Stellar Blade Original Soundtrack PLUS

SHIFT UP‘s Stellar Blade soundtrack turned out to be one of my favourites of 2024, taking me by surprise with its blend of contemporary popular music genres, electronics, and experimentation. I love how it moves from mellow atmospheric pieces to mid-tempo ambient pop to full-blown electro-bangers. You’d think after ten hours of music I might have had my fill, but here I am to take a look at the Stellar Blade Original Soundtrack PLUS—a bonus pack of 16 additional songs that, for one reason or another, were not included in the original release. Do these hold up against the main OST?

Things start off unexpectedly subdued with “Lullaby of a Secret,” featuring breathy French vocals by Pernelle. It swells and calms like the sea, washing in and out with gliding strings punctuated by piano. Certainly a very pretty beginning, followed up by “Just Fine,” another vocal track (this time in English) lead by Pealeaf and a chilled acoustic guitar. This one has a gorgeous summery vibe and is my favourite of the two female vocal tracks. 

In true Stellar Blade fashion, the calm mood doesn’t last long at all. Track 3 hits you like a truck—“Mann (Phase 1)” switches gears into a rock/metal/industrial collision that doesn’t let up in its three-and-a-half-minute runtime, and indeed “Mann (Phase 2)” keeps this energy going but with a more drum ’n’ bass flavour. “Scarlet (Phase 1)” and “(Phase 2)” opt for an elegant electronic pop sound with orchestral flourishes, and while “(Phase 1)” sounds a little lacklustre, (Phase 2) is fantastic, with some very interesting beat changes throughout that add just a hint of chaos and edge to an otherwise very pristine-sounding track. 

“Battle Droid’ and “Boss Challenge” are the last two fully new tracks here. The former fuses a dance beat, a simple vocal line, slight rock influences, and a little gothy choral sample—I guess there’s no such thing as too much, eh? The latter is probably the most ‘traditional’ video game music-sounding piece here, and I don’t mean that in a negative way. It’s actually quite pleasant to have a track with a simpler format to act as something of a palate cleanser. “Boss Challenge” starts as it means to go on, and in context here, that’s refreshing! 

The second half of PLUS is almost entirely devoted to instrumental versions of various tracks from across the wider OST. They’re all pretty good, but if you’ve heard the original versions then you know what you’re going to get with these. I like that SHIFT UP has selected a range of different styles to get the instrumental treatment here, from calmer tracks highlighting orchestral work to ones with a faster bpm that showcase the electronic side of the OST. I particularly enjoy the deep, pulsing beat in “Blur” and the jazzy, city-pop stylings of “Take Me Away”, but overall, I’m not sure how essential these instrumental versions are. Would I miss them if they weren’t on the OST? Probably not. 

The bonus track is a new version of “Flooded Commercial Sector,” a highlight from the original OST, now in instrumental jazz form. Similarly to the other instrumental tracks, I like it, but not over the original. Unfortunately, I think I’m unlikely to revisit the second half of PLUS very often. The first half is another matter. You get everything that made the original OST so good distilled into eight tracks—genre switching at breakneck speed, clashes between the electronic and the human, and just a really exciting ride. 

Stellar Blade Original Soundtrack PLUS, as well as the game’s huge original soundtrack, are available for streaming and purchase wherever you find music.