While the big PS Showcase this week was ultimately a bit of a disappointment, there were some awesome PS5 games in it – and one title which particularly caught the eye was Phantom Blade Zero, the high-octane Chinese action game with the less than stellar voice acting. This is being developed by a team called S-GAME, which has previously worked on a bunch of mobile games. In fact, believe it or not, this is not the first Phantom Blade – there are others available for smartphones.
That obviously makes the leap in quality here remarkable, but many have already noted that the gameplay in the trailer doesn’t look quite right – almost like it’s animations without any actual controller input. In a Discord Q&A recapped by Twisted Voxel, the developer assured it was real gameplay utilising cinematic camera angles, but it went on to raise more questions. For example, it reckons the release – which has only been in development since 2022 – will have a full 30-40 hour story. Okay, that’s fair enough – but it doesn’t end there!
For example, the team says there’ll be plenty to keep you coming back once you’ve polished off the plot, including – wait for it – a full multiplayer mode, roguelike missions, dungeons, and several side-quests. Oh, and by the way, it says it’s also utilising a “semi-open world” structure that it reckons will allow you to approach the content in unique ways, without having to traverse vast expanses of terrain.
So it sounds good, then, but is it legit? Well, with respect, this wouldn’t be the first Chinese title to make a remarkable first impression and then never actually appear to make much meaningful progress. Do you remember the likes of Lost Soul Aside and Black Myth: Wukong, for example? S-GAME’s really promising a lot here, and we sincerely hope it all comes together. For now, though, consider us extremely sceptical.
[source discord.com, via twistedvoxel.com]
Comments 43
Not at all... I'm never surprised when dealing with Sony's ability to deliver where others fall short.
Well I mean we can't lose here - If it works out we'll have a great game to play.
If it doesn't work out we'll have something to complain about.
Win/Win
Edit: If Sony back it I reckon it's a safe bet that the game is the real deal.
I'm also expecting some of those combat encounters we saw to be qte or something.
Yes, trying not to get excited here. It looks outstanding.. but games like this are hard to nail. Please be good.
That combat was next level, straight from Chinese fantasy movies
Well if they include difficulty options then it's a sure buy from me.
The showcase was bad but PlayStation got a good amount of third and second party exclusives.
Wasn't Sony backing that Abandoned game too lol?
@Chaudy No.
Sony were not backing that game.
They gave it a spot on their blog just like they would any other dev or publisher making a game for the PlayStation platform, but that was it.
The Abandoned dev said they were making it exclusively for PlayStation, but that was just their own choice of phrase. There was no deal. No agreement. It was nothing to do with Sony at all.
It was a scam trying to attach itself to someone else's success.
Sony never backed it. They never addressed it. They never mentioned it.
Nobody did, other than independent gaming news sites. And most of them just laughed at it.
"While the big PS showcase was ultimately a bit of a disappointment"
Was it? You should have mentioned it.
I take some issue with the comparison to Lost Soul Aside. Unlike these other Chinese games we've seen so far, the public was allowed to try out the combat at one PlayStation Experience, and it was really damn solid from what I played. It's also grown from being developed by one person to getting backing from PlayStation themselves, which is very different from these too good to be true Chinese games that pop up randomly these days (Phantom Blade Zero included). We've also seen quite a bit more from LSA after that initial first impression from years ago. I could end up with egg on my face by the time it comes out, but I don't think the comparison of stuff like Phantom Blade Zero and Black Myth to Lost Soul Aside is fair.
Yikes, that's a big disheartening. I thought this game looked right for me, but little did I know this is the game that only does everything. After learning about the developers past and all of these promises I've got to say this is sliding right out of my radar.
They promise a lot. For me it sounds a bit like those handymen who say that they are not limited to one profession and can do everything. This makes me sceptical.
@AdamNovice Seriously. Every damn article REMOTELY related to the showcase, they just shove their opinion that it sucked down our throats like it's pure facts now. No nuance. No other side.
Yet nearly every damn individual article they post about the games IN the showcase? Glowing and excited.
So bizarre.
Interestingly enough the mobile game, Phantom Blade Executioners, was apparently in beta on Android a year ago then vanished. So really they haven’t officially released even the mobile game.
So yeah, that isn’t promising…
Also, I think people misunderstand the disappointment with the showcase. It wasn’t so much what was shown as it was what wasn’t shown. The lack of first party stuff. It was a good showcase but not a good Sony showcase. And I agree with that assessment personally.
Before I even read your article I thought that much of that trailer looked fake. There was too many animations that don’t exist in games like Sekiro, Ghost of Tsushima, Elden Ring and many others.
I’m not saying it isn’t possible, but those animations looked like qte or situational loaded animations. Like hitting square in one instance will do a three strike combo with the sword, but then next time it blends in a kick, it’s based on positioning.
Though, we have seen a few fantastic Chinese games in the last five years and none have released so far. So, keep expectations low.
If you look at the statistics of Chinese, Singapore and Korean studios releasing trailers to garner investment that never release and are never heard from again..... It's an astounding number and seems to actually be a legitimate tactic to siphon cash because it continues to take place.
Very few of them ever see the light of day., and were likely never indicative of progressed development showing actual Gameplay.
Here's hoping this one isn't another!!
Let's save some time here: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. I'm going to apply that philosophy here and suggest that this game never sees the light of day, or is anything like what we expect it to be. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, but being cautious never hurt anyone.
@MFTWrecks Like many have said it was a great multiplatform showcase but a terrible Playstation one, why do you think Xbox was celebrating like it was them that just had a showing?
"Yet nearly every damn individual article they post about the games IN the showcase? Glowing and excited."
