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Phantom Blade Zero (PS5/PC | 2025), update (09/02): Gamescom demo hands-on previews


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If it actually plays like the footage (I have serious doubts) it could be promising. 

 

I will assume that was a 100% scripted sequence with no actual gameplay until proven otherwise 

 

Edit: apparently the studio making this a mobile game developer... So yeah this is going to be a steaming pile of shit. Cool trailer though!

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WWW.PCGAMER.COM

Phantom Blade: Zero looks like Sekiro on a drunken night out.

 

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It seemed like this might be a PlayStation exclusive but the developers subsequently posted the trailer to YouTube, and there were two very important logo additions at the end: the Epic Games Store and Steam. Now, the most obvious thing to say about this trailer is that it seems to be a mix of pre-rendered action sequences and what looks like genuine clips of the combat system, though given the absence of any HUD or other indicators it's hard to say. But if this combat system looks anything like it does here, and feels good in the hands, then this could be a winner.

 

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On 5/25/2023 at 1:08 PM, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

Practically no one in the ResetERA thread for this game believes that it's even remotely "real" :lol:

I don't blame them. It looks 100% how I expect any proof-of-concept video to look. You know, the ones that always look way way better than the final product, and which shows gameplay that, based on how humans use controllers, never seems quite right. Like, just the frame rate and the animations seem off. Like how I'd expect a game to look if you left that awful interpolation on with a TV?

 

If I stared at the footage more I could probably pinpoint exactly what I mean, but as it stands this just doesn't do it for me.

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I don't think this interview with the developers did them any favors as far as putting to rest the nagging doubts about this game's "existence"

 

phantom-blade-zero-394x218.png
TWISTEDVOXEL.COM

S-GAME, the developer behind third-person action role-playing game Phantom Blade Zero, has shared the length of the game's main story along with details regarding the gameplay. During a Q&A session that took place on Discord, the Phantom Blade Zero developer, S-GAME, shared information regarding the length of the game's main story as well as new details regarding the gameplay. With regards to

 

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S-GAME, the developer behind third-person action role-playing game Phantom Blade Zero, has shared the length of the game’s main story along with details regarding the gameplay.

 

During a Q&A session that took place on Discord, the Phantom Blade Zero developer, S-GAME, shared information regarding the length of the game’s main story as well as new details regarding the gameplay.

With regards to the length of Phantom Blade Zero’s main story, the developer stated that it should take approximately 30 to 40 hours to complete. Additionally, there are several side quests to take on as well as a wealth of endgame content that will unlock upon the completion of the main story, including various multiplayer dungeons, a boss rush mode, rogue-like abysses, and more.

 

 

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In response to a question regarding the authenticity of the gameplay shown in the PlayStation Showcase trailer, the developer stated that the action sequences seen in the trailer feature actual combat captured in-engine. However, for the purpose of the trailer, the studio used a more “cinematic” camera and specifically set certain angles. The developer said that, in the actual game, the combat will have a more stable camera with a larger Field of View. The action will look much clearer, although less impactful compared to the trailer in order to avoid causing dizziness.

 

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26 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

I don't think this interview with the developers did them any favors as far as putting to rest the nagging doubts about this game's "existence"

 

phantom-blade-zero-394x218.png
TWISTEDVOXEL.COM

S-GAME, the developer behind third-person action role-playing game Phantom Blade Zero, has shared the length of the game's main story along with details regarding the gameplay. During a Q&A session that took place on Discord, the Phantom Blade Zero developer, S-GAME, shared...

 

 

 

 

Lol why did they choose 40 hours to complete the main story, that is way too long and they probably only have like 2 minutes of gameplay built out so far. So it was 2-3 people working on it like a year ago - this is definitely very unlikely to be a real thing you play, unless it’s some kind of “demo game” like Bright Memory.

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  • 8 months later...
  • 4 months later...

I think the combat in this looks like a lot of fun. I'm hoping it's not aping Souls as much as other games in the ways I dislike about Souls. E.g., I really liked Stellar Blade where the combat was challenging and deliberate, but they didn't do some of things I really dislike about Souls games like resetting you far away from where you died; punishing you for death, rather than encouraging you to try again; and playing hide the monster all over the place.

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This continues to do absolutely nothing for me. Slowing down some of those animations, sometimes it looks like a sword slash (like the twirling attack at 36 seconds in the gameplay trailer) just does absolutely nothing, not even a sound effect or blood particles, which is probably why I've felt that the animations feel off.

 

That said, good to see it's looking sort of like an actual video game now. Now that I think on it, though, I'm pretty sure it just reminds me of the trillion Chinese-only action games I've seen on Steam over the last 5 or so years that all share a very similar combat style, UI, and weirdly, animation style. None of them as high budget, obviously. But at this point I just find it very boring to look at.

 

Less Wukong, more Wo Yao Da, please!

 

STORE.STEAMPOWERED.COM

To play as a tribe warrior and a mysterious weirdo, adventuring in the world of gremlins.

 

Now THAT'S a video game!

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Shit tier IGN video quality as is the norm, but this still looks pretty good.  If you're going to make a Souls-like today you should probably make it flashy to stand out.  Both this game and Flintlock are delivering on that IMO.

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6 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

Shit tier IGN video quality as is the norm, but this still looks pretty good.  If you're going to make a Souls-like today you should probably make it flashy to stand out.  Both this game and Flintlock are delivering on that IMO.

 

Max went out to capture 4K footage today so expect :chefkiss: tier video quality later.

