Phantom Blade Zero's director says the fast-paced action RPG isn't "another Soulslike" because the developer isn't trying to ape FromSoftware games

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It also doesn't feature respawning enemies after checkpoints and deaths

Phantom Blade Zero
(Image credit: S-Game)

Phantom Blade Zero's director has pushed back against a "Soulslike" label, and has also revealed it isn't a PS5 exclusive.

Phantom Blade Zero made a pretty big splash last week at the Summer Game Fest 2024 showcase, boasting stylish and super-fast combat against fearsome monsters. Now, its game director has taken to Twitter with the lengthy message just below, saying that people are wrong to ascribe the label of a "Soulslike" to the upcoming action RPG.

The game director, who goes by the moniker 'Soulframe,' has said that by now, anyone who has played Phantom Blade Zero's demo as part of SGF should know that it isn't a Soulslike. The developer never set out to "make another Soulslike," and instead aimed for "combo-driven, heart-pumping combat that is hectic, rewarding, and exhilarating."

Phantom Blade Zero does take inspiration from other Soulslike games, for example in its multi-layered map and "multiple approach paths," but the "similarities stop there." The new game will have multiple difficulty levels, and also won't respawn enemies whenever you die or interact with checkpoints. That's a big departure from the usual Soulslike games.

Additionally, Phantom Blade Zero's director says the new game isn't a PS5 exclusive, because there's a PC release being planned as well. When the action RPG was unveiled last year, it was done so at a PlayStation State of Play broadcast, so that's probably why some have been quick to call it a PS5 exclusive. There's no word on an Xbox launch, however.

Finally, Soulframe writes that Phantom Blade Zero's demo simply isn't ready for mass consumption, and the developer wants to take feedback from the SGF demo into account before releasing it to the public. Basically, S-Game wants to make a better Phantom Blade Zero demo before everyone gets to play it.

Check out our own Phantom Blade Zero preview from SGF to see what we made of the new action-RPG when we played it for ourselves.

Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer
Freelance Writer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.