Stellar Blade’s difficulty options might seem quite straightforward, but they actually serve a lot more purpose with their intricacies.
Stellar Blade fans are provided with a couple of difficulty options to choose from, and it can be a bit tricky to choose from. The game doesn't really explain in detail what each mode entails, so here is which one to choose.
While Stellar Blade has a plethora of trophies, with a staggering total of 45, there is no Hard mode trophy in the game. This has garnered mixed reception from the community, with many advocating for the inclusion of it to ensure that the Platinum trophy is a bit more rewarding to obtain. That being said, considering how players have struggled with Hard-mode trophies for games like Final Fantasy 7, this is a welcome change for many other fans.
Stellar Blade Story Mode Explained
The Story mode is the least difficult mode available in Stellar Blade, and players can consider it as equivalent to the Easy mode in other games. This is well suited for players who are just looking to breeze through the game without much hassles and want to focus on the game's story instead. The enemies are considerably weaker in this mode, which means players will last much longer on the battlefield. Enemies are as a result much easier to beat, and the survivability also increases considerably thanks to the increased dodge and parry windows. This allows players to deal with the threats much more easily, and at the same time, find openings to land quick counterattacks on the enemies.
Another interesting aspect of the Story Mode is the Action Assist mode. The Action Assist mode is an interesting new mechanic that is only exclusive to the Story mode, giving players some more perks to aid them on the battlefield. Action Assist basically triggers mini quick time events during the combat sequences, giving players even more leeway to dodge and parry lethal attacks during combat encounters. That being said, this is entirely optional and can be turned off using the options menu.
Stellar Blade Normal Mode Explained
For players looking for a much more balanced experience, the Normal mode is the way to go. Offering much higher enemy difficulty levels as well as lower parry and dodge windows, the battles become quite tricky to tackle. Not to forget, the reduced time also makes the combat extremely fast-paced, so it is probably a good idea to get the hang of the game before getting into this mode. The Action Assist feature is also unavailable in the Normal mode.
How To Unlock Hard Mode
Similar to games like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the Hard mode is not available initially. Instead, players will need to beat the game at any difficulty first, to get access to the Hard mode. The Hard mode is the most unforgiving, causing enemies to deal much higher damage and making it extremely difficult to take them down. Thankfully, the New Game+ mode offers a plethora of new skills for Stellar Blade fans which does help quite a bit, so it is crucial to make use of those.
Platform(s) PS5 Released April 26, 2024 Developer(s) Shift Up Publisher(s) Sony Interactive Entertainment
