he multilayered emotional human beings? 😂
The way you tell a story is sometimes more important than the story itself. And this story is very good, but in the game it doesn't fully shine. Perhaps because of the urgency of paying more attention to the gameplay and having very little time for cinematics. There is a lot of lore in the notes you find, but we all know that we gamers don't invest time in reading any of that. That's why these videos are so well received. I liked it a lot. Thank you.
I feel like if they explaied the stuff in the logs with a cutscene people would of complained like they do with Metal Gear Solid at the end of the day you can't win but that's why we have vids like this which was well done
It wasn't a AAA game so they didn't have the money to be able to focus on every aspect perfectly. I think choosing to focus on gameplay, esthetics and a sort of Lara Croft(eye candy) type protagonist was definitely the right choice because those were pretty much perfect. Next game they should have much more money and be able to put more focus in telling the story better(hopefully).
YES! I've been waiting for u to cover this game too. SB is awesome and full of great lore bits throughout it's campaign. Also congrats on reaching 80k subs! Nearly at 100 now. Really enjoy listening to your lore vids.
I know it's much to take, I don't expect you to read all that. But I enjoyed your video so much, so that I wanted to share my thoughts and ask you an improvement question for me. This video is so underappreciated. It deserves much more attention, because your breakdown of the story and it interpretation for what might await us in the sequel is just beyond compassion. I have just one last question left to you and I would be very curious to know your opinion. What do you personally think will the devs decide as the true canonical ending and hopefully a seed for the continuation of the franchise. I after watching your video I think it's the ending where Lily survives and Eve merges with Adam to form the true descendents and encapsulation of the human species. I think this is the decision Eve would have taken when there was only one ending. But I am not sure how they could continue the story, because Mother Sphere seems to be satisfied as well, and kinda expected Eve as the human species she wants to protect after she proves her with the final test against her colleagues which she defeated. This was at the and the goal of Project Eve right, to make the ultimate human which Eve became. Or maybe it's not quite as simple as it looks like and Mother Sphere isn't done yet. The ending where she blindly follows the instructions of Mother Sphere and returns to the colony on the other hand shows potential of how they could build a second game where Eve actually defeats Mother Sphere and uncover more truths or something like that
Well done explaining this deep story! I really needed this. I had many questions, and now most of them have been answered. Keep up the hard work bro 💙👌🏻
After having already beating the game, it's amazing how much more I appreciate it after having watched this video. Thanks for making it, it explains everything so much more clearly.
Maybe I missed it but did you discuss why "our EVE" is called EVE from the start and all other squad members have different names or nicknames? I don't think that she becomes the chosen one throughout the story, rather she was chosen to be the EVE from the beginning (altho given the high mortality rate of the 7th squad's landing leaving just her alive is a bit contrived lol). Also there is a data point found in the Great Desert called "Notes on EVE Protocol 4". It states, "According to my intel, the seventh Angel, EVE, has been sent for the seventh EVE protocol. The time has come. Praise Mother Sphere! Praise EVE's ascension." I guess it's not super clear but I interpreted this as meaning "our EVE" is the true chosen one by design. Not to say that an 8th or 9th squad would not have been sent if our EVE of the seventh failed but it does explain why EVE is called EVE, why Tachy was so protective of her vs every other other soldier and also why she is dressed so differently than all the rest. There is a theory that every airborne squad had their own EVE and that Raven was the one from the 2nd but then why is she called Raven. And she calls herself Raven very early on in the first legacy the player comes across so at that point she would have been somewhat early in her adventure as our EVE is but the latter does not give herself a different name. I suppose it could be a difference in programming or something. Well whatever, I'm gonna stop arguing with myself but I am very curious why the EVE we play as is special and is special from the beginning. She is not just special because she survives the longest.
My interpretation is that there is an "EVE" within each generation of airborne, handcrafted and chosen by Mother Sphere to be the most likely to fulfill the EVE protocol. As to whether they're all named Eve I'm not sure, but an argument could be made that Raven renamed herself after becoming an Alpha Naytiba or at least after discovering the truth. I believe she states that the legacies were planted as breadcrumbs to lure/entice Eve so could have been recorded and planted with lies. Perhaps that's also why Marks made her an Alpha, an attempt at the fusion but realizing that her body frame wasn't perfect for transcendence?
Many gamers don't realize that Adam is Raphael Marks even after completing the game. I wish Eve and Adam's conversation had made this clear. "Adam... Or would you prefer I call you Elder? or Raphael Marks?"
For the EVE rejects Adam ending, I don't think the view from space is new construction. It shows the devastation of the Colony due to Mother cutting off large segments and dropping them on Earth. It's the wreck that remains of the Colony. I think the pullback shot is meant to show all of Mother Sphere's domain. She now rules all that the eye can see in that shot, even if it is a ruin orbiting a ruin. So like I said, not as optimistic a read as you have.
Definitely the best ending and feels the truest to Eve's character throughout the game. I didn't see her annihilating one race over the other, even if Adam ultimately also had a motive and did very questionable things.
thank you finally someone who recognizes the fact that there is deep interesting lore to this game, i hope more people come to realize how awesome this game is
I wonder if in the sequel, Eve finds a way to reverse the Naytiba mutations and return humans back to what they once were. Or, take the Naytiba human DNA and start a new human race from scratch.
This was a great video, made the story so much easier to understand. Just finished my first playthrough, and gotta admit, I felt lost throughout the whole journey in terms of plot. It was an interesting way in which they decided to tell the story, through random bits of information collected here and there. Like I had collected alot of the puzzle pieces, but being so concerned with dodging and parrying at the right time, checking every nook and cranny, and not making jumps that I totally made and falling to my death, I hadn't been able to put all the pieces together. It all makes so much more sense when laid out nice and chronologically!
If they make a sequel, I hope they find a way to bring Raven back. Have mother sphere collect her mangled remains to reverse engineer a newer BETTER Andro-Eidos/Naytiba being thay can fight on par with the new Eve/Adam being. Eve Protocol vs Raven Initiative! Set it up Shift Up!
I wonder about the core that was left in space and if it will come back to bite us in the ass. But yes, I think Raven's story can be expanded on if she can get past her jealousy of EVE.
There is no colony, there never was. Not in the way they remember it. It's not a place of peace or life as we know it. It is a cold utilitarian ring surrounding earth for the singular goal of keeping humanity safe. That is Mother spheres programming and that is her only focus. It is already clear, their happiness is not required. It was always strange how they always talk about the colony but are never nostalgic about it. Not even Lilly, who should be nostalgic and a little homesick.
I found your channel when looking for Lore videos on Lords of the Fallen, definitely was not anticipating typing Stellar Blade story explained and finding your video at the top, man so grateful you made a video for this game. I knew it would be the best story explained for one of my favorite games. Thank you and I am subscribing now!!!
One gripe about the game: the female designs. Even if we ignore the copy-paste doll body type, the outfits are designed vastly different to the male counterparts. ... Oh I don't mean the women's outfits should change. They're gorgeous and wonderful to see in motion. What I'm saying is we need more beautiful males in similar skintight clothes.
I just got the secret and good ending today. This game is so much better than I thought. I think the secret and good ending make sense for a sequel. Haven’t seen the one where lily dies but in both of those, one though seems more definitive than the other. The secret ending kind of puts a lid on the whole issue. The “good” ending leaves a lot more to be discovered. What was all those rings around earth? What’s mother’s sphere real plan for earth? I’m REALLY looking forward to part 2.
