S-GAME released *Phantom Blade Zero* today, October 29, for PC (Steam/Epic Games Store) and PS5.
A non-Souls-like action-adventure featuring a swordsman with 66 days left to live
Set in the world of “Kung Fu Punk”—a fusion of wuxia and punk fantasy—this game is a dark wuxia action-adventure.
The protagonist is “Soul,” a swordsman falsely accused of murdering his lord, who has suffered a severe wound to the heart and has only 66 days left to live.Set in a dark, “Kung Fu Punk” martial arts world where secret martial arts manuals and swordplay intertwine with mechanical prosthetics, industrial ruins, and rock music, the protagonist sets out to uncover the truth behind a conspiracy that threatens to shake the world.
Development and publishing are handled in-house by Beijing-based S-GAME. Action actor Donnie Yen serves as a creative consultant and martial arts supervisor, and the game features fight sequences reminiscent of wuxia films.
In combat, players parry or dodge enemy attacks to reduce the opponent’s “killer intent,” then trigger a guard break before unleashing combos or the special move “Zetsugi.”There are over 30 main weapons and 25 “Phantom Edge” sub-weapons—looted from bosses—and since switching weapons restores your “Kill Qi,” the game seems to encourage an aggressive, offensive playstyle.
Another key point is that enemies on the field do not respawn once defeated, meaning this title is not a pure “Souls-like” game. In a developer interview, Director Soulframe explained the goal: “We don’t want players to just repeat the same content; we want them to move forward and have new experiences.”
Difficulty levels range from beginner-friendly to high-difficulty, and there’s even a “Sixty-Six Days” mode exclusive to New Game+ where the game ends if you die 66 times.
Over 360,000 concurrent players on Steam, with a Metascore of 88!
The Steam version has attracted a large number of players since its release, and according to SteamDB, the number of concurrent players at the time of writing (October 29, 12:49 PM) stands at 360,351.Sandwiched between “Counter-Strike 2” in first place and “Dota 2” in third, this title is the second most-played game on Steam, and it appears to be living up to the hype (Steam’s “Most Played Games” page).
As of this writing, the Metascores on Metacritic are 88 for the PC version (based on 45 reviews) and 87 for the PS5 version (based on 40 reviews).
Game*Spark has also published a review, awarding it a score of 9 and calling it “a masterpiece I’d recommend to all lovers of kung fu movies.”The review highlighted the game’s beautiful and overwhelming kung fu action, the motivation to explore that lasts until the very end, and the diverse and never-boring boss battles as its strengths, noting that the game’s appeal lies in the fact that “players can become the cool protagonist of a kung fu movie.”
For more on the game’s appeal, be sure to check out these review articles as well.
"Phantom Blade Zero" is now available for PC (Steam/Epic Games Store) and PS5.
￥55,000
(価格・在庫状況は記事公開時点のものです)
￥55,000
(価格・在庫状況は記事公開時点のものです)
