Phantom Blade Zero State of Play Deep Dives Into the Game

New details emerge on the game details and the role Donnie Yen plays.

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During a State of Play broadcast yesterday, Chinese developer S-GAME released new game footage for Wuxia action RPG Phantom Blade Zero. They provided "new details on weapons, difficulty options, side quests, and Donnie Yen's role in bringing authentic kung fu to the game," according to a report from Gematsu. According to the developer, the game is a dark wuxia world called the Wulin. Caught up in what it labels “conflict and intrigue”, you’re a character named Soul, conducting various side quests where the residents need assistance as you explore the land. Completing these quests also give Soul access to more of the world, and access to more story missions throughout the game. The game starts with Soul being blamed for the murder of your brother, and brought back to life, with a twisted condition. There are other factions in the Wulin who Soul will encounter in the main city, Pangzhen, rivaling each other and getting Soul involved in numerous deadly encounters and challenging traps. Exploring the Wulin will give you access to more than 30 primary weapons, with 25 secondary weapons called “Phantom Edges.” These weapons can be upgraded and combined with various accessories to allow for an array of customisation. They also can be reforged and reset to have different traits and abilities for Soul, giving a better edge in the fight than before. There appears to be four difficulty modes: Wayfarer, Pathbreaker, Hellwalker, and Sixty-Six Days. Wayfarer simply appears to be the regular normal story experience, while Hellwalker is supposed to be more challenging, and have “advanced enemy intelligence,” and Sixty-Six Days would appear to be the hardest mode, with not much details given other than the Beijing-based developer promising it to not be “for the faint of heart.” Defeat in this mode will cost the player time, as the game will literally tie Soul’s 66-day time to the game’s timer. Reaching zero will lead to permadeath. Martial arts actor Donnie Yen was brought on as the creative consultant and martial arts expert for the game. He brings his blend of martial arts with facial and motion capture as the character Mó Yuan, utilsing his likeness and performance to bring authentic kung fu to the game. S-GAME claims that Yen’s character will be a formidable opponent for Soul in the game. The game has what is called “kungfupunk”, a blend of kung fu, steampunk, and body modification for the Phantom World that the player will be exploring. During the State of Play, the game’s map of Pangzhen was shown to be done in traditional Chinese ink wash art, bringing a more authentic flair to the story. “Our ultimate goal is to draw from the deep well of authentic Chinese folk arts and martial arts,” explains Creative Director Soulframe Liang during the game demo. “Infusing them into the sleek, visceral, aesthetic we call Kungfupunk.” They then demonstrated it with a boss encounter featuring an opponent wearing the Chinese folk lion costume during combat against Soul while performing part of the traditional Chinese lion dance. The opponent also wielded intense fire attacks against Soul during the encounter. The State of Play demonstrated unique features on the PS5 that the player can experience. With the PlayStation DualSense controller, using the triggers will help improve precision strikes with adaptive responses to movement and haptic feedback, while the PS5 headset captures 3D audio. Phantom Blade Zero is due for release on PlayStation 5 and PC via Steam and Epic Games on Oct. 29. The game is a console exclusive and will not be available for other consoles until at least 12 months after release date, according to Sony. The State of Play video can be found here:

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