Phantom Blade Zero Is A Delightfully Punishing Action-RPG

Often, we connect a definite descriptor to the fans of peculiar gaming genres. Someone mightiness beryllium a shooter aficionado oregon a puzzle expert, possibly a sports enthusiast, each eliciting a definite representation that we mightiness subordinate with a peculiar audience. Then determination are the lovers of pugnacious enactment games, those of america who instrumentality joyousness successful friction, revel successful the struggle. Or arsenic we similar to telephone ourselves, sickos. At Tokyo Game Show 2025, this sicko went hands-on with Phantom Blade 0, the highly anticipated upcoming enactment RPG from S-Game. With an arsenal of ferocious weapons, brutal finishers, and savage enemies, it has each the makings of a bloody bully time. After an hr of uninterrupted combat, brag battles, and much than a fewer deaths, I came distant with 1 question: however soon tin I docket my sick days?

Sophisticated Swordplay

You play arsenic Soul, an assassin framed for the execution of the caput of his order. Our travel with him successful this demo begins astatine the bottommost of the canyon. After conscionable a fewer steps, we brushwood an force camp. There volition beryllium nary easing into battle, arsenic a brace of ft soldiers charge, followed by a spear-wielder mounted connected a horse, portion a bowman successful a adjacent operation takes aim. If it’s a combat they want, it’s a combat they’ll get, arsenic I propulsion retired my sword and commencement jockeying for position.

Phantom Blade 0 is an enactment game, archetypal and foremost. Combatants, you included, person a wellness barroom and a Sha-Chi meter. The erstwhile does precisely what you’d expect, portion the second acts arsenic a premix of stamina, skill, power, and vigor for peculiar attacks. It’s not stamina-based combat successful the strict Soulslike sense; you tin bash things similar propulsion retired basal attacks oregon dodge without fearfulness of losing your quality to support yourself. But you bash request it to substance your much almighty Sha-Chi (aka heavy) attacks, and it is consumed portion blocking. If you oregon an force runs retired of Sha-Chi, you go breached, which breaks your stance and leaves you highly susceptible until it refills.

I instrumentality a fewer arrows for my trouble, but negociate to carve done the tiny detachment. As the enemy's wellness and Sha-Chi drops, I’m capable to execute finishers, aka dazzling flourishes that destruct enemies successful brutal and bloody ways. As I propulsion forward, I travel crossed a tiny doorbell suspended from a abbreviated woody stand. With a flick, it rings out, revealing a information of the map. This besides functions arsenic a respawn country and accelerated question point, akin to a bonfire from Dark Souls.

Executing a artifact conscionable arsenic an onslaught arrives allows you to parry the blow, and I learned rapidly that these aren’t conscionable a antiaircraft option; they are an indispensable portion of combat. Not lone bash they negate incoming harm without draining your Sha-Chi, but they besides deplete that of the attacker. Sure, you mightiness beryllium capable to breach 1 force with axenic aggression, but against tougher foes oregon groups, each of whom are lone excessively anxious to commencement beating connected you astatine once, that’s not going to chopped it. The champion enactment isn’t needfully to spell successful sword-a-flailing, similar successful Ninja Gaiden, oregon instrumentality turns parrying similar successful Sekiro; it’s astir similar a mediate crushed wherever elements of some converge, giving the combat a precise chiseled feeling arsenic you propulsion forward, invitation attacks, past parry and riposte.

That’s not to accidental determination isn’t a spot for dodging. Enemies motorboat peculiar attacks called Brutal Moves and Killer Moves; the erstwhile are meant to beryllium parried, the second dodged. Using the close benignant of defence results successful you performing a Ghostep, a truly slick-looking teleport dodge that leads straight into a counterattack. That comes successful useful arsenic I ascent the rickety scaffolding up the cliffside. I stealth termination 1 swordsman connected the climb, but neglect to get a spearman, and person to trust heavy connected those Ghosteps arsenic helium and the 3 buddies helium calls implicit instrumentality turns trying to crook maine into a pincushion.

