Summer Game Fest Hands-on: Phantom Blade 0

The previews keep coming! This time, we got an early hands-on look at S-Game and Cruel Man Studio’s Phantom Blade 0 during Summer Game Fest. The game was first announced in a PlayStation State of Play back in May 2023, and since then fans have been eager for a shot at this dark, stylish hack-and-slash adventure. During the Summer Game Fest live showcase,  a new gameplay trailer and a demo was released that same day. At the media-only Play Days event, we got hands-on with that demo. Check out our impressions here.

What is Phantom Blade 0?

Phantom Blade 0 is what I’ve come to describe as a Souls-lite with Ninja Gaiden elements. Story details are still mum, but the game is set in an Asian-inspired world with many other Eastern influences and styles. It’s setting is dark, dreary, and very reminiscent of its genre brethren like Nioh. I refer to this as a “Souls-lite” because while it still has that typical dodge-and-parry combat loop veterans have come to expect, the learning curve is low and there is no real consequence for dying. At least in the demo, it feels like the game respects your time and encourages you to try different strategies. You will die, but you won’t be punished too badly.

Hands-on

My demo was  broken into three different sections. One was a tutorial level to the hang of basic controls, movement and traversal, the camera, combat, and its mechanics and systems. Here I fought some basic enemies and utilized my ranged attacks to strike from afar. Combat is very free-flowing and fast-paced, with multiple combos at your disposal. You can switch between melee weapons on the fly, expanded your damage and combo potential. One small nitpick I have is that the dodge button was mapped to R1 instead of Circle like I’m used to, but I got used to it. Plus you can always just remap it. Aside from two melee weapons, I also had two ranged: a bow and arrow and what I’m going to call a cannon.

The second portion of the demo had me face off against a fairly powerful boss. Here, my loadout was changed up a bit to an enormous longsword, a short sword, my trusty bow and arrow, and a short-ranged flamethrower. I struggled with this boss, bad. It took my over eight tries to learn his patterns, dodge timing, and parry windows, but was ultimately victorious. The PR rep guiding me through it made sure to tell me that with certain bosses, dodging won’t always be the most effect strategy.This enemy has a ranged attack that covered most of the screen, but I was able to parry. Like I mentioned early, there is not real downside to dying, except for losing maybe five seconds. Each death brought me right to the entrance of the boss battle arena, losing only seconds. The PR rep also confirmed that this will consistent throughout the game; they wanted Phantom Blade 0 to be as accessible as possible while still retaining challenge for those who are looking for it.

The third and final portion of the demo pitted me against another big-baddie, but I was (shockingly) able to defeat on my first try. This fight dropped me in with a similar loadout, but emphasized a unique mechanic for a game like this. The environment played a big role in this fight: I was able to climb a pillar to do a ground pound-like attack, staggering the boss. This opened him up to more quick flurries from my melee weapon, but he quickly recovered. I dodged, parried, hacked, and slashed my way to the end of his health bar. When it got low, I was treated with a prompt to hit triangle that showed off a sweet finishing blow animation.

Thank you to Summer Game Fest Play Days for having me and to S-Game and their PR team for walking me through the demo. Phantom Blade 0 currently has no concrete date, but will be going on a demo world tour in 2024.