I’m having a great time with Stellar Blade, the new character action game from developer Shift Up that launched as a PS5 exclusive on April 26. As I embark on a second playthrough thanks to New Game Plus, I fall ever more in love with the combat, the story, and the world. I’m also finding more and more outfits for our heroine Eve, which is great because many of them are cute and stylish enough to get posted to a fashion-focused Instagram account. There are a lot of outfits in this game—over 70 of them, in fact—and while many of them are hot, some of the sexiest ones are actually the least revealing.
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It’s no secret that the game has been a hot topic of discussion online lately, with something of a firestorm raging over Eve, a soldier who slays heels while slaying aliens. Some folks have been freaking out over how they feel certain outfits were “censored,” creating petitions to “free Stellar Blade” from the censorship gods and prudes. It’s…a take, to be sure, especially considering how hot Eve and her outfits already are. I mean, there’s one that essentially leaves her naked, so anyone hoping to see plenty of skin in this game can easily do just that. However, I’d argue that Eve is often at her hottest when she’s wearing more clothes. Not because I’m some puritan who hates sex and nakedness, but because attraction and sex aren’t always simply about the naked body. Instead, what makes Eve sexy is sometimes as much in what her clothes cover up as in what they expose.
Leave some things to the imagination
Eve’s body is modeled on that of South Korean model Shin Jae-eun. Jae-eun is beautiful, and when you base your protagonist’s looks on those of a stunning model, you’re going to get stunning results. It would be easy to just throw whatever on Eve because she’s already got the goods. Just look into Stellar Blade’s subreddit and you’ll see all kinds of posts from players talking about how this outfit or that outfit makes them salivate.
And of course, everyone’s entitled to their own ideas about what’s sexy and what’s not, but in my view, the ones some gamers highlight are too basic, too expected. They’re things like mini skirts barely covering the ass and exposed cleavage and panties so tight they ride up the crotch, outfits that make it easy to ogle Eve. (Be careful when you do, though, because she’ll ogle back.) These are stimulating. Who doesn’t sweat when their partner dresses in a maid outfit or some other extremely hot getup? I do. The fantasy is alluring, but there’s nothing to imagine when it’s all hanging out. Like a gorgeous woman wearing the best lingerie, Eve’s at her most attractive when she’s wearing a little more because of the mystery. There’s something arresting about clothing that fits a body’s proportions, that accentuates the curves without giving everything away, that makes your brain work a bit so that your imagination considers the suggestive implications of the curves the clothing so alluringly outlines.
Consider the Keyhole Suit, a form-fitting mini dress featuring cutouts on the sides and back, thigh-high boots, and elbow-length gloves. There isn’t much skin exposed here, but the way the garment fits her snugly, the fabric contouring the shape of her curves, is far sexier in my view than the mere bareness of the Skin Suit. Or consider the Photogenic Suit, which is composed of a loose-fitting sweater that hangs off her shoulders and tight leather pants. Again, like the Keyhole Suit, the way the leather pants wrap around Eve’s legs, creating shape without revealing everything, is sexy AF. Couple that with the exposed shoulders, and Eve’s ready for a hot dinner date and something extra. Plus, the drapey, slouchy sweater totally hides her figure, which leaves you wondering just what she’s got on underneath. Curiosity is a part of sex appeal.
Another particularly hot outfit of Eve’s is the Moutan Peony Suit, a cheongsam-esque short gown with a triangle-like cutout just above the cleavage and sheer-looking tights. The dress hugs her midsection in an incredibly flattering way, the tights are just see-through enough that you can almost peek at her supple skin through them, and the chest cutout gives you something to look at without reducing her to just an object of fantasy. I could go on forever, as there are plenty of outfits here that I think make Eve particularly alluring, but the one that stands out, and the outfit that was my main during my first playthrough, was the Orca Exploration Suit. This outfit is all about the cutouts, as there are some over her chest, midriff, and hips, but they’re covered by a transparent material that creates intrigue. It’s that captivatingly delicious balance between revealing and obscuring that makes this outfit and others like it so hot. It’s about the implication, the mystery, the intrigue of sex.
I think about things like the centerfolds in Playboy Magazine or steamy photoshoots where models tease you with their bodies, revealing more just enough rather than everything. Images like these that leave more to your imagination, that let your mind run wild with ideas around how the reveal may happen, are the epitome of sexy in my opinion. “Sexy,” according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is defined as “sexually suggestive or stimulating” and “erotic.” A naked body and its exposure of everything can definitely be “stimulating,” but there’s nothing “suggestive” about it. And if you just want exposed bodies, well, porn is right there. Yeah, you can fully expose Eve so that she’s more “stimulating,” but, for me at least, that diminishes her sex appeal. She’s already hot. Let the clothes create some intrigue.
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Again, I’m not saying that Eve isn’t attractive when she’s got next to nothing on. The Holiday Rabbit Suit, a bodysuit with a bunny tail and a hood with rabbit ears that’d fit right at home in the Playboy mansion, is hot. All the bare skin makes me sweat, but again, it doesn’t really rise to the level of sexiness in my eyes because there’s nothing “sexually suggestive or stimulating.” There’s nothing left to imagine as, with the tightness of the bodysuit, you can essentially see it all. And when you’ve seen it all, you’re left with nothing intriguing. I’d rather my Eve wear a bit more. That way, I can imagine more. When “sexiness” is at its best, fashion can elevate things to a different level by revealing enough to stimulate us and obscuring enough to engage our emotions and imaginations as well. Eve’s hottest outfits know how to do just that, taking her already tremendous sex appeal and making it iconic.
