At Gamescom, I played the demo ofPhantom Blade Zerotwice—the second time around because a developer challenged me to play it on a harder difficulty. I was absolutely hooked and enthralled by it as well.Every trailer forPhantom Blade Zerorevealed thus far has been impressive, and I’m glad to say that the gameplay matches the hype.
ThePhantom Blade Zerodemo had me face off with three boss encounters (the first one appearing after dispatching a handful of enemies): Tie Sha the Frenzy, Commander Cleave, and Huangxing, the Sunken Pillar of Kunlun. I beat the first playthrough in 16 minutes with 5 deaths, and when the developed upped the difficulty, I beat the second in 11 minutes with 5 deaths. That’s not because the game is easy—it’s far from it—but because of how intuitive it feels. Indeed, it has a lot of potential and, after playingBlack Myth: Wukongas well, it’s hard not to see the similarities between the two.
Game Rant’s Editor-in-Chief Anthony Taormina also played a demo ofPhantom Blade Zeroat Summer Game Fest. For a full breakdown of how combat works, check that outHERE.
Black Myth: Wukongis more Soulslikein its presentation thanPhantom Blade Zero, with the former being more of a hack-and-slash title in combat andPhantom Blade Zerobeing more character action likeNinja GaidenorDevil May Cry. However, it’s notable that both Game Science and S-Game are Chinese studios with obvious Soulslike inspirations (with their own action combat twists) that tap into China’s own identity. Specifically, Game Science looks atJourney to the WestforBlack Myth: Wukong, and S-Game is givingRainblood: Town of Death, a very popular Chinese indie RPG, a spiritual rebirth withPhantom Blade Zero.
Western audiences may not be as familiar withJourney to the WestorRainblood: Town of Deathas China, but that doesn’t really matter. StripBlack Mythof all its story elements and unique flavor, and it’s still an appealing game at its core. The same can be said ofPhantom Blade Zerofor every detail revealed so far, and at its core is still a super appealing game design.
Phantom Blade Zero’s Combat is Rhythmic and Intense
On my first playthrough ofPhantom Blade Zero’s demo, I ran straight into a horde of enemies to learn the timing, abilities, and style of combat. I kept getting hit, blocking, and working my way around them, separating them and drawing them out. I also took out two archers that I learned I could’ve done soon had I taken the nearby high ground. Either way, it was immediately fun and became immediately impressive with the first boss: Tie Sha the Frenzy.
Blocking, parrying, and dodging are important, and being able to keep up with the rhythm and speed ofPhantom Blade Zero’s enemiesare important. That proved itself in this boss fight, where Tie Sha rarely let up. Blocking was a last-minute resource when I didn’t have the timing, but otherwise, I fell into rhythm and quickly began doing perfect parries and dodges. Doing so allowed me to pop off counter-attacks and Ghost Steps to get behind him; by avoiding damage, breaking his Shai Chi (and forcing him to drop his guard), and following up with a powerful Ultimate ability called a Power Surge, we took Tie Sha down in short order and Commander Cleave followed.
Both were challenging, I want to make that clear. I’ve played a lot of Soulslike andcharacter action games, and each boss tapped into that focus required to do well against any tough enemy. Where it really shines is that each boss telegraphed its moves wells, had a clear-cut and fun rhythm to fit into, and required an understanding of its moveset. Each weapon we used, including a heavy weapon and dual blades, felt different but intuitive to what those weapons are, and combat is so fluid that swapping a weapon restores a player’s stamina. It went a long way in ensuring we were constantly engaged, played offense and defense equally, and felt challenged every step along the way.
Phantom Blade Zero’s Bosses Know How to Challenge Players
Of course, a little disruption is required to ensure that these systems don’t become stale. I obviously can’t speak to the full game, but the third boss, Huangxing, was a prime example of this. While his standard attacks felt as fine-tuned as the other bosses, his set-up was unique. For example, the combat encounter began with him at the far back of a temple where he would immediately launch an attack. His animation would play, he’d shoot a ball and chain into the air, and it would come crashing down. We had a few options to stop this: using our ranged Phantom Edge to interrupt his animation, hiding behind a nearby pillar, or getting the timing of a parry right (despite the fact that our only indication was a white light coming through the ceiling).
Stubbornly, we insisted on getting that timing right - and this is where most of our deaths probably came from. He was challenging from that point on, acted a little differently from other enemies, and yet still had his own rhythm to figure out.Phantom Blade Zerounderstands rhythmic combatand character action, and that was clear in both runs of the demo. Our time on the hardest difficulty was shorter because we had learned these rhythms, and it was incredibly rewarding as a result.
It’s worth mentioning, however, that we didn’t find much use for the Phantom Edges, special usually ranged weapons. We could use the bow to take out enemies from afar or interrupt Huangxing, but they require so much that we found it too disruptive to the experience. Of course, there will be plenty of these in the game and it’ll be interesting to see how they impact builds and how someone approaches the game.
The short of our demo is thatPhantom Blade Zeroisn’t just talking the talk with its trailers; it’s walking the walk with its gameplay. Anyone who has enjoyedgames likeNinja Gaiden, Devil May Cry, orBlack Myth: Wukongis likely to enjoyPhantom Blade Zero, putting its eventual 2026 release in the spotlight already.
Phantom Blade Zero
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Phantom Blade Zero is a new character action game from developer S-Game that features the type of fast-paced combo-based gameplay popularized by series like Ninja Gaiden and Devil May Cry. Its art style combines traditional Japanese iconography with the fantastical and horrific.
