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Phantom Blade Zero

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Phantom Blade Zero
DeveloperS-GAME
PublisherS-GAME
DirectorSoulframe Liang [a][5]
ProducerSoulframe Liang [1][6]
ArtistMichael Chang [1][6]
ComposerCaisheng Bo [6][7]
SeriesPhantom Blade [3][8]
EngineUnreal Engine 5
Platforms
GenreAction role-playing
ModesSingle-player, multiplayer

Phantom Blade Zero [b] is an upcoming wuxia action role-playing game developed and published by S-GAME. The player assumes the role of Soul, an elite assassin in the service of an elusive and powerful organization known as The Order. Set in the Phantom World, the story is centered on his mission to uncover the truth behind the murder of The Order's patriarch.

Phantom Blade Zero is scheduled to be released for PlayStation 5 and Windows. The release date will be announced within 2025.

Gameplay

[edit]

Phantom Blade Zero is an action role-playing game.[10][11] It is played from a third-person perspective.[10] The story campaign is strictly a single-player experience, while certain endgame content is available as multiplayer experiences.[12]

The player controls Soul, an elite assassin in the service of an elusive and powerful organization known as The Order.[3] He carries two primary weapons and two secondary weapons.[13][14] Blades are his primary weapons.[15] They each have a Power Surge, which functions as an ultimate ability.[16] Phantom Edges serve as his secondary weapons.[17] They comprise a range of diverse weapons, such as canons, lances, axes, hammers, and more.[15] Sha-Chi is used as a combat resource for Sha-Chi attacks and blocks.[18]

Defensive maneuvers consist of blocking, parrying, and dodging.[18] Enemies can do Brutal Moves that substantially drain Sha-Chi when blocked and Killer Moves that can not be blocked or parried.[19] A Ghostep, a maneuver that repositions behind the enemy, is triggered when a Brutal Move is parried or a Killer Move is dodged right before it lands.[19]

The game is set in a semi-open world.[3][20][21][22] The world consists of interconnected regions.[23] Some areas may be initially inaccessible, but they can be reached through non-linear means with multiple possible paths.[23] The story features multiple endings and is influenced by side quests.[24]

The game offers multiple difficulty options that affect elements such as stats, mechanics, and AI.[25] The game includes a New Game Plus mode.[24]

Synopsis

[edit]

Setting

[edit]

Phantom Blade Zero is a game based on the wuxia tradition.[12][26] Soulframe Liang commented that "Broadly speaking, it falls under the category of ARPGs. But more specifically – maybe it could create a new identity that is Wuxia Action Games?"[27] It particularly introduces kungfupunk, as termed by Liang.[c][3][11][14][22] This is a distinctive style blending traditional kungfu with steampunk and cyberpunk.[11] When asked about the difficulties of introducing culturally unfamiliar themes to Western audiences, Liang acknowledged that while these themes may initially pose challenges, games that deliver high quality and enjoyable experiences can transform these themes into a strength that attracts players.[29]

Phantom Blade Zero takes place in the Phantom World.[3][15] This universe is based on China during the Ming dynasty, with elements of wuxia, steampunk, cyberpunk, dark fantasy, horror, and more.[15] The game conveys an atmosphere reminiscent of the jianghu, a domain where folk exist outside the sphere of the imperial court and government, rooted in the stories about the xiake.[30]

The protagonist Soul is a heroic figure who embodies the essense of the xiake.[31] Liang described him as "[...] this kind of character is a very typical Eastern hero. He's not so talkative, doesn't use a lot of words, but he's badass, swift, and fast. Cold on the outside, but warm and hot inside, in the heart. He always wants to help the weak, although he himself only has limited days to live. We call this 'Xiake (侠客)', which means the Chinese version, the Kung Fu version, of heroes."[32]

Plot

[edit]

The elite assassin Soul serves an elusive and powerful organization known as The Order, but is framed for the murder of its patriarch. He is gravely wounded during the manhunt that followed, but survives through a mystic healer's temporary cure—one that will keep him alive for 66 days. With time running out, Soul sets out to uncover the truth behind the conspiracy.[3][21][22]

