Based on my experience in generative AI and the constant backlash it receives from most Western gamers, it seems that the technology is generally more accepted in countries like Japan, China, and Korea. It is certainly not universally praised or seen as an infallible tool in developing games with full public acceptance.but the stigma is not as common as in the United States or Europe. After all, the decline of AI is universal.
But regardless of where you exist in the world, the recently released music video for Stellar Blade: Blood Rain, made entirely with generative AI, was not immune to being dragged over the coals for being absolute trash. Shift Up made a fantastic game with the first Stellar Blade, and after revealing its sequel at Summer Game Fest, I think a lot of people were hoping it would tap into so much untapped potential. But even if he does, nothing will convince me to care after throwing away this garbage.
People were already wary that the protagonist looked like a teenager and that the first trailer was potentially full of generative AI assets, but this music video has instilled such a deep feeling of distrust between gamers and Shift Up that I doubt there’s anything that can be recovered.
What’s the deal with Stellar Blade’s AI music video?
“I want to be in love” Feat. Evie was released on the official Shift Up YouTube channel late last week. and has already accumulated millions of viewers and many justified criticisms. The main comment is a perfect distillation of how everyone feels about it, when they simply ask, “Are we dead?” In a gaming landscape where AI data centers are rapidly driving up the price of hardware and accelerating the effects of climate change, the last thing we want is for a talented studio like Shift Up to waste valuable resources on a shoddy music video.
The music video ends by crediting both Shift Up and its subsidiary AI Labs while also stating that the video was created using “in-game resources” from Blood Rain and regenerated with AI support. You don’t say…
CEO Kim Hyung Tae defended its release when a fan asked why some talented artists from the developer couldn’t have worked on it saying:: “EVIE, the central character in this video, was created from head to toe by our talented artists and modelers through over a year of dedicated work. The AI is not creating her from scratch. It is rendering and presenting the character based on the data, designs and craftsmanship our team created. We would really appreciate it if you could view the work with that understanding in mind.”
Since in the music video Evie grabs a keychain with the K-Pop Demon Hunters logo on it and the Sony video cameras also make an obvious appearance, I don’t buy this excuse for a second. You can pour some of your own resources into a generative AI program, but most of them were built by stealing countless works of art and reproducing them in a soulless form, exactly like this horrible music video.
Evie dances virtually without rhyme or rhyme as she jumps from one generic setting to another through the dark dystopian world of Blood Rain. It’s tonally disgusting and wants to put a pretty, scantily clad woman in the foreground just because. It’s a shame the song is pretty good…
If Shift Up is willing to shoot itself in the foot with a generative AI music video like this and defend it so ignorantly, then Blood Rain will almost certainly be packed with technology in all the worst ways.
In fact, much of the city Evie explores throughout the music video feels like an inconsistent hodgepodge of sci-fi influences that lacks a cohesive vision, something that was unfortunately also true of the reveal trailer that many feared was created using AI.
I understand the use of technology as a tool, and it’s a sad reality in game development that it will lead to layoffs and a greater lack of innovation, but damn, I didn’t expect Stellar Blade to be so blatant.
Stellar Blade was never original, and this proves it
I previously wrote about how the original Stellar Blade is incredibly derivative of better games like Nier: Automata. Its narrative, combat, characters, and even exploration draw from much better post-apocalyptic stories to decent effect. She looks and plays great, even if Eve is more of an empty vessel for players to fawn over than an interesting character in her own right. It was well made, but it lacked original ideas and wouldn’t exist if there wasn’t an active landscape to draw inspiration from. Deep down, everything seemed lazy.
That’s why, unfortunately, the direction Blood Rain is taking in the era of generative AI is not at all surprising. If you were willing to steal from the best when this technology didn’t exist, why not do something like this when it’s fashionable? You can include as many of your own assets as you want and claim it’s original, but the end result seems lacking in creativity while taking players who expect better for a ride. I wanted to get excited about this game, but because I want to support the people who make games and the future of an already broken industry, I just can’t anymore.
It is an ethical betrayal of everything I defend when there are so many original and strong experiences that deserve to be defended. Stellar Blade: Blood Rain seeks the lowest common denominator and doesn’t care how many shortcuts it takes to achieve it.
Systems
3.5/5
Released
April 26, 2024
JERS
M for mature
Developers
Change up
Editor(s)
Sony Interactive Entertainment
