Let’s ignore the S word for a second—Phantom Blade Zero isn’t one. It has some of those sensibilities, but you can argue that the genre I won’t name right now has also borrowed heavily from ARPGs. Phantom Blade Zero is a fast-paced action game, egging you on to be aggressive, land combos, and have a good time. At Gamescom 2025, I did all of this, and didn’t have a good time—I had a great one.
Long before Demon’s Souls injected the action genre with a brutal dose of death and a decade-plus-long obsession with difficulty, bosses, respawning enemies, and unforgiving sequences, action games and hack ‘n’ slash titles were the benchmark. Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden, the original God of War games, and Bayonetta are considered atop this totem.
With non-Soulslike action games making a comeback, Phantom Blade Zero could take some beating.
Polished, Precise & Pure
The queue for Phantom Blade Zero was enormous throughout the entirety of Gamescom 2025. If it wasn’t for my special press invitation to play it, I might not have bothered. There is serious hype for S-Game’s Phantom Blade Zero—easily the biggest and most ambitious game from the company to date.
I got a one-hour preview where I got to cycle through the game’s stellar inventory of varied weaponry and face off with some big, bad bosses. Phantom Blade Zero is broken up into a mixture of linear-focused and slightly more semi-open chunks of gameplay. You’re encouraged to kill all enemies in the area to reap the benefits of XP and bonuses.
Collectibles are scattered around the area, and hunting them down is vital as many of them incrementally upgrade your health and power. This is easier to do when enemies don’t respawn, which they don’t in PBZ—because it’s not a Soulslike, as the game’s director has stressed.
Phantom Blade Zero is A Nice Change of Pace
If you make it through the first phase of a boss, initiate the second phase, and die, you will resume from the second phase. You don’t lose currency when you die, and the emphasis is on attacking and stringing together combos to deal optimal damage. PBZ also has difficulty settings for greater accessibility.
I played on the middle difficulty setting and defeated the demo’s first two bosses without dying. My final encounter was the epic Chief Disciple of the Seven Stars boss, revealed in a gameplay trailer a few weeks ago. I love fights that aren’t just stereotypical 1v1 skirmishes—Lies of P’s Black Rabbit Brotherhood encounters always spring to mind. The music was badass throughout, and the moves and executions are just beautiful.
I had fun trying out different weapons, getting the hang of different combos, and generally appreciating how smooth and complete the game felt throughout the demo. We’re probably not getting Phantom Blade Zero until 2026, but if it were released tomorrow, I think we’d be ok.
My only real gripe was the excessive nature of the game’s long-range enemies. They constantly spammed me with projectiles. It became very annoying very quickly, and I always find it a cheap way of hampering you. It’s something I was highly critical of in my Wuchang: Fallen Feathers review. It artificially inflates the difficulty and takes away the excitement and enjoyment of large-scale fights.
Other than this, S-Game has a hell of a game. With Lost Soul Aside and Ninja Gaiden 4—and even 2024’s Black Myth: Wukong—bringing action back, Phantom Blade Zero is arriving at the right time. In its current state, I’d go as far as saying it’s a day-one purchase, and I’ll stick my reputation on that.
We’ve also covered in-depth previews for LEGO Voyagers, Valor Mortis, Super Meat Boy 3D, Hollow Knight: Silksong, and other games coming out, courtesy of Gamescom 2025.
If you have thoughts on Phantom Blade Zero so far, you know where to leave your comments: The Insider Gaming forum.
