Phantom Blade Zero is looking to be much longer than the typical hack and slash games, judging from information revealed during some recent interviews.
As revealed on Chinese forums Tieba, it has been revealed in a recent interview that the game in development by S-Game will require between 20 and 30 hours to complete the main story, with 20 hours of additional side content, which should make the game feel more in line with modern action role-playing games that pure action games that are typically much shorter. The game will also feature a total of four difficulty levels ranging from simple to extremely difficult, so the total play time will likely be higher for those who wish to be challenged or want to play through the game multiple times at different difficulty levels. No matter the difficulty, however, players will not have to completely restart boss battles upon defeat, as they will start again at the second phase if they reach it before being defeated.
Speaking about bosses, these recent interviews have also confirmed how Phantom Blade Zero will feature what sounds like a boss-rush mode where it will be possible to fight main campaign bosses again. This mode will also feature some hidden bosses, so it definitely sounds like the game will feature plenty of content. 30 main weapons and more than 20 secondary weapons will be available in the game, so combat should be pretty varied.
When it comes to combat mechanics, I feel S-Game already has them down well, as I really enjoyed the small slice of Phantom Blade Zero I played during Gamescom 2024. If traversal, level design, and encounter design are as good as the combat mechanics, the game has the potential to become one of the best action games ever released.
Phantom Blade Zero launches on PC and PlayStation 5 on a yet-to-be-confirmed release date. You can check out the game’s latest trailer here.
