Phantom Blade Zero is not a Soulslike — and developer S-GAME is really going out of its way to make sure that everyone knows.
At this point, the Chinese studio has reiterated multiple times that the upcoming action title will not adhere to the typical FromSoft-founded structure, which has grown more and more popular over the years.
To be fair, it's hard to avoid Soulslike comparisons these days; people see any kind of melee-based action that may or may not involve dodge rolling and questions are immediately asked. But Soulframe Liang, S-GAME's memorably named CEO, is adamant to set the record straight.
"When Phantom Blade Zero was first announced, people thought it was a 'Soulslike'," Liang writes on social media. "After all, it seemed to feature interconnected maps, hidden secrets, and those sigh-of-relief checkpoints."
Then, when the title's fast-paced combat was showcased, Liang says that there were yet more misconceptions, with people claiming that it was a "hack and slash" game similar to something like Devil May Cry.
"However, Phantom Blade Zero is neither a Soulslike game nor a traditional action game [...] in the process of making the game, we stumbled onto a path we never expected."
He goes on to explain that through a "strong cultural aesthetic", the team sees Phantom Blade Zero as a kind of melting pot, taking inspiration from various genres. Liang then compares the process to martial arts cinema — something that blends Chinese fighting techniques with Hollywood filmmaking.
"Few people would simply call them 'action movies'. More often than not, we refer to them as Kung Fu films, Wuxia films, or martial arts films."
So, basically, Liang is saying that Phantom Blade Zero doesn't really fit into any one genre: "Maybe it could create a new identity that is Wuxia Action Games?"
Adding to all of this, the post clarifies that difficulty settings will be part of the experience. Having apparently "heard the question" of difficulty "a lot", the game's latest demo build features three options: the balanced Gamechanger, the easier Wayfarer, and the super hard Hellwalker. The latter is only unlocked in New Game+ in the full release, the developer reveals.