Let’s clear one thing up: Phantom Blade Zero is not a soulslike. Sure, it has bonfires in the form of ornate bells and challenging multi-stage boss battles.
But, with flashy high-octane combat and cinematic, choreographed action sequences, it’s clear developer S-Game is pushing in a wholly unique direction with the studio’s upcoming RPG. And, after an hour thrashing and flipping through its stunning mythical world, I’ve realized that it doesn’t really matter how we categorize it, because whatever this is, it absolutely rules.
In Phantom Blade Zero, players step into the shoes of Soul, an elite assassin working for a mysterious organization called ‘The Order.’ After being framed and subsequently murdered, Soul is resurrected and set on a 66-day-long journey for revenge before they succumb again.
While the demo I tried didn’t delve into the story too much, its initial hooks are very compelling, bolstered by the visual design of the world, which dances between steampunk aesthetics and Wuxia mythology.
Cut a dash
My time as Soul began with a speedy combat tutorial, explaining the basics of dodging and attacking. To unleash your rage on an enemy, you can choose between heavy and light attacks, chaining them together to deliver a vicious combo. Smacking square four times in a row triggers a series of momentum-building slashes forward. Similarly, chaining together the Triangle button three times allows for a similar set of swipes ending with a stylish flip.
To diversify your moveset further, you can also switch to a second primary weapon mid-fight and access a whole new variety of combos. What makes this switch so engaging is that your choice of weapon will also impact how the blows hit.
Given a selection of eight primary weapons, ranging from two-handed cleavers to bleed-inducing broken swords, I opted for a duo of short blades dubbed Sanguine Twin and a set of chakrams lovingly called Seamless Death. Both weapons provided dynamic, gravity-defying combos that destroyed my opponents and often left me hungry to spill more blood and flex my newfound acrobatics.
Phantom Blade Zero also offers another weapon set to choose from called Phantom Edges, which provides special attacks to amp up the drama and damage in combat scenarios.
During the demo, there were five options to choose from, including a Night Owl bow, which allowed for some ranged damage, a jumbo axe aptly called the Man-Cutter, and a menacing metallic mask called Flaming Mane, which spewed fire towards enemies. As with the primary weapon, you’ll have two to wield and switch between, providing even more variety as you fight.
Combat might appear frantic in motion, but in practice, the game does a great deal of heavy lifting for you to achieve that result. Despite only pressing a few buttons, Soul immediately started throwing his form into each move, dipping and diving against opposing enemies like an Olympic gymnast.
It took a few attempts to master the process of chaining my combos and timing my parries just right, but Phantom Blade Zero ensured that even if I went down, I would be going down in style. This acrobatic movement also applies to the game’s platforming challenges, which saw Soul gliding down ladders one-handed and swinging across ropes with gusto, too.
Mythological missions
Speaking of going down, there are three difficulty settings in Phantom Blade Zero to choose from – Wayfarer, Gamechanger, and Hellwalker. Depending on which mode you select, the enemies will not only have more health but also wield unique movesets, satisfying the needs of masochists whilst leaving space for regular players, too. It’s not often that combat-driven action games provide such options, and it was refreshing to see S-Game cater to a variety of players – especially considering how intriguing the lore underpinning the story is.
Beyond the initial tutorial, Phantom Blade Zero set me on a journey through an enemy encampment nestled in a craggy mountainside. Here, I honed my sneaking skills, crouching around corners and silently taking out baddies one at a time while chiming the checkpoint-setting Bells to earn back healing potions, and uncover more of the map. This process was fairly rinse and repeat, and yet with a host of combos at my fingertips, I thoroughly enjoyed gallivanting for scraps of information to explain Phantom Blade Zero’s corrupted setting.
Following the path, I was led to a bloody, body-filled field where I encountered my first miniboss, Wan Jun “Coppermaul”. Despite his gargantuan baby-like form, Wan Jun lumbered around the arena at a surprising speed, making it imperative for me to dash away from his heavy blows, which could shake up the earth and briefly impair my vision.
The fight itself felt well-balanced, with an unexpected highlight arriving as I knocked him down, which caused the enormous infant to literally throw a tantrum. Aside from being an excellent opportunity to get greedy with my hits, I couldn’t help but giggle as he banged his fists on the ground in anger.
Moving deeper into the camp, the clearing-out process continued, though enemies appeared in larger bunches and with more dangerous skills. In addition to some sword-wielding fiends, there were also warriors with polearms who could smack me from a distance, as well as a healer who, in addition to fixing up the others in the squad, could also shoot roots from their hands and trap me in place.
Initially, I approached these situations with restraint, but I quickly discovered that S-Game prefers you take a more immediate approach. By taking my time, I was leaving myself open to damage, instead of linking up my combos and directing the force with haste, Bloodborne-style. The need to continuously move in combat creates a feeling of nervous excitement, and meant I was constantly spamming inputs to keep enemies abreast.
Phantom Blade Zero’s action-packed demo ends with a multi-stage boss battle against the camp’s leader, The Chief Disciple of the Seven Stars. As far as boss battles go, this one left a lasting impression. With a gaggle of dancing warriors in tow, I pranced around the fiery battlefield performing cinematic dodges and delivering some classic kung-fu moves – my favorite being the iconic split kick. My giddiness only increased as I entered phase two, with the Chief now flying around the field like a possessed marionette to a percussive rock soundtrack.
Phantom Blade Zero is nothing if not stylish. From the cinematic combat to the high-octane boss battles, this hour of gameplay went by in a flash. It’s hard to say how the story will shake out right now. But, if the demo is anything to go by, I’ll be keeping a close eye on this RPG in the lead-up to launch next year.
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