60 minutes of gameplay of Phantom Blade Zero, a new ARPG from the Chinese studio S-Game, was posted online. It clearly shows parallels with popular games like Sekiro.
During the S-Party event in Beijing, the developers presented a demo version of the title. They allowed recording walkthroughs and publishing videos online, so these videos are not considered leaks. The studio also showed the official 22-minute gameplay. In general, visitors were able to familiarize themselves with the combat system, levels, enemies, and bosses.
The demo shows the protagonist Saul with different types of weapons, who confronts bosses. One of them is — Wang Jun or known as «Copper Hammer» because he wields a huge mace. The other — «Red Ghost» is fast and agile, constantly jumping around the arena. The culmination was the appearance of the Chief Disciple of the Seven Stars — the boss, who was only mentioned in the teaser. This time, a full battle was shown with him.
Among the most interesting weapons used by Saul are «Seamless Death» — ring-shaped blades that serve as homing missiles. The demo also shows three difficulty levels: Breaker, Initiate, and Defier. Although there were earlier rumors of four levels, the Defier mode turned out to be difficult even without it: many players did not even reach the first boss.
Developers are trying to convince users that Phantom Blade Zero — is not Souls-like. According to the creator, the title does not fit into any known genre. Although in fact, the project is similar to something in between Sekiro, Devil May Cry, and Ninja Gaiden. Also, some elements, such as «bonfires» or recovery flasks, are reminiscent of the Souls series. By the way, another Chinese Souls-like game has recently been released, which at the start was nicknamed the frieze festival.
The game is being developed on Unreal Engine 5, and the story campaign will last from 20 to 30 hours. Phantom Blade Zero will be released on PS5 and PC. The Xbox version has not yet been confirmed, but the developers do not rule out this possibility. However, Xbox has a weak presence in the Asian market, so support for this platform is unlikely. The release is scheduled for 2026, but the exact date has not yet been announced — it is likely to be announced this year.
Source: GamingBolt
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