It is no shock that the large AAA video games rising from China have additionally taken inspiration from the nation’s earlier profitable cultural exports, from mythology to martial arts. In Phantom Blade Zero’s case, it is not nearly leaning into martial arts by way of its fight however as a philosophy and aesthetic, a lot in order that the developer S-Recreation is coining its motion RPG as ‘kungfupunk’.
It is one thing that is obvious from the second I press the button that begins my demo, the place even the tutorial feels so flashy and cinematic that you may simply think about being a QTE in one in every of Sony‘s first-party blockbusters, besides the distinction is you are still in command of these actions your self.
Whereas I am not in a position to enter the main points of the opening sequences and the way they relate to the story of your protagonist Soul, a talented murderer who has simply 66 days to dwell, whereas additionally framed for the homicide of his grasp, I got here away feeling like I had skilled a playable kung fu film, reliving the enduring martial arts duels of traditional wuxia movies like As soon as Upon A Time In China or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, however the place as an alternative of simply hitting a button immediate, I used to be in fluid management of my actions.
Mechanically, Phantom Blade Zero could share similarities with different motion RPGs or Soulslikes, together with colour-coded assaults to point whether or not it’s best to dodge or parry, however what actually sells the martial arts fantasy is simply how fluid and dynamic the fight animations really feel.
It is one thing you’ll be able to inform when simply holding L1 to dam, which in one other sport would simply be fairly inflexible as your character holds their weapon or protect to protect, however right here it seems to be like Soul is attacking by clashing his blade in opposition to his opponent’s, exactly the way it seems to be in a wuxia struggle.
That authenticity is all the way down to how S-Recreation has not solely mocapped the sport’s motion with actual martial artists however even employs wires similar to these utilized in wuxia movies that enable actors to carry out larger-than-life acrobatics. Even Hong Kong motion movie veterans together with motion choreographer and movie director Kenji Tanigaki and martial arts legend Donnie Yen are concerned, although even on this significantly chunky hands-on time I did not handle to run into the latter’s in-game character.
But whereas these very cinematic animations and visuals realised in Unreal Engine 5 is the primary draw, S-Recreation additionally elegantly incorporates hand-drawn aesthetics into different elements of the sport, maybe in reference to the unique 2D Rainblood: City of Dying, which Phantom Blade Zero is technically a AAA reimagining of.
There’s the sport map for the Wulin, which is offered within the fashion of a Chinese language ink portray, with extra parts added the extra of its semi-open world that you simply discover. Whereas this fashion means it is truly extra of a creative illustration than a extra no-frills top-down map, it truly nonetheless felt very correct as I used to be capable of make out areas and landmarks of areas I had already been to, from its treacherous rocky mountain paths to an outpost held by one other faction calling themselves The Mandate.
Whereas this outpost additionally occurs to be situated in a bamboo forest that is grow to be a standard trope amongst wuxia movies, Phantom Blade Zero does not simply keep on with custom, its kungfupunk aesthetic being a method to differentiate itself with taking subversive influences from extra up to date and even Western concepts, from cyberpunk to trendy pop and rock music.
One such instance is once I attain a tower the place the structure outdoors seems to be fairly conventional but inside additionally comprises a furnace with metal pipes, whereas it additionally has one other uncommon design the place it is adorned with pink threads, symbolic in Chinese language for destiny, or marriage, although on this case it is meant to serve a extra ominous connotation.
Probably the most kungfupunk instance nevertheless absolutely belongs to a struggle I bought to aim at a later level within the sport, a lion dance grandmaster that is even soundtracked to actual percussions, besides the lion’s head can also be designed with steel spikes whereas it is also capable of breathe hearth. However whereas all of it seems to be spectacular, it is positively not a sport that is simply dazzling you with cinematic set items that require easy QTE prompts.
In spite of everything, once I lastly attain the Hunter of the Order at an important waterfall for a showdown that the entire chapter had been increase earlier than, it could have been too anticlimactic if I had simply wiped the ground with him on the primary attempt.
(Picture credit score: S-GAME)
To some extent, I felt that it may need been harder than I anticipated, although it does a really beneficiant factor of at the very least checkpointing between the phases of a boss struggle (problem choices to make issues somewhat simpler, or certainly harder, are additionally obtainable). But when Phantom Blade Zero manages to attain the high quality stability of constructing you look and play like a kung fu grasp in the identical approach that Onimusha: Approach of the Sword makes you look and play like a samurai grasp, this might find yourself being very particular.