I got to play Phantom Blade Zero at Gamescom last week and, after a bit of fumbling around to find my booth in the chaos of a busy hall, I was pretty impressed. Judging by the reactions of my fellow demos, one of whom made it a full 7 minutes before me (I’m not upset), it looks like it’s going to be a surprise hit.
Phantom Blade Zero comes from S-Game and is the studio’s first major effort. As PC Gamer’s Rich Stanton noted last year, it’s also inspired by an RPG Maker game the team made in 2010 called Rainblood: Town of Death. S-Game has been pretty at pains to draw a line between Phantom Blade Zero and Soulslikes since then – and has shown that while it’s certainly drawn inspiration, it’s definitely its own thing.
Having gotten my hands on it, I completely agree. Phantom Blade Zero feels much more like Team Ninja’s Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty in spirit – it takes the hallmarks of FromSoftware’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and reinvents the genre into a wuxia action game, like a hefty dash of Godhand or Ninja Gaiden thrown into the Soulslike soup. It’s a genre twist that I’m extremely happy to see – practically kicking my feet and giggling – come to see flourish.
Phantom Blade Zero is a game that doesn’t care too much about rough exploration filled with danger. While it’s not completely uninterested in it, enemies don’t respawn once you kill them – and from what I’ve played, the focus is more on the boss fights.
What sets it apart from Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, however, is that it is not afraid to let things get complex. First of all, there are two Types of attacks that require either a perfect parry or a perfect spot dodge – that is, a dodge where you rely on the power of the iframes and stay in place while the momentum comes. You also have access to timed blocks, which are great for breaking your enemies’ stances (weakening Sha-Chi).
In the mix, you’ll have ranged weapons at your disposal – like a bow and arrow or, even more stylishly, a giant tiger head that breathes fire – as well as special moves powered by the Sha-Chi essence called “Power Surges.”
It all feels very over-the-top in a delicious way, detached from the earthly need to be grounded and sensible. Like Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, it trades deliberate and cautious movements for cool flips and tricks. Unlike that game, however, it offers its players both a broader toolbox And Enemies that are more likely to confuse you like you stumbled into EVO before learning how to do a dragon strike.
One of my favorites was a boss who threw a heavy chain at me – a red light flashed to tell me to dodge the attack perfectly. However, the thug in question would then hurl his weapon upwards, forcing me to guess (by the bend of his arm) when it would come back down. However, several times I was additionally punished by a hitbox when he snatched the attacking club away from me if I was poorly positioned.
The whole thing is a delicious foundation for skill expression, and it doesn’t shy away from assuming that players are skilled enough to put the game’s mechanics to the test. I can’t wait to keep playing – my attention (previously interest) has now turned into full-blown excitement.