Death is Only the Beginning

My archetypal decease comes astir 15 minutes into my demo. After warring crossed respective isolated platforms, I look disconnected against a brace of spear users. I onslaught 1 down quickly, but devour excessively galore shots successful my aggression. I effort to instrumentality a much measured attack with the second, though, and arsenic soon arsenic I effort to make space, I’m killed by an explosive arrow from immoderate far-off archer. My beingness ends, punctuated with a crimson “Dead” scrawled crossed the screen.

Moments later, I awaken astatine the Bell basal from before. Unlike a Souls game, wherever visiting a Site of Grace oregon equivalent brings fallen enemies backmost to life, everyone I’ve defeated remains dead. There are nary runes to collect, oregon battles to beryllium refought, but that doesn’t mean decease is without consequences. Soul has 66 days to implicit his mission, and each decease costs him 1 of them. Now, however strict that bounds is oregon whether oregon not we tin get days backmost is unclear, but I surely consciousness the unit to enactment live and not discarded immoderate of that perchance constricted clip by dying if I tin debar it.

I determine it’s clip to power up my armaments a bit. Soul tin equip 2 weapons for wide combat, and 2 Phantom Edges, which are limited-use items, similar a almighty bow and arrow oregon Man-Cutter, an tremendous halberd that tin crush enemies with a charged smash attack. Each limb has unsocial combinations and comes with immoderate benignant of perk oregon peculiar ability. Sanguine, your default agelong sword, tin motorboat a accelerated succession of tumbling attacks, which is large for shredding a breached enemy.

I had been leaning connected Seamless Death, a brace of Chakram-like weapons that tin beryllium utilized for accelerated up adjacent combinations, oregon thrown to bash coagulated harm from a distance. Now I determine to springiness Jagged Edge, the tremendous greatsword, a go, arsenic I instrumentality to the tract of my decease and enact my revenge connected the remaining spear soldier. I person to tally to debar the incoming occurrence from the bowman crossed the chasm, and yet find a way to immoderate platforms I tin usage to get across, executing an fantabulous wall-run into an instant termination of a swordsman I caught unawares on the way.

I ringing a doorbell here, establishing a caller respawn point, and leap down towards different brace of bow-and-arrow-equipped enemies. I onshore atop one, executing a throw-and-stab combo to termination him successful 1 fell swoop, past abstracted the caput and assemblage of his buddy with a finisher, creating a satisfying fountain of blood. A abbreviated portion later, I’m ambushed by a brace of dagger wielders; alternatively than decision them with my blade, I telephone upon Flaming Mane, 1 of my Phantom Edges. This takes the signifier of a flame-spewing lion mask, rapidly burning up some of my adversaries, opening the mode for maine to advance.

Revel successful the Struggle

Eventually, I scope a ample unfastened country astatine the bottommost of the cliffs. After warring done a fewer groups of enemies, it’s clip to instrumentality connected my archetypal boss. Enter Wan Jun “Coppermaul”, a towering fig built similar The Butcher from Diablo, with a monolithic warhammer that perfectly matches his sheer mass. I rapidly larn helium fights soiled too, arsenic helium scatters ungraded into my look with his weapon, covering the surface to obscure my visibility. Getting caught successful that proves a fatal mistake arsenic helium grabs me, lines maine up, and crushes maine with a plaything that would marque Cal Raleigh proud.

Undeterred, I instrumentality to springiness him different go. His chaotic swings are powerful, but I rapidly get the timing down to parry astir of his attacks, taking ample chunks retired of his Shi-Chi with each combination. Once helium is breached, I property the onslaught hard utilizing the Soft Snake Sword, a flexible, astir whip-like leaf that dishes harm quickly. There are a fewer dicey moments, but the thrill of triumph is excavation arsenic I instrumentality down the giant. It’s a chill fight, and a coagulated illustration of however important learning brag patterns connected the alert volition be. I adhd Bashpole, arsenic his limb is called, to my arsenal arsenic a Phantom Edge. Using it to smash done a woody level to scope a caller passageway, I property on.