Development

[edit]

Phantom Blade Zero is a game developed and published by S-GAME.[9] The studio is based in Beijing, China.[8][33] According to Soulframe Liang, the game represents a return to the series' origins, drawing on the narrative framework of his indie titles Rainblood: Town of Death and Rainblood 2: City of Flame, and introduces a wealth of new content.[34] He presented the game as "the spiritual rebirth of the original Rainblood".[3][20] He said that the new story requires no prior knowledge, containing all content within, and diverges significantly from the earlier titles.[31] The game is built using Unreal Engine 5.[3][12][26][35]

In an interview published in June 2024, Liang stated that the development team has officially been working on Phantom Blade Zero for about two years.[36] Throughout 2017, the studio shared a few early concepts and other preliminary work.[37][38][39][40] This included, for example, concept art of four characters designed by Michael Chang, which was shown during ChinaJoy 2017.[37] Around Chinese New Year in 2017, the decision was made to shift from the 2D graphics reminiscent of the previous games to 3D graphics.[41] This led to the choice to use Unreal Engine 4.[41] In 2018, the project was put on hold due to what was considered an unfavorable environment for developing this kind of game.[42] In 2021, interest in the project was revived following an improvement in the conditions.[42] That same year, Tencent proposed and formalized a partnership deal to provide financial support along with other necessary assistance, as the company had learned about the studio's goals to develop large-scale PC and console games.[34] At the time, the studio had plans for two projects using Unreal Engine 5 in this category, namely Phantom Blade Zero and Stellar Saga, the latter set in space and centered on humanity's struggle for survival amid the high-dimensional wars of advanced civilizations.[34] Liang oversaw the development of Phantom Blade Zero and delegated decisions regarding Stellar Saga to trusted colleagues.[42] Ultimately, the studio shifted entirely to Phantom Blade Zero and suspended all other new projects.[43]

S-GAME originally envisioned Phantom Blade Zero as a smaller game, but the attention garnered at the PlayStation Showcase in May 2023 prompted the studio to increase the scale and fully commit to the project.[44] In an interview shortly after the showcase, Liang said that he felt nervous leading up to the event, but that the international reception boosted their confidence and that years earlier, Feng Ji, the producer of Black Myth: Wukong, encouraged him to create a single-player game that could captivate players worldwide.[45] Another turning point came with the 2024 release of the highly successful Black Myth: Wukong, which increased interest in Phantom Blade Zero and led to additional funding for the game from investors.[14] Liang commented that "It's not necessarily changed our [expectations], but maybe it's changed others' expectations and anticipation of us. We did receive more resources, but we also received more pressure from the success of Black Myth: Wukong."[46]

Kenji Tanigaki serves as the action director on Phantom Blade Zero.

The developers aimed to design the game's combat based on Chinese martial arts, drawing inspiration from classic Hong Kong martial arts films and working closely with martial arts instructors.[47] For the action design process, a nationwide search was conducted to trace the roots of Chinese martial arts and meet with their inheritors throughout the country.[48] This included, for example, masters from the Shaolin Temple, Emei Mountain, and Guangdong's Southern Lion Troupes, among others.[26][48] The developers wanted to create authentic martial arts action, so they emphasized the importance of immersing themselves by going to the communities, mountains, and temples to engage in discussions and train together in order to understand the essence of the martial arts.[48] Motion capture of performances by martial artists was used for the movements of characters.[26][49][50] The motion capture performances were done at the intensity of the in-game action, with the intention to avoid post-production speed adjustments that could make the action appear artificial.[49] A wire rig, operated through a pulley system by multiple crew members, assisted the motion capture actors in executing moves.[49] Kenji Tanigaki, known for his work in kungfu cinema, served as the action director.[3][20] Master Yang, a kungfu expert, served as the combat action director.[49]