They should make a movie about it, the story is pretty good! Well I guess if you watch a longplay + all the cutscenes, then it's like watching a long movie. But I mean for people who are not interested in games.
This reminds me of Veda from Gundam 00. Although both are Artificial Super intelligence created to carry a single persons will. Veda was never programmed to override the Aeolia Schenberg plan but programmed to strictly follow the plans protocols. Mother sphere on the other hand was given authority to go above and beyond the creators protocols in order to achieve it's objective. This led to its own equations and conclusions. really love these stories.
I didn't delve too deep into the lore bits when I picked them but I found the way the story was presented in-game to do a great job of telling it without making you go "what was I doing and why?" The only thing that I didn't get to near the end was the truth of Adam and who he was. Though with the Adam and Eve naming thing I should have probably caught on sooner. But yeah I really enjoyed the story and the world it was presented in. Hopefully a sequel is in order.
The story is great, like Soulsborne games you have to piece together the lore you are gathering in your journey. Unlike Soulsborne games, at least Stellar Blade has enough cut scenes to hold your hand through the story elements if you’re not into lore reading but you’ll get a less rich version of the story.
Boy you did an amazing job explaining everything this games lore has to offer. Really appreciate the world they created much more now, besides the super tight and fun combat. This game should be up for goty in my opinion
This story has a good base and thankfully like others have said the side content fills it out even better. I just kinda wish that the twist was kinda different, you know? Like a 1/4th thru the game you can kinda see it coming, I just wish they subverted our expectations and went a different way, maybe in the sequel. Idk I just know that as a girl that even I think that Stellar Blade is GOTY
I had it all figured out, but i depressed myself because I went for the 100% gameplay trophy first, got the best ending, and got super depressed with the 2 other bad endings xD Honestly, a fun one to cover would be Code vein or scarlet Nexus. My body wants to recommend Code Vein as that is my favorite game with alot of good lore, but its connected to the god eater franchise, so my mind has to recommend Scarlet NExus,
I went for the true ending first as well, as my canonical ending. Then I had to go back and NOT take the hand to get the bad ending - followed by a "motivated" NG+ run to not level Lily's bar before the trigger point so I can get the third "regular" ending, which is just as depressing. The things I do for platinums...
Thanks for the explanation. So in my summary there’s not true basic humans left. Just android and monster who think they’re are and are battling one another to see who is more deserving of that title
It's unfortunate that the US version of the disc doesn't have korean language available only japanese, I really wanted to do my second playthrough in korean :/
I‘ll never understans stupid decisions like this. I really would‘ve liked playing with the japanese dub but the german version doesn‘t have it. You have what I want and I have what you want lol
i still didn't collect all lore things so maybe I'm wrong but one thing that made me thinking is the fact that we don't have any information of the first airborne squad. Not even an outfit like all the other squad or a direct allies like Lily pr enemy like Raven. Maybe it's nothing important but still kinda strange
I really love the story of this game. In pieces and bits I can’t blame people for zoning in on homages or similarities to other media or stories… but when you put the entire puzzle together and see the whole story for what it is you realize its a pretty awesome and unique story all its own, and the biggest tropes are mostly biblical or philosophical.
I just realised something. During the game, when you scan people of xion with the drone, they all appear as "human". Tho they are all naytiba andro eidos hybrid in reality. Meaning, Mother Sphere fake memory and influence clouded Eve mind and eyes. She really believed she and xion citizens are "humans", but the truth is sooo different.... Gosh I LOVE the video game story and lore.
This isn't the case. Mother Sphere has determined that the Andro-Eidos are humans in a new, improved form (I personally agree), and so the scanner displays them simply as human because this is the truth in the eyes of their god.
Oddly feels like they took some inspiration from not just Nier Automata but also The Ghost in the Shell and Horizon Zero Dawn (just a little with the whole trying to protect humankind from destruction at its own hands stuff).
Now that Stellar Blade has covered “What happens when humanity is replaced,” I want Shift Up to explore “The downfall of man” since Eve and Adam’s story is already complete. Would be very interesting to see Shift Up’s rendition of Cain and Abel in Stellar Blade 2. 👀
I drank the Mother Sphere Kool-Aid and killed Adam the first time. I was confused by the ending. Next day I opened the save and opted to join him (thankfully I didn't start NG+ yet) and got the good ending. I'm a bit perplexed by the "bad" ending and wish it had been explained a bit better. I still really love this game - aside from a lot of the frustrating bosses and level design from Spire 4 to the end.
I didn't really feel any issue with the level design, but the bosses certainly got.... *interesting*. I didn't like many of the endgame bosses as much as the starting bosses and minibosses (except that one in the garden in the lounge, probably my favourite boss in the entire game.)
You are very slick with your thumbnail. Are you in marketing? You have your words arranged and chosen to spell out “Sex” which would subliminally make people want to see what your video has to offer. Kudos
I always thought that the ship took them to a different planet that mother sphere started to inhabit but her bringing all that back to earth is like gahleeee
I stopped playing for a bit because the story wasn’t really sticking with me. But the combat is truly some of the best action I’ve experienced since DMC5. I really hope they do more with the game because I’m all in hava
That wouldn’t be possible, i would say eve had to be separated from tachy to learn the truth and so that Adam could learn about her to know if they should merge and raven was too jealous to work with eve
Loved your recap of the game. I was fortunate enough to get the hidden ( true?) ending. I really connected with characters from this world and would of been heartbroken to see Lilly die the way she did in the "bad" ending. One thing I noticed and I don't think it's been brought up much ( the game is less than a month out so I am expecting a bit too much lol) is that the androids from mother Sphere ( airborne squad I believe ) all tend to be female whereas you see some male androids in xion. I absolutely loved the game.
Wow !! The revelations ! I thought under Xion, inside the huge room of the hypercell, there the last organic pure humans, in deep sleep. Now I learnt they are naytibas and andro eidos hybrids waiting... My gosh. So there is no more pure organic humans anymore on earth. So far, Adam seems to be the last "human". As the Elder Naytiba, by holding on his humanity.
It always pulled me completely out of it every time she made a revelation that shattered her entire world view. She had such dead pan reactions to it. I mean you don’t have to completely lose your mind but you find out you’re a cyborg instead of a human shouldn’t spur the reaction of “hm…..” *taps on chin* “Suspicious”
Eve eventually stop praying for the deceased , she also questions wtf is really going on, I think the dead pan expression is just her not jumping to conclusions. In EVE’s head, she knows she has to complete the mission in order to get her answers from mother sphere.
This ending had me so shook cus I wasn't sure what was "right" or "wrong" Humanity had become abominations, but EVE may be an android, she very much indeed has a soul. She exhibits empathy, anger and sorrow throughout the plot. The loss of Tachy affected her greatly, the way she fought Raven and left her mutilated was pure wrath. She was moved by the personal effects left behind by people under Matrix 11. Mother Sphere may have designed them to be driven by logic but EVE has acted thus far on emotion. But Adam is trying to correct the horrific turn the Naytibas took on humanity, but at what cost? Forever scarred by genetic mutations that are continuously evolving and changing. Is it worth it?
