Phantom Blade Zero, from China-based studio S-Game, is not a Soulslike title, though one can be forgiven for having that thought. This is primarily because you face countless enemies and bosses, and each battle requires you to rely primarily on timely dodges, parries, and blocks if you want to survive. However, the combat system, which mainly focuses on fast attacks, combos, and weapon swapping, reminded me more of hack-and-slash and action titles over the years.
Indeed, I learned as much when I finally got to play Phantom Blade Zero at the Tokyo Game Show. The demo was structured akin to a gauntlet, where I faced regular enemy mobs in areas, followed by challenging boss fights. After completing the boss gauntlet, my Phantom Blade Zero memorabilia was stamped to show my successful attempts.
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The first boss in the Phantom Blade Zero demo was part of the tutorial. I faced an enemy called Iron Mask Killer while learning about the controls and mechanics. I first noticed that I could chain normal and heavy attacks with my Twin Swords to develop a combo string. The one I used most often required three normal attacks followed by two heavy attacks.
Attack animations were also fast and fluid, as were the moments when I switched to Phantom Edges, my character’s secondary weapons. These included a Bow that allowed me to aim at weak spots and a Tiger Cannon that blasted my foe to smithereens.
After dealing with the Iron Mask Killer, I spawned in a village where I had to eliminate several enemy mobs. This was where I got to try stealth mechanics, such as long-range kills, backstabbing, and aerial assassinations reminiscent of those from Assassin’s Creed, Tenchu, and Ghost of Tsushima.
With the hostiles out of the way, I took on a boss named Tie Sha the Frenzy. As his moniker implies, this fella struck aggressively with a massive handaxe, often following up with multiple slashes and swings. The opponent after this bout was a fella with a silly name, Commander Cleave, a curved blade-wielding warrior with delayed and erratic attack patterns.
Since I’ve played a plethora of Soulslike titles over the years, I was able to avoid most blows from my opponents. What makes the concept of avoidance even flashier in Phantom Blade Zero is the inclusion of the Ghostep mechanic, where dodging or blocking at the perfect time causes your character to flip around while being shrouded in smoke. This allowed me to reposition and unleash my combo while preserving my Sha-Chi energy meter. It certainly felt better, mechanically, as opposed to parries that only caused an instant flash or temporary stagger.
Part of why combat animations are so smooth is that Phantom Blade Zero draws influence from wuxia, a genre of fiction that delves into Chinese martial arts–the developers even tout this concept as “kung fu punk.” Chinese culture and themes also influence character, weapons, and environmental designs.
The last opponent I faced as part of the gauntlet was Huangxing, the Sunken Pillar of Kunlun, a robed knight with a curiously pyramid-shaped helmet. This enemy wielded a large ball-and-chain flail, which I deftly avoided a few times. Little did I know that he’d cause the weapon to drop on my character’s head, decapitating him in one swift motion. I was dumbfounded, staring with my mouth agape since I nearly had a perfect run. Nevertheless, I continued to persevere. On my next attempt, I used the environment to my advantage, running vertically along pillars before smashing down with vicious blows until Huangxing was no more.
With all my targets defeated and the “Thank You For Playing” message flashing on my screen, I was given a “stamp collection” of sorts to prove that I had cleared the gauntlet. If what I experienced at the Tokyo Game Show is any indication, then Phantom Brave Zero may just prove to be one of the most enjoyable and challenging action games in recent years. Perhaps S-Game’s offering can stand toe-to-toe with another massive hit from fellow China-based studio Game Science, which released Black Myth: Wukong a few months ago.
Phantom Blade Zero does not yet have a definite release date.
