https://www.famitsu.com/article/images/202606/77389/747346

　First of all, is there a connection between this game and the previous one? The answer is YES. Stellar Blade: BloodRayne is set in the future world of the previous game, Stellar Blade. However, the protagonist has been passed from "Eve" from the previous game to a new character, "Evie".

　The trailer shows Evie tracking a mysterious man, but the first thing that's striking is the massive, cyberpunk-style city. The previous game featured a single city called "Zion," but the explorable area was small and there were few people walking around. This city, however, is a metropolis with an overwhelming number of people and towering skyscrapers.

　I was feeling nostalgic, thinking about how much Zion must have developed, but Mr. Hyung-tae denied it, saying, "That's not Zion." In other words, enough time has passed for humanity to prosper and build cities other than Zion.

　In the previous game, there were times when cutscenes would suddenly appear during travel and QTEs would occur, and I was able to confirm QTE scenes other than those in the trailer in the demo version as well. Oh dear, it seems that now I have a journey to see all of Evie's QTE failure scenes.

　In the combat part, unlike Eve, Evie is a close-combat fighter who mainly uses her fists. If Eve is a heavy fighter who uses swords and guns, Evie is a speed type who fights by combining rapid punches and heavy blows, and I could see Mr. Hyung-tae's hands, and it looked like he was able to unleash several punches in a row with a single button press.

　The distinctive warning signals for enemy attacks from the previous game are still present in this one. Yellow indicates unblockable attacks, red indicates consecutive attacks, blue indicates blinking, which allows you to get behind the enemy and show off their beautiful back in an extreme camera angle, and purple indicates repulse, which knocks the enemy back. The

　in-combat UI is also very similar to the previous game, so those who played the previous game should be able to get used to it easily, but this is just a reuse of a development build and will be changed to a more refined UI in the future.

　As for the enemies, in the trailer there was a character who was shot in the neck with a red syringe, similar to the one Evie had, and then exploded, and those who were shot in the same way transformed into creatures. The man Evie is chasing seems to be the ringleader of this group, but the details are still being kept secret.

　Now, let's move on to the interview with Mr. Hyung-tae.

Kim Hyung-tae, CEO of SHIFT UP

The reason why the title isn't "2". Also, topics about development status and supported platforms.

First of all, why is it called "Stellar Blade BloodRayne" and not "Stellar Blade 2"?

Hyungtae

　That's the studio's approach. We didn't just want to put the number "2" on it and be done with it; we wanted to give it a proper name. --Could

you tell us about the backstory of the new protagonist, "Evie"? What does "CDDP" on Evie's back mean?

Hyungtae

　Evie is currently part of a special forces unit tracking down a group responsible for a major terrorist attack in the city. I can't discuss CDDP at this time as it might spoil the story.

--To be honest, Eve and Evie are related, right?

Hyungtae

　Yes, but the details of the relationship are a secret.

--In the previous work, Eve mainly used swords and guns, but Evie uses hand-to-hand combat. Why did your fighting style change?

Hyungtae

　We thought it would be difficult to show a significant change from the previous game if Evie started using a sword from the beginning. Therefore, we chose to focus on close-quarters combat this time, so that we can differentiate her by having a smaller physique perform powerful melee attacks.

　Although it's not shown in this trailer, there will be scenes where she uses a sword. As the story progresses, she will naturally be able to use more weapons and skills, but instead of adding weapons haphazardly, we plan to give each weapon a reason for existing as part of the story, making the combat more engaging.

--There was a scene where Evie walked down the street, crossed a crosswalk, and chased the main perpetrator. Is it possible to explore that area? It looked like a linear (single road) route during the demonstration.

Hyungtae

　Yes, you can actually enter some of the shops on the side, but that area is definitely a linear area. However, I'll leave it at that for now, as I want you to look forward to seeing how the city is structured in future gameplay. Stay tuned to see how appealing we can make the city.

--The graphics and attack dodge actions seem to have changed, but the UI looks similar to the previous game. What has changed in the game, and what hasn't?

