Phantom Blade Zero Final Hands-On Preview

It’s been around 15 years since FromSoftware popularized the Soulslike genre, and it feels safe to say that it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Just this year alone has seen the release of Mortal Shell 2 and Nioh 3, and Valor Mortis is right around the corner. But while the Soulslike genre is undoubtedly thriving, the sheer abundance of titles is getting a little tiresome for some. That’s why some fans have turned their attention towards more Soulslike-adjacent titles, which take heavy inspiration from the genre while also offering distinct mechanics. Phantom Blade Zero is one such title.

Set to launch on October 29, Phantom Blade Zero is an upcoming wuxia action-RPG being developed by the Chinese-based studio S-Game. During Gamescom 2026, I was invited to participate in an extended gameplay session for Phantom Blade Zero, one that gave me free rein over the first few hours of the full game. It’s been 41 days since I played Phantom Blade Zero, and not a single day has gone by without me thinking about it at least once.

Enter the Dragon

Phantom Blade Zero puts players in the boots of Soul, a renowned swordsman of the Order who was betrayed by his sworn brother Zuo Shang. In a terrifying duel between the two elite warriors, Soul receives a fatal wound through the heart, but he awakes sometime later to find that his wounds have been healed. Unsure of the conspiracy that doomed him, Soul is told by the mysterious savior, known as the Flesh Sculptor, that this new artificial heart will only give him 66 days to live, unless he can find a way to extend that timer.

From the moment I was thrust into Phantom Blade Zero‘s world, I was in total awe of its presentation. Graphically, Phantom Blade Zero is in a league of its own, with each individual frayed end of Soul’s robe being realized with total clarity, each blade of grass having its own distinct shape, and each ripple of water dancing naturally around Soul’s feet.

The inherent beauty of Phantom Blade Zero‘s realistic art design is then elevated to new heights with expert use of cinematic camera language, buttery-smooth performance, and brilliantly-lit natural environments. That said, it is important to note that my preview build was running on a very high-end PC, and that I didn’t get a chance to experience the game on a base PlayStation 5.

The Best Combat Since Sekiro

While Phantom Blade Zero’s first-class presentation is sure to be the first thing most players will register upon booting up the game, it’s the game’s combat that’s bound to leave a lasting impression. Since its reveal in May 2023, Phantom Blade Zero has released several gameplay trailers, all of which have done an excellent job of putting the game’s fast, fluid, and visceral combat front and center. From these trailers alone, it’s clear that Phantom Blade Zero is trying to put an ambitious cinematic, martial arts-inspired spin on the action genre, and after getting extensive hands-on time with the game, I can safely say that it achieves that goal wholeheartedly.

At its most fundamental level, Phantom Blade Zero plays similarly to FromSoftware’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Combat revolves around parrying and dodging oncoming attacks, dishing out blows of your own, and draining an enemy’s stamina gauge (known here as Sha-Chi) so they become staggered and open themselves up to a one-hit execution. Unlike Sekiro, however, Phantom Blade Zero features a full combo system, whereby light attacks and heavy attacks can be strung together to reduce an enemy’s stamina gauge faster.

A defining feature of the game’s 2023 reveal trailer and all those that have followed, Phantom Blade Zero‘s attack animations are unlike any other action game currently on the market. Heavily inspired by kung fu cinema — so much so that S-Game has been working with Donnie Yen for the past three years — Phantom Blade Zero‘s attack animations are unprecedentedly expressive and fluid, with each strike flowing into the next seamlessly.

But on top of delivering unparalleled visual flair, Phantom Blade Zero manages to keep its combat totally readable and exceptionally responsive. Player combos conclude with an easy-to-spot blue flash, enemy attacks are well-telegraphed, and the feedback of each and every parry, strike, and dodge can be felt at all times. Along with physically feeling excellent to control, Phantom Blade Zero‘s combat is uplifted by some first-rate audio and visual effects, with sparks flying from swords when they clash and a metallic clang parry sound that rivals Sekiro‘s own. Even at its most basic level, Phantom Blade Zero‘s combat delivers a deeply enjoyable experience. But there’s far more to Phantom Blade Zero‘s combat than simple parries and combos.

As is the case in most Soulslike or Soulslike-adjacent games, Phantom Blade Zero really starts to shine in its boss fights. I faced around seven bosses in my preview session, but for the sake of spoilers, I’ll only be discussing one in detail. That said, every single boss I fought in my Phantom Blade Zero preview made a lasting impression due to their extremely distinct visual designs, movesets, and personalities. One early boss fight I encountered was with Jagged Steel, the Frenzied Brute.

