For all its egregious fan-service, turns out Stellar Blade is actually pretty good. You can tell Sekiro is there in its DNA somewhere - with a mild emphasis on parries - but I wish combat was a bit less forgiving and hack-n-slashy. There are a myriad of ways to approach each encounter, which is fun but again, lightens the difficulty a fair bit. I also wish there were more varied environments, which feel a bit samey at a certain point. Overall though, fun game with great music, cool enemies, boss designs and an engaging-enough story.