Liang described the game's action as "In Phantom Blade Zero, combat happens at an extremely fast pace. Movement is rapid, attack frequency is high, and you can perform maneuvers like running along walls, teleporting behind enemies, and executing sudden cinematic finishers that dynamically shift the camera to wide or close-up angles, making it feel like you’re in a Kung Fu movie."[26] A crucial aspect in the action design was that the gameplay embodied the philosophies of Chinese martial arts.[1] For instance, Liang explained that while defense might involve simple blocking motions in other contexts, Chinese martial arts underscores defending in response to the opponent's movements while simultaneously attacking.[1] He said that the goal was not merely for players to perform martial arts moves, but also to understand and apply the principles behind them.[48] Furthermore, each weapon was designed with its own unique action mechanics to ensure all weapons remained novel to use rather than limited by common weapon types.[47] The developers believed that relying on shared basic action mechanics would diminish the distinctiveness of each weapon.[47] Lastly, the action design also emphasized the fluidity of movements through a rich animation set for elements such as transitions (for a natural flow between actions), contextual execution moves, dynamic environmental interactions, and multi-target combat mechanics.[26]

The developers created a collective AI that follows a formation logic, which enables multiple enemies to operate as an interconnected unit.[48] By integrating collective and individual AIs together, they built a system in which enemies can strike alone, fight in structured formations, and interact with one another.[47] What often appears to be several enemies attacking at once may actually be a single move modeled across multiple enemies, which results in a visually striking spectacle and keeps encounters relatively manageable.[51] The approach was aimed to avoid a common pitfall in many games, where enemies either overwhelm in swarms or stand idle during multi-enemy battles.[47] The design was inspired by the deliberate combat dynamics employed in wuxia films, where characters not directly engaged in battle contribute to an atmosphere of controlled chaos.[51]

In addition to the martial arts, the developers adapted other Chinese traditions such as southern China's ancestral hall worship rituals, Guangdong's lion dances, Zhejiang's puppetry, Fujian's deity processions, Jiangxi's nuo masks, Sichuan's bianlian (face changing), Beijing opera, China's imperial ceremonies, and more.[48] Liang said that he hopes to help pass on folk culture and intangible cultural heritage.[48] They also scanned real-world objects, ranging from structures such as temples and village homes to weapons and other items.[26]

The developers used facial scanning of actors for the design of major characters, including the model and stage actor Yucheng for the protagonist Soul.[31] Yucheng also did the dramatic performances for Soul.[52]

Release

[edit]

Phantom Blade Zero is scheduled to be released for PC and PlayStation 5.[21]

During an anniversary concert for the Rainblood series on 22 November 2016, S-GAME revealed that the series would be remade with an extended plot in a new game codenamed Yingzhiren Zero (影之刃Zero) in Chinese.[53] The Chinese title was changed to Yingzhiren Ling (影之刃零) by the time of the game's announcement.[35]

During the PlayStation Showcase on 24 May 2023, S-GAME released a trailer announcing Phantom Blade Zero.[22] In January 2025, they released a trailer celebrating the Year of the Snake which revealed that a release date would be announced within 2025.[7][54]

Reception

[edit]

Accolades

[edit]

Phantom Blade Zero won Most Anticipated Game and was nominated for Phenomenon of the Year at the UCG Game Awards 2024.[55][56]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Liang Qiwei (梁其伟) is known by the pseudonym Soulframe.[1][2] He has used the name Soulframe Liang in English-language public communications.[3][4]
  2. ^ Chinese: 影之刃零; pinyin: Yǐngzhīrèn Líng.[9]
  3. ^ Soulframe Liang uses the term kungfupunk in English,[3] but he interchangeably uses the terms wuxiapunk (武侠朋克) and kungfupunk (功夫朋克) in Chinese.[28]

References

[edit]
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  55. ^ For the nominations, see "UCG游戏大赏2024全奖项提名公开！". Ultra Console Game (in Chinese). 27 December 2024. Archived from the original on 4 April 2025. For the results, see "UGA2024圆满结束！全奖项获奖游戏和厂商公开！". Ultra Console Game (in Chinese). 15 January 2025. Archived from the original on 5 April 2025.
  56. ^ For the results, see 沁雅畅慧 (16 January 2025). "「UCG 游戏大赏 2024」颁奖典礼圆满结束". Game Bonfire (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 21 January 2025.
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