Phantom Blade Year of the Snake has been on everyone’s radar since 2023 with the developer S-GAME making it available for those able to come to various game showcase conventions. Recently, a gameplay trailer was released on Playstation’s youtube with a message stating that a release date will be announced this year.
Story And Setting
Phantom Blade Zero is another contender in increasing China’s effect on the overall gaming industry after Black Myth Wukong. The demos that the public were allowed to test and capture footage of, showcase the complex combat mechanics that the game promises to deliver.
So far there isn’t much known about the game other than some general details, such as the fact that we play as “Soul” who works for a mysterious yet powerful organization called the “The Order”. At some point Soul gets left to die after being greatly injured but gets nursed back to health by a mysterious healer.
Another fact that is known is Soul has only 66 days to seek revenge on the person or persons who left him for dead, sort of similar to Persona or the recent Metaphor:ReFantazio. In terms of setting, the universe Phantom Blade is set in is the shared universe that is present on most of S-GAME’s other titles.
A Mix Of Sekiro And Nioh
The combat shown looks extremely engaging with how fast and stylishly our protagonist attacks various enemies. It seems the way to defeat any regular mob enemy is to break their guard through performing rapid attacks but at the same time being to deflect the moment they start attacking.
Some mechanics are similar to Sekiro where we can deflect any attack except for grab attacks, in Phantom Blade Zero we have manage our stamina and watch out for whether the attack is a ‘blue flash’ attack or a ‘red flash’ one.A ‘blue flash’ attack means we have to parry at the right time, executing a parry basically makes it so that we can easily go on the offensive against any boss while the boss starts to recover.
For the ‘red flash’ attack we have to dodge at the right time which gives us a bonus to our stamina and also allows us to quickly go on the offensive and deal huge amounts of damage. Another combat mechanic related to the weapons is the fact that just like in Nioh swapping weapons is encouraged and rewarded if the player can pull off mid combo. The player can gain a bonus to stamina which is crucial as it is used in performing the many combos and also deflecting ‘blue flash’ attacks.
Weapons And Armour
Similar to other notable RPGs like the Witcher, there will be various kinds of armour and weapons available for the player to find in the world. The demos showcased Soul using a singular sword, dual swords and a two handed long sword similar to an Odachi. Soul can also carry a bow to pick off enemies from a distance as well.
It seems Soul will also have access to some special attacks as well, as at point he is able to form a cannon from his hand to use against a targeted enemy. Although no other weapons or powers were shown, it is interesting to think about what they have cooked up for players to find and unlock.
The most amazing thing to note and what truly makes it standout is the fluid attack animations, each separate attack flows so fluidly from the previous that it feels like the combo itself is a single motion. Another appealing thing is the fact that while there dodge and deflect mechanics in the combat, the timings are actually more forgiving compared to Sekiro or Nioh.
A Satisfying Conclusion
As mentioned before this game is another serious entry from China and is worth keeping an eye on, those who tried the demo also mentioned that throughout their time in testing everything out the game never dropped a frame, there were no performance drops at all even though the game is running on Unreal Engine 5.
Western studios are going to have to face the reality of the quality of the games they are putting out when compared against developers like S-GAME and Game Science as it seems clear from the gameplay footage itself how polished and flawless the game appears to be.
As the release date for the game is yet to be announced, those interested will have to wait and see when S-GAME decides on releasing the title. One thing is certain, the game already seems like a clear winner for game of the year if nothing else.