Phantom Blade Zero is speedy, stylish, and absolutely not a Soulslike

Phantom Blade ZeroPublisher: S-GameDeveloper: S-GameAvailability: TBCPlatforms: PS5, PC

It’s a bit of a running joke now, really. Everytime a new action game is revealed, it’s instantly compared back to FromSoftware’s work with the question: “yeah, it looks great, but is it a Soulslike?” It happened with Black Myth: Wukong. And it’s happened again with Phantom Blade Zero, so much so the developer had to release a statement refuting the game is a Soulslike. In an interview, it even admitted that, as a new studio, it doesn’t “have the privilege of FromSoftware to make you frustrated while you’re playing”.

That’s not to say there isn’t an influence, of course. Developer S-Game, in that same statement, described the game’s world as “just like the Souls games before Elden Ring”. At Gamescom, I was able to go hands-on with Phantom Blade Zero, which I’ve been intrigued by since its reveal at the 2023 PlayStation Showcase. However, the demo was essentially a series of three boss fights. As such, I didn’t really get a sense for its world design – though at the least, regular enemies do not respawn and currency isn’t lost at death.

What I did experience, though, was considered combat and a strong parry mechanic that brought to mind FromSoftware’s Sekiro, as well as this year’s Stellar Blade. Phantom Blade Zero is a fast-paced action game that’s speedy and stylish, with a hard mode that could be transformative.

I was a bit rubbish at first, though. As with any game of this type, it takes a second to get used to its peculiar rhythm. And control-wise, Phantom Blade Zero puts attacks on the face buttons and dodge and parry on the triggers. After too long playing Elden Ring, the urge to repeatedly hit circle to dodge was strong, which awkwardly (for me) resulted in frequent failure.