Hyungtae

　I think there's almost nothing that hasn't changed. We also plan to change the UI to make it easier for everyone to see. However, since we've only been developing for about a year, we can't show you a completely polished UI yet, so we're using the existing UI at the moment. We plan to inherit all the important gameplay elements from the previous game and then make significant improvements from there. --There

was a vending machine in the trailer, so will there be side content like can collecting and fishing this time as well?

Hyungtae

　Of course, there will be side content, and our goal is to make the side content even more substantial than in the previous game.

--This time, along with developing a new game, you'll be doing your first in-house publishing and launching it from Korea to the whole world. Do you have a strategy for bringing this game to people all over the world?

Hyungtae

　We don't have a specific strategy to discuss at this point, and we're currently in the stage of solidifying our foundation while searching for business partners. However, we believe it's important to integrate our publishing philosophy with our game development philosophy, based on our experience with our previous title, so we've decided to try self-publishing. We want to reach as many players as possible around the world.

--If 100% completion is considered the goal, what stage would you say development is currently at?

Hyungtae

　It's very difficult to give a percentage. While the art direction and background styling are fairly solidified, there's still a lot of work to be done on the latter half of the story and the depth of the combat.

　Therefore, it's difficult to give an accurate progress report, but we have bigger ambitions regarding the scale of the game and the scope of expansions than the previous game, so overall, I would say we are still in the early stages of development.

--What platforms will this game be available on?

Hyungtae

　We haven't decided on the exact platform yet, but we plan to make it available to as many users as possible.

--The previous game was very popular in Japan. In addition to the fun of the game itself, the characters were very sexy, which was one of the reasons. 'NIKKE' is also very popular in Japan, but is it a goal to surpass the sexiness of the previous game with 'Stellar Blade: BloodRayne'?

Hyungtae

　My goal is to surpass Evie's charm. Of course, I really like Evie's appearance, but I'm focusing not just on her looks, but on making her someone that players can truly love. I'm using what I learned from interacting with users through

　" NIKKE " and building relationships with characters as a lesson to make Evie a very appealing character.

-- Are there any collaborations with "NIKKE"?

Hyungtae

　I'm not sure yet, but if I get the chance, I'll try asking the NIKKE team (laughs).

Hyun-tae: Of course there will be side content, and one of our goals is to make it even more robust than in the previous game.

—Along with developing this new title, you’ll be self-publishing for the first time and launching globally from Korea. Do you have a strategy for bringing this game to people around the world?

Hyun-tae: We don’t have any specific strategies to share at this point; we’re currently in the process of solidifying our foundation while seeking business partners. However, based on our experience with the previous title, we believe it’s important to integrate our publishing philosophy with our game development philosophy, which is why we decided to take on self-publishing. We want to reach as many players around the world as possible.

—If 100% completion were the benchmark, at what stage would you say the current development progress is?

Hyun-tae: It’s very difficult to answer that in terms of a percentage. While the art direction and background styling are pretty much finalized, there’s still a lot of work to be done on aspects like the latter half of the story and the depth of the combat.

Therefore, it’s difficult to give an exact progress estimate, but since we have even greater ambitions regarding the game’s scale and scope of expansion compared to the previous title, I’d say we’re still in the early stages of development overall.

--What platforms will this game be available on?

Hyun-tae: We haven’t finalized the platforms yet, but we plan to do our best to make it available to as many users as possible.

—The previous title was hugely popular in Japan. One reason was the game’s inherent fun, but the characters were also very sexy. ‘NIKKE’ is also very popular in Japan—is it a goal for ‘Stellar Blade: Bloodrain’ to surpass the sexiness of the previous title?

Hyun-tae: Our goal is to surpass Eve’s appeal. Of course, I really like Eve’s appearance as well, but we’re focusing on creating a character that players can truly love from the heart, rather than relying solely on physical appeal.

Using the lessons I learned from interacting with users through *NIKKE* and building relationships with characters, I’m working to make Evie a truly captivating character.

-- Is there any collaboration planned with *NIKKE*?

Hyun-tae: I’m not sure yet, but if the opportunity arises, I’d like to ask the *NIKKE* team about it (laughs).