As I'm sure they intended. There is no one right or wrong, no truly good or truly evil (although I think Mother Sphere comes as close to true evil as we are gonna get). None of the endings are good or bad. You can tell because some vids call the EVE joins Adam ending the good ending and other vids call that the bad ending because Lily dies! I do think the devs have a preferred ending, since Lily's 100% status only benefits the EVE joins Adam ending, for the so-called secret ending. So my guess is any sequel will assume the secret ending is canon.
Story plot deception. Just a heads up, the final dialogue option is a trick question. What I mean is that the author switched the outcomes for cheap complexity. Test = Do decide to settle differences? Yes = War No = Peace
If you haven’t played it yet, I highly recommend the Horizon series. Just like in Stellar Blade you also learn about the world as the character (Aloy) does too and it’s some seriously incredible world building. I think anyone who’s a fan of either will love the other. There’s other similar games people compare Stellar to, but story wise it’s exactly like Horizon (although I find Horizon a tad bit more fleshed out but there’s a ton of room for that in a Stellar Blade sequel).
At least you no need to spend more on DLC or another game to get a complete story. From this aspect, I think this is better than the Black Myth Wukong.
I feel like the story can be described as "Awfully convenient". Its awfully convenient that: Raphael was spared from Mother Sphere's initial purge. Raphael was the only human that was able to retain his mind. Orcal was saved by a "human" who just so happens to be his creator. Xion is fully powered down and on the brink when Eve gets there while "Adam" could have helped, since he was easily able to get an Hypercell. "Adam" saving Eve was a "burst of emotion", note that he saved her from HIS UNDERLINING. No one noticed the huge Naytiba on top of the Space Elevator, ever. Orcal knowing the Alpha was up there when his eyes were always groundside. Raven's Legacies being Eve's path, which was exactly where each Hypercell was located. Dudes, Eve was manipulated totally and completely. In the "true ending", Eve did everything Adam directed her to. Aside from lore fragments, which were not mentioned by Eve nor Lily, those two never found out who "Adam" was, if they did, I think they would have a very different reaction. As far as I'm concerned, the "True ending" is the "Bad Ending", and there are no "Good" ones to have here. Pick your poison. And Raphael named himself "Adam"? I'm not sure if Shift Up wanted to name it like that to make an analog of "Adam and Eve" or if it would have an in-game explanation. Because if there's a reason in game he chose that name... naming himself after the first man... I feel like we were dealing with someone with a god complex.
I actually agree with you. I have my reasons,(which I might post up later if I have time, got to go to work now), for why in my honest opinion the ending where Eve refuses to merge with Adam is the only ending that makes sense.
Well for the last part, Raven outright said before her boss fight that she deliberately left those Legacy recordings laying around for EVE to find on purpose. I also get the feeling that Raven was doing stuff of her own accord, which is why Adam had to save EVE from her at the beginning. She certainly attacked Xion on her own without telling Adam about it.
I'm not sure why people call it the "secret" ending. For me the endings are: good ending, bad ending, and neutral ending, with the ending where Eve chooses not to merge with Adam being the neutral ending, IMHO.
@@AICW But here's the thing... HOW would she know those were the places where Eve would look for Hypercells? And Adamn guided her to those places. Also, Adam said he got a message from Xion about something being wrong there, alright, that might have actually have been a curveball for Adam, but he didnt do anything to help the place and had Orcal die. He didnt even go there. Many things in the game's plot, to quote the Dwarf of Fuckin' Gratitude: "The pieces dont fit together right". Specially with knowing Adam's identity. I know Shift Up said they focused more on Gameplay than story in this game, but I hope in the sequel they build more on those questions, because that would be a curveball. Because it would throw it all out of wack on the "What is humanity?" to "What is free will?", because the former seems to be the theme going on here. Because, was it truly Eve's decision, if she was conditioned to make a certain choice?
@@cobalt-snake6125 In terms of endings, I dont think there's a trully good one tbh. The one where you 100% Lily and save her is surrely a better one than when you dont. They are all too open ended.
@@Ignisan_66 I know, sometimes even longer. God of War (2018) took almost 4 years, in part due to the pandemic. But I have a hunch that Shift Up will prioritize a PC port over everything else, like DLC, to strike while the hype fire is still hot, and since they don't have a pandemic or a new console transition to distract them, like those other games with 2+ year delays had, I think chances are good they will deliver a PC port this year. As long as the Sony exclusivity window doesn't extend into 2025.
@@papacharlie-niner148 There's also a question if Sony will even allow them to port the game to PC. Sony already demonstrated their hatred for Stellar Blade when they forced Shift Up to censor outfits. Sony will not want modders to make nude mods for Eve so the game wont be ported at all. My prediction: We won't see Stellar Blade on PC.
@Ignisan_66 Based on the outfits in the patch updates, I doubt that's an issue. And this is Shift Up we're talking about. However, I do agree that being new to consoles, Shift Up might have conceded a longer exclusive window than normal.
Thank you for the wonderfull work , you have clarified the narrative and story of the game , the game is raising deep philosophical questions about the definition of HUMAN , and what humans can do, extents they can reach if threatened , really this can be reflected on Nuclear war raging in our real life if superpowers calculations goes wrong .
I know that the game heralds great biblical references but it took me till now to realize that Adam is named after the biblical Adam as well as Eve. Them fusing became the birth of humanity. Just like in the Bible.
It's Gets Deeper Than That ~If You Know The Bible ~ Humanity Is Destined4 Destruction Via The Bible ~ Lots Of Games & Movies Are Telling This Same Story In Different Ways ~ Post Apocalyptic World's Where The Last Remaining Humans Are Dying Out ~ The Movies & Games Have Humans Believing There Is A Chance For Survival ~ But In Reality A New Type Of Being Will Replace Humans In The Near/Far Future
At about minute 18:00 you talk about both Mother Sphere and the Elder Naytiba eating only their side to exist. That doesn’t seem right because doesn’t Adam say he wants to combine both to create something new?
Eve's manipulated by both Raphael and Mother Sphere. I honestly did not like either endings, it felt like the bad guy got away with it after he destroyed humanity. Mother Sphere also shouldn't stay alive after what she did with the colony extinction event.
Raphael didn't destroy humanity. He aided humanity against his creation, and gave humans means to fight back. But he realized this conflict would end all human and andro life, so he seitched his goal into finding a way to combine organic humans with andros
What do you want to see covered in the next of the "Complete Story Explained" series?
Fear and hunger!
Warframe or Lobotomy Corporation & Limbus Company
Destiny. Horizon Zero Dawn
A Warframe video would be Nice, long and very informative, plus the story keeps on today so...
Rain worlds story is phenomenal
Stellar Blade's story is so much better when you do the side quests and you when you read the logs that are left behind.
Such a true comment the story is better when you read all of it.
True i was so curious to what mother sphere was half the corpses hated her and the others truly believed
Also when you play with korean voice acting, I can't stress enough how much of a difference it makes in every scene.
@@The_JpD_ShowI realized that as well, everyone was so divided
@echo2413 as a brit can confirm korean is the best way to play
Knowing it was inspired by Nier Automata, I saw the twist coming that the original humans were really extinct, and the creatures you fight are actually mutated humans - thats also like Neir Replicant.
That's just a sci-fi trope, and Nier didn't invent it. HOW the Naytibas came about is different from the Shades
@@shadowthehedgehog181what other sci-fi games/movies/book have this plot? When i played nier it was new and original to me so im just curious
@@mrshark8826 Dark They Were, and Golden-eyed plays with the idea of humanity changing into something inhuman that wouldn't be recognized by native terran humans.