Really now then please link me to all these glowing post about fairgame$, Concord, Foamstars and the shovelware PSVR2 games shown (minus RE4) 🙂
Bit concerning to hear. I’ll keep a skeptic mind about this one.
Put it in the same box as Black Myth Wukong, Wuchang Fallen Feathers, lost Soul Aside and a few others as “I’ll believe it when I see it”, or more accurately “I’ll believe it when I play it” as I just don’t think it will play as good as it looks. I would LOVE to be wrong
Chinese developers are skilled at making amazing looking trailers but they definitely always look too good to be true from my eyes. I don't trust any of those releases until I start seeing people actually get their hands on it.
Besides the vaporware criticism I see in the comments, to which I agree wholeheartedly, we should also evoke the ethical issues with the ever growing involvement of countries like China and Saudi Arabia in the gaming industry.
It always seems weird to me to see people that generally react vehemently about moral and political issues having no problem with letting countries with labor camps and modern slavery (amongst other things) be involved in their preferred hobby.
I for myself am very wary of this kind of development and don't see how it can be anything good, in general and for the gaming landscape specifically.
Twisted Pixel in the article (2nd Paragraph) should be Twisted Voxel. Confused me for a second as I love games by Twisted Pixel (Splosion’ Man, The Maw, The Gunstringer etc).
Unfortunately they are now owned by Meta.
Doesn't surprise me. Most Chinese announced 3D games, especially those aimed for PC and/or home consoles, that 'look too good to be true' are as common as you would think.
More then usual they either never get released or do get released but end up being nowhere near as promising and satisfying as their initial trailer(s) suggested (there are some exceptions of course).
@Olmaz hate to break it to ya man, but enslaved/exploited people were absolutely involved in the procurement of the rare minerals used in the device you used to type your comment. In addition to those in your console, pc, TV and that's just focusing on electronics.
It seems selective to suggest merely because we are told to despise certain countries by corporate puppets in the political pageant and media talking heads and yet ignore the multitudes of atrocities committed by our own nations and the enterprises they contract to take and exploit merely to feed the designed addiction that is the many forms of our wasteful consumption.
Gotta love the negativity. Even when the gameplay looks good, we have to assume the worst.
Mobile dev??? I do not foresee any circumstance in which this game turns out good now
@KundaliniRising333 This argument does not hold, unless you've an extremely simplistic black and white view of the world.
Living in the real world necessitate some kind of hypocrisy on the part of every individual. We selectively choose what will be important or not to us. And sometimes, the same issue will be treated differently because of its context, or simply based on personal reason.
You're not "breaking it to me" that today's Western companies have horrendous strategies that make use of people in countries that don't respect Human Rights. I know that, but I make the conscious choice to prefer indirect involvement on my part with these countries to direct involvement. Is it hypocritical? Yes, a bit, like any moral stance that anyone will take on any issue, unless you're an absolutist living in a cave.
There's also the issue of "whataboutism" in your opinion that I oppose. Comparing Western countries with others like China or Saudi Arabia just because Western companies are trading with said countries is contentious. Who's to get the bigger blame : the one who kills or the the one who's working with the killer knowing he kills? There is enough blame to go around here, but let's not pretend the crimes are the same.
I guess everyone has their own way to get out of these moral conundrums that don't have any perfect right or wrong answers, you just need to be able to sleep at night with your conscience. I was simply pointing out that it's surprising to me the lack of criticism against countries like China and Saudi Arabia when we talk about video games, while we direct vehement criticism to any minor issue happening over here.
The gameplay doesn’t look good to me at all. It looks standard and sometimes awkward.
The gameplay looks like a video being played back at 1.25x speed.
It just looks off.
Being as this was shown at the showcase. I have hope this is real. Black myth on the other hand I doubt will ever see the light of day. Just a tech demo in my opinion, hopefully I'm proven wrong.
Oh jesus people making the comments section political again..this game looks brilliant and i hope it plays as good as it looks..i'm in if its half decent.
This and Black Myth Wukong, I'll believe the hype when I see 100% accurate delivery - the game working exactly as seen - and the full game working on home consoles. Until then, I'm not wasting time on it. This kind of hype is all too common.
@MFTWrecks In part because as a presentation, it was bad. It didn’t present the good announcements very well, with much communication for basic details, or with any charisma. Part of a presentation is the presenting itself, not just what you have to present.
@SurgicalMenace Like Abandoned? Lol
Nah, a mobile developer who started the game last year and released a CGI concept trailer trying to pass it as gameplay?
No way it’s legit, the fact that Sony had it in the showcase doesn’t mean they’re actively participating in development, it wouldn’t be the first time that they showed a game that doesn’t even exist.
FF15 and 7 remake both took over a decade to release after being mentioned and "shown off". I'll be giving the Chinese devs benefit of the doubt till they're at the 15 yr mark. There's plenty of really good games out and coming out within that time frame to keep me occupied. Leaving my hype on simmer for now.
Is the gameplay real? Fake? Either way, I'm struggling to get excited about a PS samurai game that isn't from Sucker Punch
@Shepherd_Tallon Calm down mate.
Judging by how unnatural looking the camera movement is, I call bull**** on this one.
I have faith this will be awesome.
Gollum was too good to be true...
@lolwhatno @SurgicalMenace @Shepherd_Tallon I also doubt that Sony would back a studio like this if the game wasn't authentic to the trailer.
But that said I am going to remain skeptical until we start seeing some actual gameplay trailers.
@KidRyan Yeah that's fair.
The Devs had an interesting Q&A last week on Discord where they explain how they chain attacks together.
They also note that the camera will be more stable with a wider field of view in the game than what was shown in the trailers.
But as you note, the proof will be in the pudding.
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