S-GAME’s new action RPG, *Phantom Blade Zero*, is set to be released on October 29. Ahead of the game’s launch, Game*Spark attended a media hands-on event held in Beijing, China, where we spent approximately six hours playing a work-in-progress build on actual hardware.
The build we played that day allowed us to experience a wide range of content, from the early stages of the main game to field exploration and boss battles tied to the main story.
However, upon actually playing it, we began to see aspects that differed somewhat from the impression we’d formed from the trailers—that of a “spectacular, high-speed action game.” In this article, we’ll share our impressions of *Phantom Blade Zero*’s gameplay based on our approximately six-hour hands-on session.
■ Beautiful, yet somehow unsettling. The “Kung Fu Punk” world that draws you in just by walking through it
At first glance, *Phantom Blade Zero* features elements reminiscent of “Souls-like” games.There are plenty of elements that hint at this lineage, such as tense battles against powerful enemies and field exploration with multiple branching paths. However, when you actually play it, it also has a strong flavor of a story-driven action RPG, and the feel of progression might be closer to that of *Black Myth: Wukong* or *Stellar Blade*.
The game’s map structure isn’t a vast open world; instead, it consists of areas connected by branching paths or spaces related to side quests that aren’t directly tied to the main storyline. While it feels somewhat like exploring a single map per chapter, this map layout helps prevent the game from dragging in the middle and allows for progression in distinct, manageable segments.
Furthermore, this fantastical world based on Chinese wuxia is filled with “beauty” in every corner—the kind that makes you want to stop and take it all in.
For example, the contrast between majestic nature and dilapidated temples is truly striking. While waterfalls and streams in the valleys create a sense of crisp, fresh air, the distorted sight of countless crimson threads woven throughout the landscape evokes a sense of malevolence—yet you can’t help but feel it’s “somehow elegant.”
Each map features multiple locations that tell stories of cultural splendor and decay, and I feel this naturally motivates players to explore—simply because they want to see those areas.
I’ll refrain from giving specific examples to avoid spoilers, but these distorted spaces seem to exist for a reason, which lends credibility to the enemies you face and the game’s world-building.
■ Boss battles have a “rhythm.” The thrill of the moment when offense and defense click into place!
You’ll face numerous enemies along the way, but the protagonist, “Soul,” doesn’t seem as fragile as the player characters in typical Souls-like games.
Perhaps because the game is themed around “Kung Fu Punk,” the action feels light and nimble overall. With fluid swordplay, you can unleash a flurry of combos one after another—and it’s even possible to finish off enemies in one go.
That said, higher-tier enemies will effectively parry your attacks. As a result, my primary combat strategy centered on depleting the enemy’s “killer intent” to throw them off balance, then capitalizing on the opening to launch a follow-up attack.
While you can deplete an enemy’s killing intent with strong attacks, parries, and the special weapon “Phantom Edge,” the key point is that Soul also possesses his own killing intent. Since blocking enemy attacks or using strong attacks consumes your own killing intent, you had to manage your resources carefully while fighting.
However, since switching weapon types restores killing intent, the battle design feels more offense-oriented—you’re constantly pressing the enemy while keeping resource management in mind.
Once you get used to this fast-paced feel, you can adopt an offensive strategy even in boss battles. You chip away at the boss’s health and killing intent with relentless combos while properly parrying the boss’s counterattacks.
Every boss battle has a certain “rhythm” or tempo, and when your playstyle meshes with it, you can sometimes defeat the boss surprisingly easily. Once you get the hang of it, the battles feel incredibly satisfying, and I even found myself wanting to rewatch my own gameplay later on.However, there are moments here and there where hints of a “Souls-like” style peek through, and if the player gets swept up in the boss’s rhythm, they’ll die in the blink of an eye.
The more cautiously you try to fight, the more likely you are to lose the damage race against the boss in this game.
As the battle drags on, the boss is more likely to unleash powerful attacks that are difficult to dodge. I even feel that focusing on a “quick and decisive” approach—fighting in a risky and bold manner—makes it easier to grasp the unique tempo of boss battles.
That said, it seems that perceptions of the bosses’ difficulty vary from player to player. While some players were able to defeat bosses that gave me a hard time without much trouble, the opposite was also true.
■How Will You Spend Your Last 66 Days? The World of Wuxia Unfolds Through Detours
What left a lasting impression during the roughly 6-hour demo was the game’s design, which actively encourages players to “take detours.” Some maps feature small settlements where you can accept side quests from NPCs you encounter there.
What’s interesting is that accepting a side quest doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a one-time event.For example, after progressing through a subquest from an NPC I encountered in a canyon early in the game, I later reunited with that same NPC in a different settlement after the map changed, where I learned about a small development in their story. Since you can continue your journey while looking forward to reuniting with NPCs, I felt the design prevents the game from becoming merely a matter of following the main story.
That said, this approach itself is by no means unusual.
Even so, the side content—separate from the main storyline—offers unique weapons and combat experiences, some of which combine flashy effects with user-friendly performance. This creates incentives to take detours not just for the story, but also for the combat itself.
My overall impression after playing for about six hours is that this isn’t simply a hard-core action game that can be categorized as a “Souls-like.”
The unique rhythm that emerges from the back-and-forth with enemies, the visual presentation of the fields that draws you in through the scenery itself, and the relationships with NPCs that unfold as you explore side paths—These elements are rooted in “wuxia”—a genre that weaves together the characters’ sense of justice and convictions with martial arts—and they are beautifully distilled into the journey of the protagonist, Soul, who has only 66 days left to live.
What I experienced this time was just the very beginning of the game. How will the story of Soul, woven through “Kung Fu Punk,” ultimately come to a conclusion? And just how profound will the narrative catharsis felt by completing side quests be during Soul’s journey, as he faces his remaining 66 days? I’m already looking forward to the game’s release.
*Phantom Blade Zero* is scheduled for release on PS5 and PC (Steam and Epic Games Store) on Thursday, October 29, 2026.
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