Ray Bradbury wrote it in 1949
I have never played either of those games and saw the twist as pretty surprising
THAT CROSSOVER IS GONNA BE GREAT!
I don't think the people that thought Stellar Blade's story was bland or underwhelming delved deep enough into the lore collection to piece things together. This video would really help them appreciate the game's narrative more.
Not bland or underwhelming, but kind of degenerate. The view that humanity can be rewritten through guided evolution, whether via technology (IVF, gene editing, etc.) or eugenics, is a deeply morally flawed exercise in hubris that has only brought misery.
Also, while the narrator insists that Eve has no soul, it is clear that she actually does, as a rational will and emotions are displayed in her character. While this makes her a better character, it doesn’t make sense, as a soul is not something you can mechanically create.
The false premise behind the government of Brave New World is more of a threat to humanity than that of 1984. We are much closer to heading down the path of the former rather than the latter.
@@bluesdealer I don't think the rapid evolution the surviving humans went through was something they would have done if they weren't facing certain extinction against the AI's androids. However, reading some of the lore on one of the newspaper dispensers in the Wasteland that quoted Raphael Marks referring to "human instrumentality" and ranking humans based on that was very unsettling and reminiscent of some of our current thinktanks at the WEC. I was actually a big fan of Raphael until reading that one. I guess he was getting a bit full of himself like our world power brokers in thinking they can guide human behavior and value.
The other issue is that the lore is just hidden in the character bios. When I fought Adam he explained a lot but there’s something he never said (at least in the English version), Adam IS Raphael Marks. The character bio says it but Adam doesn’t. That single twist really changed the story a lot for me.
@@jimmyelkordy3752 The connection is seeing that the Elder Naytiba is a human, so that means he's from the time when humans first became Naytiba and then the Elder tells us he's the source of everything up till now and even before as another connection. Combining all that, you can make the leap that he's responsible for the Naytiba and obviously that would mean he's Marks who we're also told created Mother Sphere. But yea, while you're viewing the cutscene at the end, you're probably not thinking it all through as you had to sift through lore on gears, exospines, nano elements, publications, etc. to really understand the history of this world.
@@jimmyelkordy3752 When playing the game and coming back from Abyss Levoire, I assumed Orcal was Marks as he was old and said when we got back from the Orbit Elevator that he would tell us the rest of the history or that we could just ask the Elder. I thought he was going to reveal himself, but the Devs clearly telegraphed that to throw people off.
I really hope this creates a franchise
I hope so but I think devs mentioned this was like a one of and instead of multiple games they were going to do like a dlc maybe or something idk for sure just what I've heard through the grape vine might be misinfo though
In a way I hope it doesn't. Maybe a good sequel with a better crafter storyline and character development would be awesome. But if it turns into a franchise it's going to get inevitably ruined and milked just like every other franchise. It's best to leave something like this short, sweet, and memorable
Their journey continues on.
Only thing is if you make a sequel, what events would be following the first one because that all depends on which ending they continue on from
@@keeganduncan5289 The secret ending got the most developer love in the game, so I wouldn't be surprised if they declared that ending the canon ending. It's also a better setup for sequels, since it turns into a three-way fight: EVE NG+ and her progeny (I won't say "children" since they might be made in a factory) vs. Mother Sphere and the surviving non-airborne squad Colony vs. wild Naytiba that EVE NG+ can't control.
The true ending definitely left the story open for a sequel. I’m excited for SB2 and another lore video from you! 🤗
"In it's desire for freedom humanity seals it's doom and gives birth to the Naytibas". Bro that was epic, I got goosebumps.
This story has a lot of potential. I know that the directors main focus was the gameplay and action, but if he seriously taps into the story potential, we’re looking at a household name for the history books
Agreed.
It's not a he. It's she!!!! Lol. Learn who made game b4 u gather opinions lol. Her name is Hyung-tae Kim
@@daymogeezy Hyung-tae Kim is a guy. He’s 42 and is SHIFT UPS CEO with a wife named Jiyun Chae
And they are seriously tapping into the story. It's the first game. I'm pretty sure a sequel or sequels are coming. GOTY
@@daymogeezy Hyung-tae Kim is a guy. He’s 42 years old, SHIFT UPs CEO, and his wife’s name is Jiyun Chae
I got the impression from the various endings that Mother Sphere's objective was not to save Earth but to conquer it. It's the only thing that makes sense as to why the next Airbourne squad attack EVE after merging with Adam (as they still see EVE as a Natyba). And why Earth was being encased in the ending where EVE doesn't merge (unless MS was preparing Earth for an alien invasion). Either way I think Mother Sphere was the actual villain in this story.
MS is definitely the villian especially if we get a sequel because MS wants the extermination of all Naytiba, which are actually the original humans. Thats why MS is says Eves decision is slightly disappointing in the 2 endings were EVE merges with Adam because technically Eve didn’t kill the Elder Naytiba but she did technically get rid of it by fusing with it.
They attack to test Eve so MS can discover if this fusion of Naytiba and Andro-Eidos is the true future manifestation of the human race. If Eve can survive then it shows this is the best evolved form of humans. I agree MS is definitely the villain.
The lore just spawned for me a definitive new type of scifi genre. I call it the artificial riddle.
Considering the lore is of humans ending their issues with body part replacements, and the fact mother sphere isn't malfunctioning, it could entirely be interpreted that the ai was met with a riddle and answered it where humans couldn't because it can make such a change. It's the riddle that if you replace a part of a boat with another part, at what point does, after any number of changes, does it become a new boat?
If mother sphere answered that humans with artificial limbs to organs are still human, and is supposed to ensure their survival, why wouldn't you replace humans with literally what is still "human."
I think i want a bunch of scifi that tries to answer riddles humans try not to. We can save hollywood. Spam riddles with cool endgame stories!
The reference you used about changing parts of a boat is known as "The ship of Theseus" paradox. This is just a side note for anyone interested.
They can go so many ways with this story/game. They could go back in time way before the Naytiba takeover and let us explore the very developed and technological world the humans built, with the androids or humanoid things as enemies. Or, they can do a continuation of this story! The endless possibilities with this game! I can’t wait 😊
A richer setting with deeper lore implications than I originally thought, a pleasantly surprising game!
I finished the game, and had most all of it figured out. The thing i missed though, and appreciate you pointing out, is/was, that Adam was actually Rapheal Marks. I had missed that in my game play.
No you didn’t. Stop lying…
Pretty sure it was never mentioned in the gameplay tbh, so no need to feel bad. The only reason I figured it out is his Naytiba entry says it if you get the ending where you fight him.
@@robertkeane9393It’s really not that hard to understand when you do all sidemissions, collect everything etc.
That flew waaaay over my head. Glad I'm not the only one.
You didn't have the game figured out cause that's the easiest thing to pi k upon
Yess!!! Thank you for this. I just beat the game and was really confused. This will help me understand more
You bet, glad you found it useful
This was amazing. Exactly what I was looking for! Using data entries as references and everything. Had Story Recapped vibes and made the story a much more clear. One of the biggest things for me was Adam being Raphael Marks. 4 playthroughs, reading all the data, and I couldn’t figure that out.
