Between Black Myth: Wu Kong, Lost Soul Aside, Where Winds Meet and more, we’re starting to have a nice list ofAction RPG chinese sub Unreal Engine 5 whose qualities we are only waiting to judge on the spot. Their small group has just been joined by Phantom Blade Zeroan action role-playing game developed by S-Game (Rain Blood Chronicles: Mirage).
This adventure derived from the mobile game Phantom Blade: Executioners will have a much darker and more serious aesthetic, and inspirations ranging from Chinese kung fu to steampunk : the developers also like to call the artistic direction of the kungfupunk. She will suggest A gameplay fast, more reminiscent of martial arts films than souls like and will follow us Drunkan assassin who has 66 days to escape death and unlock the secret behind the machination that could bring about his end.
kungfupunk
Phantom World, the universe in which the game takes place, is a universe where many types of powers converge. You’ll find Chinese kungfu, intricate machinery reminiscent of steampunk, occult arts, and intriguing stuff that doesn’t fit into any of these categories.
In Phantom Blade Zero, you play as Soul, an elite assassin serving an elusive, yet powerful organization known simply as “The Order”. He was framed for the murder of the Patriarch of the Order and seriously injured in the ensuing manhunt. A mystical healer managed to save him from death, but the makeshift healing only lasts 66 days. He must uncover the mastermind behind it all before his time runs out, against mighty enemies and inhuman monstrosities.
From the Wuxia stories of Louis Cha to the films of Bruce Lee, Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere All at Once, and Donnie Yen in John Wick: Chapter 4, kungfu in pop culture is ever-changing, but still awesome! With Phantom Blade Zero, we’re adding a new twist to the formula, a heavy dose of punk spirit, as well as sleek visuals. We call this overall artistic direction “kungfupunk”.
world building
Phantom Blade Zero takes place in a semi-open world. We realize that ‘open world’ is the buzzword these days, but with limited resources, we’d rather present you with several reasonably sized, handcrafted maps populated with various activities, instead of a huge continuity full of repurposed assets.
The dark visual style you’ll see a lot in the game is a deliberate decision. A dark world really brings out the characters with hearts of gold. Plus, it reminds you to never let your guard down. There are many powerful beings who want to see you dead. They’re challenging, yet abundantly rewarding, dropping weapons, armor, artifacts, and skills, among other ways to customize or advance your character.
Authentic kungfu moves
We are big fans of the hack and slash genre. Stellar titles like Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden are incredibly exhilarating with their huge arsenal of moves and blistering pace. However, they are not for everyone. What is more popular today is “strategic action games”, such as Souls-like and Monster Hunter. They choose to slow things down a notch or two, giving players more time for strategic thinking. But that approach doesn’t convey the kind of action fest we have in mind, namely the sleek, jaw-dropping moves in kungfu movies of the 1990s.
Luckily for us, over the decade of creating mobile games, we’ve learned to simplify things in favor of touchscreens, giving players a way to execute elaborate chains of moves with minimal buttons. It turns out that with a few tweaks, this mechanic works just as well on controllers.
And we are honored to have Mr. Kenji Tanigaki as our action director. Kenji-san is responsible for many compelling fight scenes in classic kungfu movies. In fact, many of our ideas are inspired by his early works. In Phantom Blade Zero, his role is to demonstrate every movement designed, which is then captured with a camera matrix, for the reference of our animation artists. You read well. Combat moves in Phantom Blade Zero must be done with handcrafted animation, as motion capture can’t do it justice.
That’s all we can divulge at this point. As we vigorously work on the new PS5 game, there will be more news down the road.
No release date in sight for Phantom Blade Zerowhich is currently announced exclusively for PS5.