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2 hours ago, crispy4000 said:

Shit tier IGN video quality as is the norm, but this still looks pretty good.  If you're going to make a Souls-like today you should probably make it flashy to stand out.  Both this game and Flintlock are delivering on that IMO.

yeah I don't know who IGN has editing their videos... This game looks absolutely amazing. They have a goddamned flying guillotine in this :o

 

Here's the entire playble demo uninterrupted.

 

 

We may have a new contender for best action combat in.Souls like... really liking what I see here. They said the difficulty was tuned down for the demo so I expect it to be a lttile tougher than what's seen here.

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This version of the IGN video might be better:

 

 

Articles:

 

WWW.GAMESRADAR.COM

Preview | A few boss fights in Phantom Blade Zero was all the convincing I needed

 

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The first hands-on demo of Phantom Blade Zero, the kung fu-powered action RPG that made quite the splash at last May's PlayStation show, was hovering around the middle of the pack on my mental list of games to see at Summer Game Fest 2024. I ended up beating its demo twice, and it has rocketed to the front as one of my favorite games of the whole show. It is not a Soulslike, and I'm uncharacteristically not disappointed by this. Saddling this game with the deliberate pacing of that genre would only weaken the absurd speed and aggression that makes Phantom Blade stand out. It is irresponsibly fast, but it just works. 

 

My response to this game's reveal trailer was, judging from the top YouTube comments on that video, shared by a lot of people: okay, that looks cool, but does it feel that cool to play? Yeah, as it turns out, it does. Shake the visions of Sekiro and Elden Ring out of your head like water out of your ears. Even Sekiro isn't this fast. This is genetically closer to the likes of Ninja Gaiden, Devil May Cry, or Metal Gear Rising Revengeance. It's character action, baby. One developer on the SGF show floor reckoned that it's 30% Soulslike and 70% character action. 

 

 

 

WWW.IGN.COM

Action game aficionados have been well-fed in the recent past with games like Stellar Blade and Sekiro, but based on a new hands-on gameplay demo at Summer Games Fest, it looks like Phantom Blade 0 will stand up with the leaders in the genre.

 

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Where this comes into play is PBZ's playstyle. Approaching it more like a Souls game is absolute folly, as that patience-driven, opportunity-seizing gameplay will end up earning a quick and unnecessary death to enemies that will get to those opportunities first. Instead, Phantom Blade Zero rewards a hyper-aggressive playstyle in order to make those defensive options shine.

 

Meanwhile, enemies are largely made up of warriors of similar size to Soul, suffering very little in the way of knockback to individual attacks. Combos with the pair of short swords will not stop an enemy intent on hurting Soul from completing their attack, but constantly hammering them with it will chip away as you switch weapons, dodge, and parry a path to victory. In this way, Phantom Blade 0 has more in common with something like Ninja Gaiden Black than games on the From Software spectrum, putting an emphasis on relentless attacks to outclass Soul's opponents.

 

 

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  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Phantom Blade 0 announced for PS5/PC, update (06/11): SGF demo videos/hands-on preview articles posted
On 6/9/2024 at 9:26 PM, Keyser_Soze said:

 

Max went out to capture 4K footage today so expect :chefkiss: tier video quality later.

 

No video yet but this is what he had to say, and seems to overlap with the other previews

 

  • It's not a soulslike game, it plays more like a Ninja Gaiden, MGR Revengeance action game with some Sekiro mixed in
  • What IS soulslike is the level design. I guess the game director likes souls games but not the combat so that's why it plays differently but has level designs of a souls game
  • There will be difficulty options

 

Regarding the video quality he says that the developer said something was wrong with the PS5 upscaling or something but will be fixed by release and PC version will look good.

 

And this is another developer that's only made mobile games coming out with their first time console game (or non mobile game I suppose)

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WWW.ROCKPAPERSHOTGUN.COM

Rather than a homage to Dark Souls and Sekiro, S-Games' new hack-and-slash harkens back to an older breed of action game.

 

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You’re no babe in the woods yourself. Again, Phantom Blade Zero reads as a Soulslike from afar, but in the hands, it's a different species of doom-laden duellist. I had to rethink assumptions I'd brought with me from the trailer footage, including the belief that enemies would respawn when I died. Soul gets light and heavy attacks, a swooping dodge, a stamina-dependent block or parry, and the ability to switch between two weapon sets on the go. The execution is fast and florid, with a couple of button presses producing a Cirque du Soleil-worthy display of spinning strikes and kicks, to the point that I struggled to follow my own movements. That said, the game does a fair job of suggesting that blades are actually in contact, with dramatic twists of the body and accompanying sound effects when deflecting to help you build up the ol' muscle memory.

 

The weapons are familiar, but enticing to wield and especially, to switch between over the course of a gruelling skirmish. I got to faff around with twin knives that were useful for overwhelming an opponent’s defences, the obligatory all-rounder short sword, and an enormous two-handed blade for ponderous, overarm chops and ripostes. Secondary weapons include a handcannon shaped like a lion's head, a bow and arrow for sniping the snipers, and a flamethrower which I couldn’t hit a goddamn thing with.

 

Regular foes put up a decent fight – I was killed twice by one of those malingering axe dudes, albeit partly because I kept getting crouch-walk mixed up with sprinting – but the bosses are, of course, the stars of the show. Unlike the rank-and-file, they can't be snuck up on and assassinated. Commander Cleave is one of those cheeky scallywags who looks like they’re helpless at range, only to slice your mittens off with telekinesis. He’s broadly an introduction to the art of dodging and countering so as to break your foe’s poise, not that I was able to defeat him during my 20 minutes with the game.

 

 

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