When Stellar Blade was released in 2024, it was clear that the SHIFT UP devs were inspired by another post-apocalyptic sci-fi game, Square Enix’s NieR: Automata. While EVE’s journey differs significantly, there’s some DNA of NieR: Automata in Stellar Blade. In a case of divine fate, or just the directors of both games, respect for each other led now to the release of Stellar Blade x NieR: Automata crossover DLC for Stellar Blade.

My EVE arrived in the Great Desert, and within mere moments, I heard upbeat music blaring, followed by a large figure zooming past at a breakneck pace. This figure is the bizarre travelling merchant (and part vehicle) Emil, who has arrived in the world of Stellar Blade to recover Stellar Tears. Now, catching Emil each time is a challenge in itself.

Seen whizzing around in the Wasteland and Great Desert areas, Emil is difficult to catch, but you manage to position EVE for a well-timed shot or whack with a sword to stop him in his tracks. Early on, I spent a reasonable amount of time trying to chase him down when figuring out his path and camping out was the optimum way to bring him to a grinding halt.

Now that I had hit him, Emil gave me the lowdown on why he was in the Stellar Blade world. The merchant is looking for Stellar Tears, which he must obtain before returning to his world. Of course, for the promise of some gorgeous NieR: Automata outfits, EVE is more than happy to assist.

The mission is very straightforward: explore the Wasteland and Great Desert regions and find Stellar Tears, shiny flowers that are contained in a way that resembles the cans in Stellar Blade proper. My cross-desert scavenger hunt was aided by a data bank log showing images of landmarks near the tear locations. Since I had already scoured most of the map, I had plenty of fast-travel phone booths, and camps unlocked, reducing the running I had to do.

Despite this, it still felt time-consuming to revisit these areas, with nothing else to explore in each zone. The tears emit a radiant shine and let off a twinkling sound when nearby, so finding them when I was in the right general location was easy.

After my tedious travels, I was geared to return to Emil to get EVE decked out in her new attire. With eleven items to purchase with Stellar Tears, there’s a reasonable amount to play around with. There are 4 Nanosuits for EVE, including the iconic 2B dress and accompanying blindfold mask and hairstyle (which can all be equipped separately).

The other 3 Nanosuits and the three hairstyles for EVE include A2’s uniform and hairstyle, and Stellar Blade’s take on YoRHA outfits with the Unofficial Ceremonial Attire, which is a nice little sheer moment and a gorgeous short number with billowing sleeves, as well as a hairstyle with a White Fox mask accessory.

There’s an incredible amount of detail in the costumes, to the point where the self-destruct versions of 2B and A2’s outfits can be worn when EVE revives with the WB Pump, making for another semi-new, though somewhat missing, outfit as a little bonus. Also depending on where your eyes wander you may receive a kick in the face (or in this instance the camera) much like the girls do in the NieR series.

Eve’s drone gets the Pod treatment, much like 2 B’s accompanying bot, and I felt a momentous amount of joy having my buddy back with me in some form. Adam also manages to nab himself an outfit, complete with Emil’s head. Lily takes on the appearance of 2 B’s partner on the field, 9S, in a cute little short-shorts number. All the outfits are incredibly accurate recreations of the NieR: Automata designs.

To my surprise, the music in each desert area changed once I donned a 2B outfit, and the songs fit flawlessly for exploration, learning into the NieR: Automata fantasy of running around as 2B. It was satisfying to experience Stellar Blade with a hint of NieR: Automata, but they could have taken it even further.

Stellar Blade was one of my favourite titles of 2024, thanks to its action-packed and exciting world. NieR: Automata is, likewise, one of my favourite games of all time, thanks to its strong protagonist, exciting setting, and incredibly varied gameplay. It is the prime opportunity to blend the hack-and-slash gameplay of Stellar Blade with NieR Automata’s style.

It felt like a missed opportunity to bring 2B into Stellar Blade for a team-up or a mission where I could play as 2B herself. There’s so much lore and potential for crossover content between Stellar Blade and NieR: Automata that I would like to see more added.

As a paid DLC, the content felt brief and uneventful, but given the number of free updates Stellar Blade has brought, we have been blessed with a great deal of free base game content, including extra cosmetics and a boss rush mode. A free content update has been released to coincide with the NieR DLC release, which includes four new outfits, an extra accessory and lip-syncing, and the much-requested photo mode for obvious reasons. For those like me who adore NieR: Automata, the crossover DLC might be worth shilling a few bucks. I like EVE looking like a kickass babe while slicing through Naytiba.

The Stellar Blade x NieR: Automata DLC is a promising glimpse into what Stellar Blade could bring into their future content. While there’s a loving tribute to NieR: Automata, it didn’t capture the essence of NieR: Automata and bring it into the Stellar Blade universe in an overly meaningful way. I am keen to start up a New Game+ run purely in 2B attire. Then, I may fall in love with both games and their heroines all over again.

Written by: Yasmin Noble