Glad you enjoyed! Yeah, I wish it was a little clearer and that they actually revealed in dialogue that he was Marks during their final cutscene in the Nest
It is revealed in Adam’s character info after the reveal of him being the elder naytiba. So if you die during the final boss battle you can see it when reviving or during NG+
It's like the StarCraft 2 story but happened all on earth. Purity of form: androids, vs purity of essence: naytibas. I love it
what are the androids in starcraft 2?
@@M00SHTY im talking about purity of form, where it favors ability instead of purity of essence where it favors evolutionary traits. so in starcraft 2 it is protoss with the purity of form
You’re right, but the problem is a machine cannot embody the form of a human soul, which is what this game attempts. StarCraft’s Protoss were at least alive with souls. I think the choice to make Andro-Eidos purely mechanical (rather than cyborgs) was a mistake.
@@bluesdealer but doesn't the game also tried to answer the question whether Eve has a soul? Throughout her journey, she developed understanding of what it means to be a human, and that's what Adam saw in her that made her a worthy candidate
@@InnerFire6213 that’s the problem with a lot of android fiction, though. It assumes a soul can be mechanically constructed, but this is a false premise
This story is so good and has so much potentially.
It had a LOT of potential! It's kind of frustrating thinking about this could've been had the characters not been so damn flat throughout
@allandm I think that had to do with translation into English. Can still get better in the next one.
@@KaoticIndustrial maybe, there are some strange interactions. But I also think that they could've done much better in regards to Eve, especially her relationship with Tachy. Like show us a bit if what her life was like in the colony, don't kill Tachy right away, let us a bond with a bit before she dies so we feel something when she's back. Show us what Eve thinks about mother sphere, show us her devotion and how dhe slowly starts doubting her. Adam needed to not look bored all the time, he needed to do some kind of bonding with Eve. There's just so many missed opportunities, it's insane.
@@allandm thats something eastern games lacks since the beginning of gaming .they always just scratch on the surface and dont go deeper
@allandm in the Korean version it seems to feel better.
And look it's their 1st game so to me I'm willing to give them benefit of the doubt.
If they can build on the story on the next one I will be happy
A little bit of context.
Life in South Korea isn’t as glamorous as their media exports. Koreans fight against impossible odds and overwhelming chaebols/consortiums on a daily basis.
Just like most Korean games, Stellar Blade is a reflection on the South Korean society. It’s literally in the face, Samsung means 3 stars, and there’s a Tetrastar Electronic in game.
tetrastar is a nod for tetra line from nikke
Interesting
I really was not expecting such an interesting world and deep lore with this game. I imediatly wanted to know more when i finished playing. thanks for this video
You have a much more optimistic read of Mother Sphere in the epilogue than I do, particularly in the EVE joins Adam ending. I don't read Mother Sphere as testing EVE one last time. More like, the Eve Protocol is a failure, what am I going to do with all these airborne squad members? They're a liability to Mother's rule and might also uncover the truth behind Mother's lies -- a calculated risk when Andro-Eidos dominance was at stake, but now that that is resolved, too big a risk to continue -- so why not have EVE NG+ tie up this loose end? It's win-win for Mother Sphere. In the unlikely event that EVE NG+ is defeated, great! Victory snatched from the jaws of defeat. Otherwise, EVE NG+ wipes out the remaining super weapons and buries the truth under yet more bodies.
The story was GOOD, the issue was the characters are really flat for most of the game and their relationship doesn't develop deeply or organically. A huge mixed opportunity, they had everything they needed to make this as impactful as a naughty dog game
Yeah I feel like more quests and cutscenes with actual Lily and Adam would've strengthened the bond and emotional aspect. Couple that with way better voice acting, gg
I think it was intentional to some extent. These are artificial beings, with implanted/programmed memories and ideas, and limited in emotion. Of course they are going to seem flat and be incapable of developing relationships at the level of real humans. Not saying translation and/or voice acting couldn't have been improved, but people are criticizing the performances a little unfairly, and missing the point slightly imo
@@ChuckBrailsfordthank you for saying that I feel a lot of people miss this very point. It makes sense for Eve to be a little naïve because she doesn’t know she never been to earth. The characters like Eve and Lily, only know what they’ve been told from the colony.
@@ChuckBrailsford it would be totally fine for them to be flat at the start, but not for 80% of the game. At the end of the day the game is played by humans and characters need to be engaging for the player. I'm all for the concept of them starting robotic, and slowly developing and learning about what it means to be human. This development just isn't good sadly
@allandm wait you're expecting human development in a robot? You do realize how virtually impossible that is right? Especially considering there isn't a single actual human being in this entire story that's alive.
Expecting human development and character depth from a being ru Ning strictly on code in face value with any amount of actual critical thinking skills.Is absurd and asinine. Whom were they supposed to learn all this human behavior from exactly? A book? A data log?
Data from StarTewk TNG spent 9 years around actual human beings and never evolved past a flat personality. Even when he obtain human emotions he's still a machine and never was able to fully process them.
Yet you want androids in a game with the time span of a week to a few months. To evolve to he multilayered emotional human beings? 😂
The way you tell a story is sometimes more important than the story itself. And this story is very good, but in the game it doesn't fully shine. Perhaps because of the urgency of paying more attention to the gameplay and having very little time for cinematics. There is a lot of lore in the notes you find, but we all know that we gamers don't invest time in reading any of that. That's why these videos are so well received. I liked it a lot. Thank you.
I feel like if they explaied the stuff in the logs with a cutscene people would of complained like they do with Metal Gear Solid at the end of the day you can't win but that's why we have vids like this which was well done
It wasn't a AAA game so they didn't have the money to be able to focus on every aspect perfectly. I think choosing to focus on gameplay, esthetics and a sort of Lara Croft(eye candy) type protagonist was definitely the right choice because those were pretty much perfect. Next game they should have much more money and be able to put more focus in telling the story better(hopefully).
YES! I've been waiting for u to cover this game too. SB is awesome and full of great lore bits throughout it's campaign. Also congrats on reaching 80k subs! Nearly at 100 now. Really enjoy listening to your lore vids.
Appreciate it, and glad you liked the video! An interesting narrative, and honestly I had a blast with the gameplay too
That’s why digger thought was unique. He is a robot with human consciousness.
I know it's much to take, I don't expect you to read all that.
But I enjoyed your video so much, so that I wanted to share my thoughts and ask you an improvement question for me.
This video is so underappreciated. It deserves much more attention, because your breakdown of the story and it interpretation for what might await us in the sequel is just beyond compassion.
I have just one last question left to you and I would be very curious to know your opinion.
What do you personally think will the devs decide as the true canonical ending and hopefully a seed for the continuation of the franchise.
I after watching your video I think it's the ending where Lily survives and Eve merges with Adam to form the true descendents and encapsulation of the human species. I think this is the decision Eve would have taken when there was only one ending.
But I am not sure how they could continue the story, because Mother Sphere seems to be satisfied as well, and kinda expected Eve as the human species she wants to protect after she proves her with the final test against her colleagues which she defeated. This was at the and the goal of Project Eve right, to make the ultimate human which Eve became. Or maybe it's not quite as simple as it looks like and Mother Sphere isn't done yet.
The ending where she blindly follows the instructions of Mother Sphere and returns to the colony on the other hand shows potential of how they could build a second game where Eve actually defeats Mother Sphere and uncover more truths or something like that
I’ve been searching for a video like this since beating it last week, thank you!
Truly a Sci-fi masterpiece of a story! For me one of the best games of the year. Thank you for making this video. It was well written.