The adjacent brag comes arsenic a implicit surprise. As I made my mode done immoderate benignant of village, I climbed to the extortion of a circular building. Standing dramatically atop a tiny spire astatine the halfway was Red Wraith. It was an intimidating entranceway contempt her smaller frame, made doubly truthful by the full deficiency of cutscene, gate, oregon immoderate different benignant of forewarning. She instantly presses the onslaught with her longsword and immoderate benignant of thrown blade, but I negociate to Ghosteps to rapidly interruption her guard. Something seems off, though – the combat seems astir excessively easy, which doesn’t spell unnoticed by Soul, and helium suggests that we could permission her beryllium and fly if we wanted. Curiosity gets the amended of maine and I marque a hasty retreat, leaving the Red Wraith down – a determination that would travel backmost to haunt me.

A fewer skirmishes later, I scope the last brag of the demo, the Chief Disciple of the Seven Stars. He leads a squad of six different warriors, and, adjacent arsenic a seasoned of many, galore enactment games, I person to admit this is 1 of the much awesome brag fights successful caller memory. Each warrior has their ain wellness bar, including the Chief Disciple, with the boss's wellness bar, and they seamlessly power betwixt acting independently and striking arsenic one. One infinitesimal I’m isolating 1 enemy, chipping distant astatine their health, past abruptly the full radical converges connected maine with a coordinated thrust onslaught from each directions, arsenic my perfectly timed dodge allows maine to leap their corporate attack, and onshore gracefully upon the combined tips of each their weapons.

It’s a gorgeous spectacle, and each clip I spot distant astatine the Chief Disciple's wellness successful this intricate creation of steel, his followers heal him, sacrificing their ain wellness successful the process. I continuously spot distant astatine the group, utilizing a leaping smash from Bashpole to nonstop everyone flying erstwhile I’m successful information of being overwhelmed. As their numbers dwindle, the Chief Disciple changes tactics, giving distant his wellness to marque definite determination are astatine slightest 3 followers astatine his broadside astatine each times. This proves his folly, arsenic I instrumentality vantage of his rapidly diminishing spot and driblet him with a thrown barrage from Seamless Death.

The combat wa= sn’t implicit yet, however. His 3 disciples scattered to a trio of towers, throwing retired what resembled thread. The boss, present called the Chief Disciple’s Fallen Hope, roseate from the crushed similar immoderate abomination of a marionette, and the conflict began anew. This clip it was strictly a 1v1, his ferocious attacks present coming with him dangling arsenic helium rushed maine with melee attacks and threw a screen-filling barrage of his ain threads. Even this I thought I could handle, until I heard a dependable telephone out, “Nothing tin abstracted us, not adjacent successful Death!” The Red Wraith had returned, and the combined fury of some bosses was much than I could handle.

I died. Then I died again. And again. Each rematch began astatine the commencement of the marionette phase, but clip and clip again I fell erstwhile the Red Wraith arrived, my determination to beryllium merciful earlier haunting me. But dammit if I didn’t larn conscionable a small much each time, get to that past signifier with conscionable a small much wellness each attempt. As I threw myself astatine what seemed similar an intolerable combat conscionable a fewer attempts earlier, I began to spot the windows to attack, until finally, my bosom pounding successful my chest, I struck down the Red Wraith with a leaping finisher from my Seamless Death, withstood the enraged counterattack from The Disciple’s Lost Hope, and severed his strings and caput with 1 past swipe of my sword.

There are 3 trouble options to take from, but adjacent astatine the default mounting that I played at, Phantom Blade 0 is hard, and I loved that astir it. It ne'er felt cheap; it conscionable demanded much from me. In conscionable implicit an hr of play, I was easy 10 times the subordinate I was erstwhile I started. It’s a feeling of accomplishment that is reserved for the precise champion enactment games connected the planet. If the remainder is thing similar what I played astatine TGS, I consciousness similar there’s a existent accidental that Phantom Blade 0 mightiness beryllium 1 of those games.