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If it looks like a Soulslike, sounds like one, and plays like one, then someone will claim it is one. Ever since that first trailer dropped in 2023, people have been slapping the Soulslike label on Phantom Blade Zero. Dark world, sword fights, big scary bosses. But S-Game has spent the best part of three years telling everyone it's not that. So what actually is it?
While Phantom Blade Zero has got Soulslike elements, it also has a lot of things that would draw it well away from that space. So, let's take a look at some of those.
What Genre Is Phantom Blade Zero?
On paper, it's a single-player action RPG built in Unreal Engine 5, with boss fights and a connected map. Soulframe Liang reckons that the Soulslike label doesn't do it justice, though. In a developer letter posted to the game's X account, he called it
"neither a Soulslike game nor a traditional action game"
and pitched a new name for it instead: Wuxia Action Games. Liang has since told PC Gamer that the market is rammed with Soulslikes, and that S-Game would rather build a kung fu action game around fast, fluid martial arts.
The Wuxia Action Games is Chinese martial arts fantasy through and through, mixed with steampunk and horror into what S-Game calls kungfupunk. Donnie Yen has been helping shape the combat since 2023, and the whole thing plays like a kung fu film you're directing yourself.
Is Phantom Blade Zero a Soulslike?
Ultimately, no - it doesn't look like Phantom Blade Zero is a soulslike.
S-Game has said it took inspiration from Soulslikes for its layered maps and hidden paths, so expect shortcuts and secrets tucked around corners across its eight connected regions. Bosses are proper walls too, and some will take you a fair few attempts. The Steam community has even tagged it as Souls-like, for what that's worth.
But then there are big differences:
- The pace: Combat is way faster, with combos, dodges, and parries chaining together more like Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden than Dark Souls.
- Difficulty choice: Wayfarer mode exists purely so you can enjoy the story and feel like a kung fu god. FromSoftware would never.
- Boss checkpoints: Die in a boss's second phase, and you restart from that phase, not from the top.
- Build freedom: You can reforge an upgraded weapon to get your materials back, so a dud investment won't wreck your run.
If you do want the pain, it's there. Hellwalker gives bosses adaptive AI that reacts to how you fight, and Sixty-Six Days mode costs you a day of Soul's life for every death. Hit zero, and it's game over for good.
Funnily enough, Liang told Inverse he's a big Souls fan himself. So it's less a rejection of the genre and more S-Game nicking the bits it likes and bolting them onto something much quicker.
Our take? Call it a fast action RPG with Soulslike foundations. If Sekiro is your favourite game, you'll feel at home. If Souls games have always bounced off you, the lower difficulty modes mean this one won't.
