During last night’s PlayStation Showcase, Sony revealed an impressive collection of games, including Bungie’s Marathon, Dragons Dogma 2, Metal Gear Solid Delta, and Alan Wake 2. But among the many impressive cinematic and gameplay trailers, there was one that caught our attention, the kungfu-inspired hack-and-slash Phantom Blade Zero for PS5.
The trailer, which was released via YouTube, depicts the game’s dark fantasy world blending Chinese martial arts with steampunk aesthetics. Players take on the role of a Dark Raider exiled by “The Order” in search for revenge, seeking to uncover the dark secrets of Wulin. Its soundtrack, which features a mix of classic wuxia songs and modern electronic music, adds to the atmosphere.
In a blog post accompanying the trailer, S-Game founder Liang confirmed that Phantom Blade Zero will be a semi-open world and its combat is inspired by kung-fu movies of the 1990s. He also emphasized that the dark/gloomy visual style is a deliberate choice to make the characters with hearts of gold really stand out.
Fans have already been speculating that the game will be a Soulslike. And indeed, the game does bear some similarities with titles such as Sekiro and Wo long. However, Liang said in a separate post that Phantom Blade Zero is not a “soulslike.” Instead, he likened it to the more popular genre of strategic action games such as Monster Hunter, which slows down the pace and gives players more time to think.