Both at work and among friends, I'm known as a Soulslike hater, but my actual relationship with games like Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring is a lot more complicated. I have treasured memories playing parts of Bloodborne's campaign and dueling in Dark Souls 2 with my college roommates, and I tried like hell to get through Elden Ring because I'm hopelessly transfixed by its world and story, but ultimately, I always end up falling off these types of games simply because I am not very good at them. I'm an anxious, fidgety, deeply impatient person, and I've found those attributes clash with the high-risk, deliberate, time-intensive battles that define the Soulslike genre.
In other words, Soulslikes are just too damn hard for my tastes, which sucks because I admire everything else about them. The best Soulslikes offer unparalleled worldbuilding and enchantingly nuanced storytelling; it's just that, for my money, all of that stuff is locked behind unnecessarily punishing battles with grunts, mini bosses, and big bosses alike. Every single combat encounter is a test of patience that I more often than not fail, even if I respect the philosophy that overcoming adversity makes story beats and world discoveries more rewarding.
This is all to say, I went into my hands-on preview with Phantom Blade Zero at Gamescom LATAM 2026 with trepidation. Yes, developer S-Game has explicitly stated Phantom Blade Zero isn't a Soulslike, but the fact that it had to do that says something about its proximity to the genre. From a casual perspective, and without wading into the poisonous swampy waters of the 'what makes a Soulslike' discourse, Phantom Blade Zero both looks and sounds like a Soulslike. You trudge through spacious, dark fantasy environments, fending off telegraphed foes until stumbling into closed-off arenas dominated by huge, lumbering bad guys you must dodge and parry your way through.
Satisfied but not exhausted
The difference with Phantom Blade Zero, and a key quality that disqualifies it as a Soulslike, is the combat. Yes, there's a heavy reliance on dodging and parrying, but there's an equal if not greater focus on chaining together combos and delivering slick, cinematic QTE-style finishers. Phantom Blade Zero's combat system is fast-paced, flowy, and playful, inviting you to bounce between enemies, absorb and counter attacks, and pull off haphazard combos. It reminds me more of classic kung-fu movies like Jackie Chan's Drunken Master than Dark Souls, which delighted my inner child.
More importantly, Phantom Blade Zero is much more forgiving. In my attempt to rush through the demo with the limited time I was given, I chose not to even try mastering the combat system and instead forced my way through fights with sheer determination and intuition. For the most part it worked. I'm not saying that's the right way to play, but within the context of a work event where my job was to see as much of the game as possible, it made sense at the time, and to my delight, I enjoyed the hell out of it.
I'm highly intrigued by Phantom World, and it's nice being able to explore it without the threat of losing any progress I'd made since the last checkpoint. Give me the wuxia-inspired lore, let me soak in the developer-coined "kungfupunk" universe inspired by China's Ming dynasty, let me become protagonist Soul and pull apart narrative layers from environmental niches. Just spare me the tanky ghouls trying to harsh my vibe.
Don't get me wrong, Phantom Blade Zero is no walk in the park, and I died a number of times in the demo. But as I stood before the corpse of a boss called Coppermaul; a towering, flabby, bald weirdo wielding an orb-tipped warhammer; I was satisfied but not exhausted. It took focus and persistence, and a reluctant grasp of the game's combo system, but it didn't leave me banging my head against a wall after dying for the 13th time. In Elden Ring fashion, I acquired the Coppermaul's weapon, but I'm slightly ashamed to admit I was only able to use it on common enemies as my timer went off before I made it to the next boss.
See this big ol' bad guy right here? I killed him
Not gelling with most Souls and Soulslike games is a me problem. I'm jealous of people who have the mental fortitude to get through a game like Elden Ring and experience everything its universe has to offer – I don't. I've tried countless times to push my way through the Ebrietases and the Malenias, utterly wowed by their fatal presences but dimmed by my own lack of tenacity. I want so badly to live in those worlds, and I bow my head to progenitors FromSoftware, but, well, you can only get knocked down so many times before you stop getting up.
Phantom Blade Zero allows me to take part in the areas of Soulslike tradition that genuinely excite me: the minimalist storytelling, dramatic set pieces, and gorgeous soundtracks; without the perpetual reminder that I suck. It also sweetens the deal with a world and story rooted in real-life history and lore, similar to Black Myth: Wukong and Lies of P, two more unforgiving games that fascinate me from a distance. After 90 minutes, I'm hopeful that Phantom Blade Zero is the action RPG I've always wanted from Soulslikes I'm too bad to play.
