Phantom Blade Zero blends influences from a variety of sources to create intense, fast-paced combat and a supernaturally infused Kungfupunk world. It draws on the tough, powerful bosses of Soulslikes, the quick, combo-focused combat of hack-and-slash games, the fascinating stories and characters of RPGs, and the unlockable exploration of search action games.
All those ideas come together to create something familiar and unexpected, reworking common action-RPG elements into beautiful, fast-paced battles across a strange, devastated world.
Mixing aggression and defense
While Phantom Blade Zero’s combat evokes games like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Bloodborne, it takes a more hybrid approach, channeling Wuxia stories and kung-fu movies. You’re not just using R1 to dodge, holding L1 to block blows, or tapping L1 to parry them; you also need to press attack, using Square for basic attacks and Triangle for more powerful blows to create simple but effective combos and force your opponent to block and parry as well.
It’s all about managing a meter measuring your Sha-Chi. Blocking attacks depletes your Sha-Chi, and if it runs out, you can be staggered and left open to attack — but perfectly parrying, and dodging and landing blows knocks down your opponent’s Sha-Chi instead, letting you cut through their defenses.
You can quickly refill your Sha-Chi by pressing Left on the D-Pad to swap between your two equipped main weapons. The system pushes you to string attacks together from both weapons, or to swap as you end your strikes so you’re ready to start parrying.
As you land attacks, you also earn Sha-Chi Essence. When it’s fully charged, you can unleash a Power Surge attack with L2 that overpowers your opponent, interrupts their attacks, and deals massive damage. All those elements, combined with powerful Phantom Edge weapons that have specific but limited uses, work together to turn battles into a fluid dance that constantly moves between attack and defense. And thanks to haptic feedback in the DualSense controller, you feel those clashing blades, adding intensity that shows how powerful and lethal their blows can be.
Using the weapons of the enemy
One of the best parts of Phantom Blade Zero is the way it dishes out new weapons. Instead of finding swords in treasure chests or buying them from merchants, you claim most of your weapons from bosses you defeat. You get to see exactly how a weapon works as you defend against its unique capabilities, then try those capabilities yourself.
For instance, after you defeat the boss Hua, Deadly Betrothed, you can claim her Scarlet Wraithblade, which summons spider lilies on the ground as you complete combos that slow down enemies and let you control the battlefield.
The White Serpent and Crimson Viper are dual-wielded swords, and you can use each one’s separate combo, or mix them together for different effects that let you use one sword up close and send the other spinning in circles around you.
Each weapon offers its own fighting style, special combos, and status effects, like causing enemies to bleed for extra damage or allowing you to siphon their life. With so many varied combat options, you’ll constantly want to try different weapons and see how they exploit the weaknesses of the tough bosses you’ll face.
Uncovering the mysteries of the Wulin
Exploration is also a big part of the experience. The game is full of side quests and stories to chase down that flesh out the Wulin, the game’s world, and the characters you meet along the way.
Each area you visit is expansive, with lots of side paths and secrets to find. Often, you’ll come across areas you can’t reach yet, encouraging you to backtrack later after finding an essential item. Some paths are blocked by specific Phantom Edge weapons that you’ll earn from defeating bosses, making it possible to smash through a barrier or grapple up to a distant location.
Phantom Blade Zero ties its storytelling, exploration, and combat together by rewarding you for your curiosity. Exploring new areas will often advance old side quests and uncover new ones. Discovering Blue Memory Flowers scattered throughout the world gives you glimpses into the past that unlock the stories of the places you visit. Finding all the flowers for a given story also increases Soul’s health, making him more powerful for the next battle.
A dark and tragic world
The Kungfupunk aesthetic informs not only how Phantom Blade Zero looks, but also the stories you find within it — it’s a dark place, constantly steeped in tragedy. Those stories lead to epic, varied boss fights against powerful martial artists and corrupted, monstrous characters.
Hua, Deadly Betrothed, is an early optional boss who forces you to stay aware of your surroundings as she summons deadly spider lilies that sap your strength and stagger you, leaving you open to massive blows from her huge sword. Once you defeat her, you learn about how she was used by the man she was to marry, and her rage resulted in the massacre of the entire wedding party.
Other characters represent the powers hunting Soul throughout the game, whose motivations are slowly uncovered through flashbacks as you push forward. Jing Ye, The Outlaw, comes at you on horseback and employs dirty tricks, throwing dirt in your face to obscure your vision as he tries to run you down. When you finally knock him off his mount, he comes at you with a spiked shield that damages you when you attack, and a huge sword he’ll try to bury in your flesh to absorb your blood and heal himself.
And then there are characters with their own agendas, like the Gold-Masked One, a man you encounter in the strange illusory realm of the Discordance, played by actor and martial arts legend Donnie Yen. As you learn more about his shadowed story, he challenges you to vicious duels, using sword slashes, kicks, punches, and powerful, unblockable throws to rip through your life meter.
Developer S-Game’s attention to detail in each boss gives you a glimpse into their backstories, even as you fight them. Those tidbits help flesh out its world as much as the side quests and characters you’ll help along the way. Through these tragic stories, you quickly discover that the world of Phantom Blade Zero is harsh; not everyone you face in battle is evil, and you won’t be able to help everyone who needs you.
But at least you can take down the frightening monsters tormenting the innocent, one furious, beautiful battle at a time. Test your skills against the foes of the Wulin when Phantom Blade Zero hits PlayStation 5 on October 29.
