Phantom Blade Zero: Everything We Know

If Ghost of Tsushima, Ninja Gaiden, and Bloodborne had, by some miraculous happening, merged into a standalone IP, then we like to imagine it would look a whole lot like S-Game’s Phantom Blade Zero, an absolutely stunning hack-and-slash RPG inspired by, well, the three aforementioned titles. And honestly, there’s a few reasons why Xbox fans should be green with envy right about now — as the recently aired PlayStation Showcase made it clear that the upcoming game would be standing its ground as a PS5 exclusive. Sigh.

So, if it’s not shaping up for a multi-platform release, then what is it doing, and when can we expect to get our hands on it? Well, here’s everything we’ve been able to thread together since first hearing of it a little ways back. Phantom Blade Zero: what is it, and how convincing of a love letter to Ninja Gaiden will it be, really? Let’s talk about it.

What Is Phantom Blade Zero?

To put it short, Phantom Blade Zero is an upcoming hack-and-slash RPG, and the spiritual successor to S-Game’s independent game formulated in RPG Maker back in 2010. Conceptually, they’re one and the same, only with the latest project being a full-fledged semi-open world RPG with the power of the PlayStation 5 to elevate it to a new degree. And while the heart of the studio’s decade-old creation is still alive and kicking, Phantom Blade Zero will, and rightfully so, be a little more mechanically, visually, and aurally in tune with modern technology. It isn’t half-baked, is what we’re saying.

But what is it all about, and how will this independent RPG look to compete with some of the industry’s biggest players? Well, take a gander at some of the in-game screenshots that S-Game has provided to date, and you’ll see exactly why our expectations are at an all-time high with this one.

Story

Phantom Blade Zero will hurl you into the realm of Phantom World, a steampunk locker that’s apparently made up of “Chinese Kungfu, intricate machines reminiscent of steampunk, arts of the occult, and intriguing stuff that doesn’t quite fit into any of these categories.” It is within this world that you, an elite assassin marked for death by your former outfit known as “The Order”, will take your place.

Left for dead and wrongly accused of murdering The Order’s beloved patriarch, you will have just 66 days to not only make amends for the crimes you never committed, but locate the mastermind who initially wronged you. To do this, you will need to act under the cover of darkness, and battle your way through “powerful foes and inhuman monstrosities” — even if it kills you. Justice is knocking; it’s time to answer the door.

Gameplay

Let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room: Phantom Blade Zero — it looks a whole lot like a Souls game, doesn’t it? That, as well as Ninja Gaiden, are actually what inspired a few of the elements; fast, chaotic, and laden with colossal foes and questionably unfair win conditions. Let it be said that S-Game has gone all out to build something that’ll make any Ninja Gaiden (or  the vast majority of the hack-and-slash fan base, for that matter) swoon.

What’s interesting here is the combat; S-Game describes it as being reminiscent of the “sleek, breathtaking moves in Kungfu movies back in the 1990s.” To this end, players can certainly expect to see their fair share of slinky combat maneuvers and lightning-fast abilities jolt to life — presumably in situations that’ll involve waves of enemies.

“Lucky for us, during the decade making mobile games, we learned to simplify things in favor of touchscreens, giving players a way to execute elaborate chains of moves with a minimum amount of button-mashing,” said Soulframe Liang of S-Game. “As it turns out, with some tweaks, this mechanism works just as well on controllers.”

“Phantom Blade Zero unfolds in a semi-open world,” added Liang. “We are aware that “open world” is the buzz word in these days, but with limited resources, we would rather present you multiple maps of reasonable size, and handcrafted and populated with diverse activities, instead of one huge continuity full of repurposed/reused assets.”

Development

Granted, the PlayStation Showcase that aired earlier this year paved the way for countless good-looking IPs. However, to our utmost surprise, it was actually S-Game that caught our eye with Phantom Blade Zero. Curious to learn more about it, we found ourselves going on a little trip down memory lane with S-Game founder and CEO, Soulframe Liang.

“It all started with an indie game that I made myself with RPG Maker back in 2010,” Liang told PlayStation Blog. “It was named Rainblood: Town of Death. The process of making it was an escape from the difficulties and frustrations life threw at me when I was studying architecture, first in Beijing, then in New Haven.”

“Then I returned to China and founded S-Game to make more games. Rainblood grew into a whole franchise and picked up a new name: Phantom Blade. Most of these games were for smartphones and never released outside of China. Still, we’ve managed to build a fan base of over 20 million.”

“Now is the time to make the game that we always wanted to make, and present it to the world as a new PlayStation 5 game.” How’s that for a storybook ending, folks?

Trailer

Yes, there is a trailer of Phantom Blade Zero! And not just any old cinematic trailer, either, but a full-fat gameplay trailer showcasing all the bells and whistles to boot. You can see it for yourself in the video embedded above.

Release Date, Platforms & Editions

Right now, we can’t say for sure when Phantom Blade Zero will be coming out. What we do know, however, is that it’ll be exclusive to PS5, so we can already chalk out the possibility of it hitting Xbox, Switch, and any ex-gen platforms, for that matter. If we’re lucky, then S-Game could bring the game out as early as 2024. But again, it’s a little too early to call it at the moment.

If a special edition is what you’re after, then you’re probably going to be waiting for a while. Turns out, there aren’t any just yet, nor will there be anything of the sort until S-Game manages to tie up all the loose ends. If there is something stowed away in the pipeline, then the devs are sure to announce it a little closer to the time of its launch.

Has the Kungfupunk world caught your eye? If so, then be sure to check in with the team’s official social feed for all the latest updates here. We’ll be sure to let you know just as soon as S-Game nails down a definite release date. Until that time comes, be sure to add it to your wishlist over on the PlayStation Store here.

So, what’s your take? Will you be getting your hands on a copy of Phantom Blade Zero when it eventually releases on PS5? Let us know your thoughts over on our socials here.