Somersaulting towards the latest minion foolish enough to stand in my way, I execute a stylish combo with my dual-blades, chain the attack together with my two-handed katana, and finish him with a blurred flurry of fast-paced, stylish slashes just for good measure. Was it overkill for a simple minion? Absolutely. Did I do it anyway because it was fun? Absolutely. This is the heart of Phantom Blade Zero.
While Souls-likes have dominated the conversation in recent years, and anyone who follows me knows I adore them, S-Game wants players to know that Phantom Blade Zero is not a Souls-like. Despite appearances and maybe a few, minor similarities, Phantom Blade is a fast-paced action game that draws inspiration from sources such as the Kung Fu movies from the 1990s.
Ending the “Souls” Comparisons
At Summer Game Fest, I was fortunate to be able to chat with the team at S-Game about their goals and aspirations for the game while also getting to experience a short level and three bosses. As I walked through the tutorial with the developer (shout out to Bob at S-Game, who was a lot of fun to chat with), they want Phantom Blade Zero to be accessible to anyone. With that in mind, there are some key design decisions that come into play.
First, and perhaps one of the greatest examples of Phantom Blade Zero being different than a Souls-like, enemies do not respawn. After dying to a mini-boss at the end of the short level, I am immediately able to run back and challenge him again without any roadblocks. I’m unsure as to the extent of how far this carries throughout the game since it was a brief demo. But, generally speaking, S-Game wants you to be able to immediately re-challenge the enemy that killed you.
What’s most notable, however, is that Phantom Blade Zero is an action game through and through. Hacking and slashing through enemies is fast and exciting, and, once it begins to click, you can slice and dice your way through crowds in the blink of an eye. Your active loadout consists of two main weapons and two alternate weapons. These can be used in a variety of ways, but mainly you chain attacks together between your primary weapons and their ultimate abilities.
Swapping to your off weapon mid-combo is encouraged with the swap itself acting as an attack. Thus, you’re frequently aiming for longer, continuous combos, which can be further enhanced with ultimate attacks (signified by the purple flame in the above image) that can also integrate into combo chains.
S-Game makes it clear that they want new players to be able to pull off core combos and progress through the game using the fundamentals, which are easy to pick up and understand. But for more experienced players, they want the ceiling to be high enough to provide room for some truly outrageous playstyles to emerge. As the old adage goes: easy to pick up but difficult to master.
As I spend a little more time acclimating, I can see this come to life. And as with any good action game, when you manage to pull off a perfect chain, it’s exhilarating. Bob mentions they are comparing the playstyle as more akin to Devil May Cry than something like Dark Souls, which I certainly agree with now that I’ve spent time with it.
Further combining with the chain-combos are dodges and parries which can be used to not only avoid taking damage, but to initiate a counter attack. Enemies flash blue when they attempt an attack that can be parried, and they flash red during attacks that can be dodged. Should you hit the timing window, you’ll parry or avoid the attack with flair and be setup to begin a combo of your own.
With the more challenging enemies and bosses, this becomes more of a dance as they can block and parry as well. And so, you find yourself going back and forth while trying to find the right opening to gain an advantage. In ways it reminded me of Sekiro, but it’s certainly more approachable and doesn’t require the same level of exact precision.
Charting Your Own Path
In exploring the brief demo of Phantom World (where the game takes place), I inquired about the core level design and how exploration is encouraged or rewarded (if at all). S-Game confirms the levels will branch and lead to different areas. The level-design is an area where the Souls comparison is likely most apt as the game will have branching paths, hidden areas, and be open to explore freely, though they are careful to note it is not open-world but, rather, semi open-world. This is a contrast to something like Nioh, which had confined levels.
Open areas are where your secondary weapons will come into play more often. In the demo, I was able to play with the bow and arrow and the hand cannon, each of which can be charged over time to do extra damage. Sneaking through a couple areas to assassinate the guards, taking them out from range, and then proceeding to unleash a full rampage on the remaining enemies is quite frankly, awesome. The ability to be as aggressive as you can imagine is what hack-and-slash action games are all about, and, in that vein, Phantom Blade Zero is more than willing to oblige.
Boss battles initiate as you would expect, with large health bars and dedicated arenas. Each of the three bosses in the demo presented unique mechanics, however, and timing was key, as was learning their patterns. Similar to the core enemies, once you figure them out, you’ll be able to assault them with fury and make a spectacle of it in the process. S-Game has also mentioned SIFU with relation to Phantom Blade Zero, and it’s yet another comparison that makes sense after you get a feel for the game.
On the final boss in the demo, you are able to traverse the environment in a special way to avoid an attack and counter him. How prevalent these types of environmental mechanics will be in the full game, I’m not sure. But it added unique flavor to the battle as well.
The Next, Great Action Hero
S-Game isn’t ready to discuss release dates or broad testing just yet, but, even so, I was very impressed with the performance of the game and how it responds to player input. Action games, particularly ones that aim for having a high ceiling, must be precise and responsive. And even in this early stage, Phantom Blade Zero feels fantastic to play. I had no problems at all stringing together flashy combos, timing my parries, or tackling the three bosses in the demo. And upon finishing, I was left wanting more.
As with any new game in this space, comparisons are often the best measure of what to expect. Having read other previews myself, I’ve seen everything from Nioh, to Souls-likes, Bloodborne, SIFU, Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden, and more thrown around when referring to Phantom Blade Zero. After playing it and speaking with the developers at S-Game, it’s clear that they are going for something unique, though certain attributes will be familiar, of course.
Regardless, it’s a beautiful, unique, and engrossing game, even in this early stage, and I can’t wait to play more. I want to thank S-Game for allowing me to check it out and for expounding upon the design intentions while I was playing. Stay tuned for more on Phantom Blade Zero later this year!
