At Summer Games Fest, we got to hands on with S-Game’s newest game Phantom Blade Zero. When talking to S-Game’s CEO Soulframe Liang, the studio didn’t even know that their game was chosen to be the show closer at the showcase on Friday, they thought once Monster Hunter Wilds was shown that maybe they were dropped, but to their surprise they got to be the last thing people saw! Honestly, as you’ll see, what grand choice for the showcase to end on. For the first demo that the studio has had for the game, the game feels absolutely incredible to play. By the time I was done with the demo, I was just craving to play more. For a game that’s still so early in development, it’s incredible how polished it already felt and how much the developers still want to improve the game.
The game is a mix of Soulslike games along with Devil May Cry frenetic combat action. However, unlike most Soulslikes, enemies don’t respawn when you die nor do you have any “Souls” that you need to collect. Where Phantom Blade Zero really shines is the fluidity of the combat. The game is so engaging that you’ll be mixing attacks, abilities, and parries to completely decimate the enemies and bosses you encounter. The head of the studio even said fans said when they first showed the game last year there was no way that the game would be as fluid as the trailer showed, but they wanted to prove those fans wrong and that it wasn’t just trailer magic. Boy, oh boy, did they deliver on that fact.
The demo itself featured three small sections. The first was a short tutorial section and combat with a variety of enemies in a location. While we only got to explore a small portion of the map, the developers said that they were inspired by the Dark Souls games and how intricate those maps are, so level design is sure to be pretty deep. The next section of the demo was a boss fight with a different weapon set and abilities. Finally, the third section was another boss fight with yet another weapon and ability set. The boss fights were such a strong combat experiences where parrying, blocking, and dodging were key to succeed in battle and some of the most fun combat encounters I’ve had in an action game.
You can check out some footage from the game below: