Phantom Blade Zero is out now on PS5 and on PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store. S-GAME's action RPG mixes Hong Kong martial arts cinema with fantasy and folk horror, and it lets players choose how hard the fights get, from a story-focused mode to one the studio says isn't for the faint of heart.
Players control Soul, a swordsman framed for murdering his master. A wound to the heart leaves him with 66 days to live, and he sets out to uncover the conspiracy that condemned him. S-GAME calls the look "kungfupunk": martial arts mixed with mechanical prosthetics, crumbling industrial ruins and rock music.
Fights are built on fast combos. Soul dodges, deflects and counters in one flow, and he can take secondary weapons called Phantom Edges from the enemies he beats. If players regret upgrading a weapon, they can reforge it, get the materials back and spend them on another. Martial arts actor Donnie Yen worked on the game as a creative consultant and plays a character named Mó Yuan through facial and motion capture.
Difficulty for newcomers and veterans
S-GAME says Wayfarer mode is for players who mainly want to enjoy the story, while Hellwalker brings enemies with more advanced behavior that adapts to the player. According to RPGamer and Niche Gamer, a mode called Pathbreaker is the standard difficulty.
The hardest option, Sixty-Six Days, makes Soul's countdown part of the gameplay. According to reports on PlayStation's August State of Play broadcast, players get 66 lives for one playthrough, each defeat costs a day, and the run ends for good when the days run out. The mode unlocks after finishing the game on Pathbreaker or Hellwalker. Tying the toughest mode to the story's deadline is a clever idea, since the pressure on the player matches the pressure on Soul.
Editions and the physical release
The Standard Edition costs $59.99 (69.99€). The Digital Deluxe Edition costs $69.99 (79.99€) and adds two extra outfits, a digital art book and the soundtrack.
PS5 players who want a disc will have to wait. The game launches digitally only, and S-GAME has announced physical Standard, Deluxe and Ultimate editions for PS5 in 2027. It has not given a date yet.
