To coincide with pre-orders going live, we've got an extended look at Phantom Blade Zero. Amid all the incredibly stylish sequences, developer S-Games decided to drop a bit of a bombshell: Hong Kong action legend Donnie Yen worked on the game's choreography and served as a mo-cap performer for one of the characters.
The studio kept that well under wraps, but then, it's the perfect thing to help kickstart buzz for pre-orders, just like Keanu Reeves did for Cyberpunk 2077. According to the press release, Yen is a creative consultant, "contributing his extensive martial arts and action filmmaking experience to the game’s combat and action design."
You'll find his face on Mó Yuan, whom we see in the trailer taking part in a particularly fiery battle. We don't know if he's a baddie or a goodie yet, but I get anti-villain vibes. Y'know, the type who proclaims to be evil, and starts off in opposition to you, but has a moral compass deep down.
But that's just a guess. Considering his extensive work in the world of martial arts filmmaking, working on One Upon A Time In China 2, the Iron Monkey movies, and the iconic Ip Man series, he's the kind of guy you want if you'd like your fights to feel weighty and authentic. He's been involved here since 2023, according to S-Game, and he joins longtime collaborator Kenji Tanigaki, who's the action director on Phantom Blade Zero.
Yen's a legend in Hong Kong cinema, and his Hollywood profile has risen over the last couple of decades, between his films getting better distribution overseas and him being part of the cast of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and John Wick: Chapter 4. This actually marks his first foray into video games, but it wasn't meant to be.
He was previously tied to a Sleeping Dogs adaptation that never got off the ground, though it's purportedly been resurrected with Simu Liu attached. At least it didn't put him off doing anything in the medium.
