No Spoilers Phantom Blade Zero (PS5/PC) (TBA 2025)

[PBAC]

I love this style or setting and glad it's seeing an upswing lately. It does seem like it's heading for a state of over saturation but ancient Japan/China tended to be a neglected genre.

The combat looks great if they can deliver on it

 

[empsim]

Always hard to tell how good a hack & slash actually plays from a trailer, but it definitely looks interesting.

 

[Valhoven]

Always hard to tell how good a hack & slash actually plays from a trailer, but it definitely looks interesting.

I was thinking (read: hoping) play was sped up for trailer, only giving the impression of H&S.

 

[Valhoven]

Wanted to bump our Phantom Blade Ø thread for TS with last week's Gamescom demo footage. Very nice. No official date has been announced but grapevine is 2026.

 

[PBAC]

Wanted to bump our Phantom Blade Ø thread for TS with last week's Gamescom demo footage. Very nice. No official date has been announced but grapevine is 2026.

clear nod to Tenchu

 

[Valhoven]

Phantom Blade Zero Info #PS5:

-Could release in 2025
-Unreal Engine 5 / 60fps
-"So smooth" and no framedrops on PS5

-Real Kung-Fu masters for motion capture
-Sekiro/Ninja Gaiden combat
-Break enemy stance

-Blue flash attack - parry
-Red flash attack - dodge
-Looks amazing
-Combinations and animations are unbelievable

-Lower skill floor & much more accessible
-More on the easy side (still fine-tuned)
-Normal and hard difficulty settings
-No soulslike

-You can use stealth
-Loot system
-Different weapons
-Weapon swapping mid combo

 

[MWB1982]

I don't know if it's just me. You guys played more games than me but the combat and graphics look insane for this game

I seen the hero run up a pillar, jump off, then slash the badguy.

 

[Lovestorm]

New gameplay video. Showcases a boss fight.

 

[SwamiLeoni]

I keep seeing mentions of "Generational Leap in action Gaming" floating around. It will be interesting to see what they mean by that. Gameplay looks phenomenal. Wouldn't be mad if they added in some Sifu mechanics.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

Saw clips of it online, and it looks damn good.

 

[Valhoven]

I keep seeing mentions of "Generational Leap in action Gaming" floating around. It will be interesting to see what they mean by that. Gameplay looks phenomenal. Wouldn't be mad if they added in some Sifu mechanics.

 

[Lovestorm]

 

[Kratos94]

This is definitely on my list. Looking forward to its release. Glad it's not a soulslike, but rather it incorporates some mechanics. Its combat looks sick.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

It's always a big sign of confidence when a developer releases a 20 minute gameplay video.

 

[Valhoven]

This is definitely on my list. Looking forward to its release. Glad it's not a soulslike, but rather it incorporates some mechanics. Its combat looks sick.

The devs have said they're big fans of kung fu cinema and the Ninja Gaiden series, if I'm remembering right. Play is probably going to be super fun re: power fantasy. The combat is also akin to traditional martial arts and even interpretive dance, IMO, with its looping transitions and creative nuances or flare, which I'm thinking was inspired by the films they so admire.

 

[Lovestorm]

 

[Valhoven]

 

[Zazen]

This may be my most anticipated game now even more than Saros. Just looks so good and the animation is incredibly fluid. Best part is we’ve seen gameplay on a PS5 and it looks stellar. So many Chinese companies have tried to hide the console gameplay until like 48 hours before release giving all sorts of red flags. Not the case here. Only complaint is I wish we had more color in this game. Want to see some trees or something lol

 

[Valhoven]

This is what I was saying about the Kung Fu background in PBØ combat. Some highlights:

'Phantom Blade Zero' used real Kung Fu masters for the motion capture

"It's like a playable Kung Fu movie"

• Size is described as between a Souls game and a large RPG like 'The Witcher'

• Has a hand drawn map that guides you to keep it from being too complicated

• First run through reveals 30%-40% of the entire game

• Release date will be announced by the end of 2025

• Coming to PC and PS5