After watching a complete play thru, and watching this, I now see how good the story and game really is. Thanks for tying it up in a beautiful bow.
Honestly one of the most interesting stories of any game I've ever played. Awesome job man, I'll subscribe for sure
Appreciate the support
Well done explaining this deep story!
I really needed this. I had many questions, and now most of them have been answered.
Keep up the hard work bro 💙👌🏻
After having already beating the game, it's amazing how much more I appreciate it after having watched this video. Thanks for making it, it explains everything so much more clearly.
Love your story script, and game reference. So easy to follow, keep up the good work.
I really appreciate your work. I can't watch, so the way you describe everything makes me able to experience it too. Thank you!
Maybe I missed it but did you discuss why "our EVE" is called EVE from the start and all other squad members have different names or nicknames? I don't think that she becomes the chosen one throughout the story, rather she was chosen to be the EVE from the beginning (altho given the high mortality rate of the 7th squad's landing leaving just her alive is a bit contrived lol). Also there is a data point found in the Great Desert called "Notes on EVE Protocol 4". It states, "According to my intel, the seventh Angel, EVE, has been sent for the seventh EVE protocol. The time has come. Praise Mother Sphere! Praise EVE's ascension." I guess it's not super clear but I interpreted this as meaning "our EVE" is the true chosen one by design. Not to say that an 8th or 9th squad would not have been sent if our EVE of the seventh failed but it does explain why EVE is called EVE, why Tachy was so protective of her vs every other other soldier and also why she is dressed so differently than all the rest.
There is a theory that every airborne squad had their own EVE and that Raven was the one from the 2nd but then why is she called Raven. And she calls herself Raven very early on in the first legacy the player comes across so at that point she would have been somewhat early in her adventure as our EVE is but the latter does not give herself a different name. I suppose it could be a difference in programming or something.
Well whatever, I'm gonna stop arguing with myself but I am very curious why the EVE we play as is special and is special from the beginning. She is not just special because she survives the longest.
My interpretation is that there is an "EVE" within each generation of airborne, handcrafted and chosen by Mother Sphere to be the most likely to fulfill the EVE protocol. As to whether they're all named Eve I'm not sure, but an argument could be made that Raven renamed herself after becoming an Alpha Naytiba or at least after discovering the truth. I believe she states that the legacies were planted as breadcrumbs to lure/entice Eve so could have been recorded and planted with lies. Perhaps that's also why Marks made her an Alpha, an attempt at the fusion but realizing that her body frame wasn't perfect for transcendence?
Many gamers don't realize that Adam is Raphael Marks even after completing the game. I wish Eve and Adam's conversation had made this clear.
"Adam... Or would you prefer I call you Elder? or Raphael Marks?"
When I read his character info I was like wtf what? How? Did I sleep during the cutscenes? There are many updates infos after you finish
Been waiting for somebody to make this video. Good job
For the EVE rejects Adam ending, I don't think the view from space is new construction. It shows the devastation of the Colony due to Mother cutting off large segments and dropping them on Earth. It's the wreck that remains of the Colony. I think the pullback shot is meant to show all of Mother Sphere's domain. She now rules all that the eye can see in that shot, even if it is a ruin orbiting a ruin. So like I said, not as optimistic a read as you have.
Just did the fuse ending and saved Lily. Baller game. GG Sony.
Definitely the best ending and feels the truest to Eve's character throughout the game. I didn't see her annihilating one race over the other, even if Adam ultimately also had a motive and did very questionable things.
Well done! Excellent breakdown and explanation.
Glad you enjoyed!
Well done! 👍 This kind of fills in some of the things I missed although I got about 90% of it after 2 play throughs.
thank you finally someone who recognizes the fact that there is deep interesting lore to this game, i hope more people come to realize how awesome this game is
I wonder if in the sequel, Eve finds a way to reverse the Naytiba mutations and return humans back to what they once were. Or, take the Naytiba human DNA and start a new human race from scratch.
I imagine you're not too far off. Eve should have powers similar to what the Elder had, if not superior
Yeah those hooves gotta go 🤦♂️
This was a great video, made the story so much easier to understand. Just finished my first playthrough, and gotta admit, I felt lost throughout the whole journey in terms of plot. It was an interesting way in which they decided to tell the story, through random bits of information collected here and there. Like I had collected alot of the puzzle pieces, but being so concerned with dodging and parrying at the right time, checking every nook and cranny, and not making jumps that I totally made and falling to my death, I hadn't been able to put all the pieces together. It all makes so much more sense when laid out nice and chronologically!
If they make a sequel, I hope they find a way to bring Raven back. Have mother sphere collect her mangled remains to reverse engineer a newer BETTER Andro-Eidos/Naytiba being thay can fight on par with the new Eve/Adam being. Eve Protocol vs Raven Initiative! Set it up Shift Up!
I wonder about the core that was left in space and if it will come back to bite us in the ass.
But yes, I think Raven's story can be expanded on if she can get past her jealousy of EVE.
There is no colony, there never was. Not in the way they remember it. It's not a place of peace or life as we know it. It is a cold utilitarian ring surrounding earth for the singular goal of keeping humanity safe. That is Mother spheres programming and that is her only focus. It is already clear, their happiness is not required. It was always strange how they always talk about the colony but are never nostalgic about it. Not even Lilly, who should be nostalgic and a little homesick.
I found your channel when looking for Lore videos on Lords of the Fallen, definitely was not anticipating typing Stellar Blade story explained and finding your video at the top, man so grateful you made a video for this game. I knew it would be the best story explained for one of my favorite games. Thank you and I am subscribing now!!!
Appreciate the support and glad you enjoy the content! LotF and SB both had captivating worlds with interesting mysteries
@@TheLorebrarians 💯
Great story telling and great gameplay!
I love the stellar blade lore, I got two of three endings working on the third. This was a great watch
One gripe about the game: the female designs. Even if we ignore the copy-paste doll body type, the outfits are designed vastly different to the male counterparts.
... Oh I don't mean the women's outfits should change. They're gorgeous and wonderful to see in motion.
What I'm saying is we need more beautiful males in similar skintight clothes.
I just got the secret and good ending today. This game is so much better than I thought. I think the secret and good ending make sense for a sequel. Haven’t seen the one where lily dies but in both of those, one though seems more definitive than the other. The secret ending kind of puts a lid on the whole issue. The “good” ending leaves a lot more to be discovered. What was all those rings around earth? What’s mother’s sphere real plan for earth? I’m REALLY looking forward to part 2.
They should make a movie about it, the story is pretty good! Well I guess if you watch a longplay + all the cutscenes, then it's like watching a long movie. But I mean for people who are not interested in games.
I like the story. The fact that its up to you to fight the enemy to get all your sexy outfits back is the best story ever told in gaming 😅
This reminds me of Veda from Gundam 00. Although both are Artificial Super intelligence created to carry a single persons will. Veda was never programmed to override the Aeolia Schenberg plan but programmed to strictly follow the plans protocols. Mother sphere on the other hand was given authority to go above and beyond the creators protocols in order to achieve it's objective. This led to its own equations and conclusions. really love these stories.
I didn't delve too deep into the lore bits when I picked them but I found the way the story was presented in-game to do a great job of telling it without making you go "what was I doing and why?" The only thing that I didn't get to near the end was the truth of Adam and who he was. Though with the Adam and Eve naming thing I should have probably caught on sooner. But yeah I really enjoyed the story and the world it was presented in. Hopefully a sequel is in order.