By this point, I’d spent around 45 minutes or so exploring Phantom Blade Zero‘s world (more on that in just a bit) and had become adept at the game’s combat. Or at least, I thought I had. At the top of a valley, underneath a scenic waterfall, stood Jagged Steel, a beefy soldier equipped with a gigantic serrated sword. Like every boss I encountered, Jagged Steel had a unique mechanic, his being his sword that would cause a huge burst of bleed damage if he managed to land consecutive attacks. Perfectly parrying these attacks would negate the bleed build-up, but the sheer speed of the boss proved to be too much for me.

This is where I learned that Phantom Blade Zero requires mastery of all its combat mechanics, not just parrying. Once I embraced the lesson it was trying to teach me, this boss fight turned into an intense, yet blissful dance of dodges, parries, attacks, and eventually, a gloriously over-the-top execution. That classic post-boss fight elation was made even sweeter with the revelation that I had just been awarded Jagged Steel’s eponymous weapon, complete with the same bleed ability I had just tried desperately to avoid. Every major boss I defeated in my Phantom Blade Zero preview session followed suit, granting me their weapon upon defeat, which to me, feels like the ultimate video game reward for overcoming a challenge.

Getting my hands on a new primary weapon also opened my eyes to the true scope of Phantom Blade Zero‘s combat. Every primary weapon (of which there are reportedly 30 in the full game) has a completely distinct set of animations, combos, and special abilities, and each of the 10 or so I tried during my preview looked and felt more impressive than the last. While Phantom Blade Zero might not have character classes, the extreme variation found across its arsenal of weapons will undoubtedly pave the way for some deep gameplay experimentation that I felt I was only scratching the surface of.

Putting the Soul in Soulslike

Combat is the meat and potatoes of Phantom Blade Zero‘s gameplay loop, but even its striking visuals and grounded feel would lose its luster eventually if the rest of the experience wasn’t pulling its weight. Thankfully, Phantom Blade Zero had a strong structure, rewarding level design, and an intriguing narrative that ran through my entire preview session.

Developer S-Game has openly stated that Phantom Blade Zero‘s level design has been heavily inspired by Soulslikes that have come before it. As such, Phantom Blade Zero features a plethora of varied regions, each one filled with branching paths that are connected via unlockable shortcuts. Thanks to some simple yet visually impressive traversal mechanics, these levels also tend to feature quite a bit of verticality. Later on in Phantom Blade Zero, players will also unlock Phantom Edges, powerful weapons that can be used in both combat and exploration, opening paths in previous areas and giving the game a Metroidvania-lite quality. These optional paths are often home to unique enemy encounters, worthwhile resources, and even the occasional side quest and boss fight.

Of course, in true Soulslike fashion, Phantom Blade Zero‘s world is filled (quite generously) with Bonfire-like checkpoints, here taking on the appearance of a large bell. At these checkpoints, players can regain health and upgrade Soul’s abilities via a packed skill tree. From what I could see in my preview, most of this skill tree is dedicated to increasing Soul’s health, stamina, and attack power, but there are some more unique abilities, such as the ability for executions to restore health. I wasn’t blown away by Phantom Blade Zero‘s skill tree, but I did feel myself getting noticeably stronger with each point I invested, which was more than enough incentive for me to keep exploring each of the region’s branching paths. Weapons also have their own dedicated upgrade system, whereby increasing a weapon’s level by an increment of five equips it with a brand-new combat ability.

While you can probably tell by now that I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the vast majority of what Phantom Blade Zero has to offer, I’m a little more lukewarm about the game’s story, though I think the crux of the issue lies in time constraints and how it was conveyed, as opposed to a fundamental issue with the narrative itself. Though Phantom Blade Zero begins with a bang, the silent nature of its player-character and lack of NPCs leads to the first few hours of the game feeling a little confusing in terms of story. It was a little unclear exactly who Soul was and what his current motivation was, beyond extending his life somehow. Some intriguing details did start to rear their head a few hours in, and Soul’s backstory did start to get fleshed out in a very exciting way, but those first few hours definitely felt like being thrown in at the deep end.

That said, Phantom Blade Zero does feature some compelling world-building right off the bat. Mostly told through well-written collectible notes, Phantom Blade Zero‘s world is filled with genuinely interesting fantasy concepts and grounded character-focused stories, often directly related to the enemies you’re currently facing and the area you’re exploring. Now, these notes are filled with fantasy genre jargon that can be difficult to wrap your head around, but for those who are used to piecing together an entire narrative based solely on fragmented item descriptions, this method of storytelling could easily end up being a highlight of Phantom Blade Zero.

As things stand after just over five hours, Phantom Blade Zero features the best animation I have ever seen in a video game and the most satisfying action combat I’ve experienced since Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, all wrapped around engaging level design and an intriguing, albeit slightly confusing, main narrative. Famous last words, but something would have to go seriously wrong for the full game not to stick the landing.

Systems

Released

October 29, 2026

Developer(s)

S-Game

Publisher(s)

S-Game

Engine

Unreal Engine 5