Phantom Blade Zero is a game that attracted a lot of attention during the PlayStation Showcase in May of last year. Especially since the release of Elden Ring, we live in a time where so-called Soulslike games are very popular. These are the games that can be compared to FromSoftware’s Demon/Dark Souls games. The list of games with similar gameplay elements is getting longer and longer. It looks like Phantom Blade Zero is the next game on the list. The style, enemies, and focus on boss battles certainly gave the idea away. Just over a year after it was announced, the game was present at Summer Game Fest Play Days. Chinese development studio S-GAME kicked off its world tour in Los Angeles with a demo of the game. The tour will visit Gamescom, Tokyo Game Show and China Game Expo later this year. The developer hopes that players will want to play a preview of the game so they have a better idea of ​​what to expect from the final game. We stopped because we were in the area.

The above paragraph contains a misunderstanding that we will immediately clear up, because contrary to what many people assumed after the first images, Phantom Blade Zero is not a Soulslike. The developer helping us smiles during the gaming session. I’m the umpteenth person to ask the same question and so I’m giving the same answer for the umpteenth time: Phantom Blade Zero is not a Soulslike game, but an RPG that can best be compared to something like Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden. This difference is reflected in all types of routes, and the level of difficulty is perhaps the most important difference. Because yes: I made it to the end of the Phamtom Blade Zero beta by defeating the final boss in the beta. I usually don’t get this far in Soulslikes demos.

I’ll get back to the gameplay in a moment, but first let’s take a look at what Phantom Blade Zero is actually about. The game takes place in the Phantom World, an alternate version of ancient China, with influences from Chinese kung fu, steampunk, magic and other occult matters. And in the middle of it all we find Sol, a highly skilled assassin working for a powerful group called The Order. One day, Sol gets into serious trouble when he is blamed for the murder of one of the regime’s leaders. He runs away but is chased. This doesn’t end well. Members of the regime arrest and eliminate him. Not a good start for our main character. Fortunately, there is a mysterious figure who can bring the soul back to life, or a little. The spirit has an expiration date after this procedure. He has 66 days to live and then he dies. Therefore, he has 66 days to hunt down The Order and find the person who accused him of murder.

Much more is not yet known about the story. We know that the soul faces a multitude of enemies in its quest, who can be human or monstrous. We also know that the game gives the player a semi-open map. We don’t know yet what exactly that means. In my gaming days, you were mainly able to play through a set series of quests, each of which told little about the way they came together in the broader developments of the story. We’re talking about a tutorial, a simple battle with some mediocre enemies, and then a boss fight to level up a bit.