The story is great, like Soulsborne games you have to piece together the lore you are gathering in your journey. Unlike Soulsborne games, at least Stellar Blade has enough cut scenes to hold your hand through the story elements if you’re not into lore reading but you’ll get a less rich version of the story.
Boy you did an amazing job explaining everything this games lore has to offer. Really appreciate the world they created much more now, besides the super tight and fun combat. This game should be up for goty in my opinion
This story has a good base and thankfully like others have said the side content fills it out even better. I just kinda wish that the twist was kinda different, you know? Like a 1/4th thru the game you can kinda see it coming, I just wish they subverted our expectations and went a different way, maybe in the sequel. Idk I just know that as a girl that even I think that Stellar Blade is GOTY
I had it all figured out, but i depressed myself because I went for the 100% gameplay trophy first, got the best ending, and got super depressed with the 2 other bad endings xD
Honestly, a fun one to cover would be Code vein or scarlet Nexus. My body wants to recommend Code Vein as that is my favorite game with alot of good lore, but its connected to the god eater franchise, so my mind has to recommend Scarlet NExus,
Appreciate the suggestions, I've not played either so I'll have to check them out!
Code Vein is such a good game.
Souls combat with real emotional story. Loved every minute of that game.
@@FewNewReasonss Code vein would be perfect for a mini video like this with all the hidden lore and collectables.
I went for the true ending first as well, as my canonical ending. Then I had to go back and NOT take the hand to get the bad ending - followed by a "motivated" NG+ run to not level Lily's bar before the trigger point so I can get the third "regular" ending, which is just as depressing. The things I do for platinums...
I’ve always been interested in code vein for the character creation alone, so I’m happy to see this 👀
Thanks for the explanation.
So in my summary there’s not true basic humans left. Just android and monster who think they’re are and are battling one another to see who is more deserving of that title
It's unfortunate that the US version of the disc doesn't have korean language available only japanese, I really wanted to do my second playthrough in korean :/
I‘ll never understans stupid decisions like this. I really would‘ve liked playing with the japanese dub but the german version doesn‘t have it. You have what I want and I have what you want lol
Absolutely excellently done video. Thoroughly and very well delved into and explained. Sub earned & deserved 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
i still didn't collect all lore things so maybe I'm wrong but one thing that made me thinking is the fact that we don't have any information of the first airborne squad. Not even an outfit like all the other squad or a direct allies like Lily pr enemy like Raven. Maybe it's nothing important but still kinda strange
I really love the story of this game. In pieces and bits I can’t blame people for zoning in on homages or similarities to other media or stories… but when you put the entire puzzle together and see the whole story for what it is you realize its a pretty awesome and unique story all its own, and the biggest tropes are mostly biblical or philosophical.
It’s a great game. I wish repetitive npc dialogue could be skipped quicker.
I just realised something. During the game, when you scan people of xion with the drone, they all appear as "human". Tho they are all naytiba andro eidos hybrid in reality. Meaning, Mother Sphere fake memory and influence clouded Eve mind and eyes. She really believed she and xion citizens are "humans", but the truth is sooo different.... Gosh I LOVE the video game story and lore.
This isn't the case. Mother Sphere has determined that the Andro-Eidos are humans in a new, improved form (I personally agree), and so the scanner displays them simply as human because this is the truth in the eyes of their god.
If you play the game in the Original audio ( Korean ), Adam tells you a lot of trues in the final battle.
Absolutely amazing game. Can't wait to play Stellar Blade 2!
Im so glad this was made. And also as you play the game you see that the game has a very interesting take in AI and humanity and i love it alot.
Thank you for this elaborate storytelling
The story of stellar blade is fine i think people are just used to being spoon fed information instead of having to read notes.
I absolutely love ❤️ this game can't wait for part 2!!!
Oddly feels like they took some inspiration from not just Nier Automata but also The Ghost in the Shell and Horizon Zero Dawn (just a little with the whole trying to protect humankind from destruction at its own hands stuff).
Matrix Also
Now that Stellar Blade has covered “What happens when humanity is replaced,” I want Shift Up to explore “The downfall of man” since Eve and Adam’s story is already complete. Would be very interesting to see Shift Up’s rendition of Cain and Abel in Stellar Blade 2. 👀
Awesome video. I played this game and love the story. First time I play it to the end, ended joining with Adam.
I drank the Mother Sphere Kool-Aid and killed Adam the first time. I was confused by the ending. Next day I opened the save and opted to join him (thankfully I didn't start NG+ yet) and got the good ending. I'm a bit perplexed by the "bad" ending and wish it had been explained a bit better. I still really love this game - aside from a lot of the frustrating bosses and level design from Spire 4 to the end.
I didn't really feel any issue with the level design, but the bosses certainly got.... *interesting*. I didn't like many of the endgame bosses as much as the starting bosses and minibosses (except that one in the garden in the lounge, probably my favourite boss in the entire game.)
I just finished SB a few hours ago and got the special ending.. Thanks for the story breakdown
What shot mother sphere's legion in the beginning
You are very slick with your thumbnail. Are you in marketing? You have your words arranged and chosen to spell out “Sex” which would subliminally make people want to see what your video has to offer. Kudos
Was waiting for a video like this one. Thanks
Mother Sphere ironically shocked when the humans or neo humanity fought back against her prototype borg lol
I always thought that the ship took them to a different planet that mother sphere started to inhabit but her bringing all that back to earth is like gahleeee
I stopped playing for a bit because the story wasn’t really sticking with me. But the combat is truly some of the best action I’ve experienced since DMC5. I really hope they do more with the game because I’m all in hava
I would love to see another ending. With Eve, Tachy, and Raven as Adam's angels. lol!
That wouldn’t be possible, i would say eve had to be separated from tachy to learn the truth and so that Adam could learn about her to know if they should merge and raven was too jealous to work with eve
I love this game and thank you for creating this video! Love it!
Loved your recap of the game. I was fortunate enough to get the hidden ( true?) ending. I really connected with characters from this world and would of been heartbroken to see Lilly die the way she did in the "bad" ending.
One thing I noticed and I don't think it's been brought up much ( the game is less than a month out so I am expecting a bit too much lol) is that the androids from mother Sphere ( airborne squad I believe ) all tend to be female whereas you see some male androids in xion.
I absolutely loved the game.
Mother sphere probably started learning about fan service
Just wanted to say thank you.
Wow !! The revelations ! I thought under Xion, inside the huge room of the hypercell, there the last organic pure humans, in deep sleep. Now I learnt they are naytibas and andro eidos hybrids waiting... My gosh. So there is no more pure organic humans anymore on earth. So far, Adam seems to be the last "human". As the Elder Naytiba, by holding on his humanity.
This story is like the terminator mixed with dead space LOL
It always pulled me completely out of it every time she made a revelation that shattered her entire world view. She had such dead pan reactions to it. I mean you don’t have to completely lose your mind but you find out you’re a cyborg instead of a human shouldn’t spur the reaction of “hm…..”
*taps on chin*
“Suspicious”
Eve eventually stop praying for the deceased , she also questions wtf is really going on, I think the dead pan expression is just her not jumping to conclusions. In EVE’s head, she knows she has to complete the mission in order to get her answers from mother sphere.
This is a great video. I really do hope that we can get a prequel dlc/game about Raven.
