Phantom Blade Zero was the surprise mystery hit of Sony’s PlayStation Showcase
Of the 25 trailers shown during Wednesday’s PlayStation Showcase, the one that most fans were talking about the next morning was also the most unusual. Are Phantom Sheet Zeroof S-Game, and its genre/style/characteristics are also hard to define.
We’ll do our best to keep you up to date with this intriguing adventure, which at the very least looks to offer players classy sword-and-melee combat in a world based on feudal China.
What is Phantom Blade Zero about?
It is an action role-playing game that fans of recent action role-playing games like Ghost of Tsushima, Sekiro: Shadows die twiceAnd Wo Long: fallen dynastymainly because they share themes of Asian culture.
But Phantom Blade Zero layered on much of his own knowledge with a striking mix of martial arts and steampunk. “Be the Dark Raider banished by ‘The Order’, embark on the path of vengeance and discover Wulin’s darkest secrets!” says it official YouTube entry.
a PlayStation blog post of S-Game founder Soulframe Liang after the Showcase said, “’Phantom World’, the universe the game takes place in, is a universe where many kinds of forces converge. You will find Chinese kung fu, intricate machines reminiscent of steampunk, art of the occult, and intriguing things that don’t quite fit into any of these categories.”
Named Soul, the player protagonist is an assassin accused of murdering the leader of The Order. After being mortally wounded, Soul’s life was saved by a magical healer, but only for 66 days. So there is a race against time throughout the game’s story to defeat the enemies of The Order and bring justice to those responsible.
Regarding the game’s visual presentation, Liang said, “The dark/gloomy visual style you’ll see a lot in the game is a deliberate choice. A bleak world makes characters with hearts of gold really stand out.
Otherwise, S-Game’s website is mama and leaves it to teasers and screenshots. A good place to look for more is a newly created subredditwhere fans have taken parts from the trailer and highlighted what they think Phantom Blade Zero will deliver when it launches.
Is Phantom Blade Zero a Soulslike game?
That’s a question many fans ask given the comparisons to it Sekiro And Wo longsays Liang Phantom Blade Zero is not necessarily a Soulslike game.
“We’re big fans of the hack-and-slash genre,” said Liang. “What’s more popular these days is ‘strategic action game’, like Soulslikes and Monster Hunter. They choose to slow things down a few steps, giving players more time for strategic thinking.
“But that approach doesn’t capture the kind of action party we have in mind,” Liang added, “namely the streamlined, breath-taking moves in kung fu movies in the 1990s.”
Who is S-Game, the developer of Phantom Blade Zero?
S-Game is a studio based in Beijing. Phantom Blade Zero (And executioners) appears to be the first Western release.
If this is Phantom Blade Zero, is there another Phantom Blade game as well?
S-Game also the developer of Phantom Blade: Executioners, a side-scrolling “dark Kungfupunk action game” for Android, iOS and Windows PC. That game has been and is playable in multiple closed beta tests listed as “coming soon” on Steam.
You can watch the gameplay of Phantom Blade: Executioners below for a taste of S-Game’s 2D action chops.
Liang said the Phantom Blade canon his studio created consisted largely of games launched on mobile devices in China, not the West. The Phantom Blade series evolved from another game called Rainblood: City of the Deadan indie game developed by Liang in RPG Maker and released in 2010.
When is the Phantom Blade Zero release date?
The game doesn’t have one yet. Wednesday’s trailer was the first anyone had ever heard of Phantom Blade Zeroand the trailer gave no launch date or window.
Is Phantom Blade Zero exclusive to PlayStation?
The games official website lists PlayStation 5, Steam, and the Epic Games Store as platforms, so yes, it appears to be a console-exclusive title for PlayStation.