About 10 minutes into my first encounter with Stellar Blade, I had a sudden very strong sense of deja vu. I hadn't played the game before, I hadn't seen much footage at all, but while guiding Eve through those desolate post-apocalyptic streets, I had a distinct feeling I'd been here before, and not because I used to live in Hemel Hempstead. A few minutes later, while battling one of the first major enemies I'd encountered, it dawned on me: Stellar Blade is a PS2 game. Not literally, of course, but in terms of its look, feel and general vibe. Many years ago, I was a regular writer for Official PlayStation 2 Magazine and I reviewed a lot of games on that wonderful machine – and something about Stellar Blade felt like returning to it. Then I went on Twitter and found that a lot of people were saying the same thing.
But why? Designer Kim Hyung Tae has talked about modern titles such as Sekiro and Nier as key reference points. So what is it about this game that's taking us all back twenty years?