This ending had me so shook cus I wasn't sure what was "right" or "wrong"
Humanity had become abominations, but EVE may be an android, she very much indeed has a soul. She exhibits empathy, anger and sorrow throughout the plot. The loss of Tachy affected her greatly, the way she fought Raven and left her mutilated was pure wrath. She was moved by the personal effects left behind by people under Matrix 11.
Mother Sphere may have designed them to be driven by logic but EVE has acted thus far on emotion.
But Adam is trying to correct the horrific turn the Naytibas took on humanity, but at what cost? Forever scarred by genetic mutations that are continuously evolving and changing. Is it worth it?
As I'm sure they intended. There is no one right or wrong, no truly good or truly evil (although I think Mother Sphere comes as close to true evil as we are gonna get). None of the endings are good or bad. You can tell because some vids call the EVE joins Adam ending the good ending and other vids call that the bad ending because Lily dies! I do think the devs have a preferred ending, since Lily's 100% status only benefits the EVE joins Adam ending, for the so-called secret ending. So my guess is any sequel will assume the secret ending is canon.
Story plot deception. Just a heads up, the final dialogue option is a trick question. What I mean is that the author switched the outcomes for cheap complexity.
Test = Do decide to settle differences?
Yes = War
No = Peace
I really like this story and its narrative
If you haven’t played it yet, I highly recommend the Horizon series. Just like in Stellar Blade you also learn about the world as the character (Aloy) does too and it’s some seriously incredible world building. I think anyone who’s a fan of either will love the other.
There’s other similar games people compare Stellar to, but story wise it’s exactly like Horizon (although I find Horizon a tad bit more fleshed out but there’s a ton of room for that in a Stellar Blade sequel).
@@MalachiPlaysGames thanks for the recommendation I've played both and I had a great time but thanks anyway much appreciated
Just finished great game now I have another franchise that I love 👍
At least you no need to spend more on DLC or another game to get a complete story. From this aspect, I think this is better than the Black Myth Wukong.
I feel like the story can be described as "Awfully convenient".
Its awfully convenient that:
Raphael was spared from Mother Sphere's initial purge.
Raphael was the only human that was able to retain his mind.
Orcal was saved by a "human" who just so happens to be his creator.
Xion is fully powered down and on the brink when Eve gets there while "Adam" could have helped, since he was easily able to get an Hypercell.
"Adam" saving Eve was a "burst of emotion", note that he saved her from HIS UNDERLINING.
No one noticed the huge Naytiba on top of the Space Elevator, ever.
Orcal knowing the Alpha was up there when his eyes were always groundside.
Raven's Legacies being Eve's path, which was exactly where each Hypercell was located.
Dudes, Eve was manipulated totally and completely. In the "true ending", Eve did everything Adam directed her to. Aside from lore fragments, which were not mentioned by Eve nor Lily, those two never found out who "Adam" was, if they did, I think they would have a very different reaction. As far as I'm concerned, the "True ending" is the "Bad Ending", and there are no "Good" ones to have here. Pick your poison.
And Raphael named himself "Adam"? I'm not sure if Shift Up wanted to name it like that to make an analog of "Adam and Eve" or if it would have an in-game explanation. Because if there's a reason in game he chose that name... naming himself after the first man... I feel like we were dealing with someone with a god complex.
I actually agree with you. I have my reasons,(which I might post up later if I have time, got to go to work now), for why in my honest opinion the ending where Eve refuses to merge with Adam is the only ending that makes sense.
Well for the last part, Raven outright said before her boss fight that she deliberately left those Legacy recordings laying around for EVE to find on purpose.
I also get the feeling that Raven was doing stuff of her own accord, which is why Adam had to save EVE from her at the beginning. She certainly attacked Xion on her own without telling Adam about it.
I'm not sure why people call it the "secret" ending. For me the endings are: good ending, bad ending, and neutral ending, with the ending where Eve chooses not to merge with Adam being the neutral ending, IMHO.
@@AICW But here's the thing... HOW would she know those were the places where Eve would look for Hypercells? And Adamn guided her to those places.
Also, Adam said he got a message from Xion about something being wrong there, alright, that might have actually have been a curveball for Adam, but he didnt do anything to help the place and had Orcal die. He didnt even go there.
Many things in the game's plot, to quote the Dwarf of Fuckin' Gratitude: "The pieces dont fit together right". Specially with knowing Adam's identity.
I know Shift Up said they focused more on Gameplay than story in this game, but I hope in the sequel they build more on those questions, because that would be a curveball.
Because it would throw it all out of wack on the "What is humanity?" to "What is free will?", because the former seems to be the theme going on here.
Because, was it truly Eve's decision, if she was conditioned to make a certain choice?
@@cobalt-snake6125 In terms of endings, I dont think there's a trully good one tbh. The one where you 100% Lily and save her is surrely a better one than when you dont.
They are all too open ended.
This game is too good to be bound to one single system.
I think a PC port before this Christmas is a safe bet.
@@papacharlie-niner148 PC ports of PS5 games are usually 2 years after the game originally releases on PlayStation.
@@Ignisan_66 I know, sometimes even longer. God of War (2018) took almost 4 years, in part due to the pandemic. But I have a hunch that Shift Up will prioritize a PC port over everything else, like DLC, to strike while the hype fire is still hot, and since they don't have a pandemic or a new console transition to distract them, like those other games with 2+ year delays had, I think chances are good they will deliver a PC port this year. As long as the Sony exclusivity window doesn't extend into 2025.
@@papacharlie-niner148 There's also a question if Sony will even allow them to port the game to PC. Sony already demonstrated their hatred for Stellar Blade when they forced Shift Up to censor outfits. Sony will not want modders to make nude mods for Eve so the game wont be ported at all. My prediction: We won't see Stellar Blade on PC.
@Ignisan_66 Based on the outfits in the patch updates, I doubt that's an issue. And this is Shift Up we're talking about. However, I do agree that being new to consoles, Shift Up might have conceded a longer exclusive window than normal.
Thank you for the wonderfull work , you have clarified the narrative and story of the game , the game is raising deep philosophical questions about the definition of HUMAN , and what humans can do, extents they can reach if threatened , really this can be reflected on Nuclear war raging in our real life if superpowers calculations goes wrong .
I know that the game heralds great biblical references but it took me till now to realize that Adam is named after the biblical Adam as well as Eve. Them fusing became the birth of humanity. Just like in the Bible.
It's Gets Deeper Than That ~If You Know The Bible ~ Humanity Is Destined4 Destruction Via The Bible ~ Lots Of Games & Movies Are Telling This Same Story In Different Ways ~ Post Apocalyptic World's Where The Last Remaining Humans Are Dying Out ~ The Movies & Games Have Humans Believing There Is A Chance For Survival ~ But In Reality A New Type Of Being Will Replace Humans In The Near/Far Future
At about minute 18:00 you talk about both Mother Sphere and the Elder Naytiba eating only their side to exist. That doesn’t seem right because doesn’t Adam say he wants to combine both to create something new?
Eve's manipulated by both Raphael and Mother Sphere. I honestly did not like either endings, it felt like the bad guy got away with it after he destroyed humanity. Mother Sphere also shouldn't stay alive after what she did with the colony extinction event.
Raphael didn't destroy humanity. He aided humanity against his creation, and gave humans means to fight back. But he realized this conflict would end all human and andro life, so he seitched his goal into finding a way to combine organic humans with andros