Phantom Blade Zero’s Bosses Feel Like Fighting Game Opponents on Higher Difficulties, Says Director

Developer S-Game might be trying to tap into several genres with the upcoming Phantom Blade Zero, developer “Soulframe” Liang has spoken about how some genre influences also come from FromSoftware’s Souls titles, and even some fighting games. In an interview with PC Gamer magazine (via GamesRadar), Liang spoke about taking on bosses in higher difficulty playthroughs might feel more like a fighting game.

“In normal difficulty, he has some of the Soulslike elements to him: he has fixed combos, and if you fight him enough times, you’ll figure out his combos,” said Liang about one of the upcoming title’s bosses, Huangxing. However, he goes on to note that playing on the Hellwalker difficulty mode, the boss fight takes on entirely new aspects by learning from how the player moves and attacks.

“But in extreme difficulty, it’s a completely different direction,” he said, saying that the game designers “tried to borrow a concept from fighting games and incorporate it into his AI.” In Hellwalker, the boss fight can “analyze the situation he’s in and whether it’s to his advantage or disadvantage.” For some additional wrinkles in the fight, Liang also spoke about the “Lucky Draw” system, which will change if the boss can continue their attacks into longer combos. “He tries to use the result of his last attack to determine what to do next,” said Liang.

When it comes to the combat difficulty of Phantom Blade Zero, combat director Qianli Ma had spoken about how players of any skill level will be able to finish the game. However, higher difficulty options and the combat system are designed around the idea of making players “want to dance”. To achieve this, Ma said that the combat systems were created “to a certain degree, giving up the accuracy of input to bring out the fast-paced combat.”

While there are going to be a few things in Phantom Blade Zero that might be inspired by FromSoftware’s Souls games, S-Game has previously spoken about how it doesn’t really consider the title to be a Soulslike.

“As of now, those who have tried the demo should have a solid idea that it’s not a Soulslike game,” said the developer in an FAQ. “It’s worth stressing again that ‘making another Soulslike’ was never part of the plan. We want combo-driven, heart-pumping combat that is hectic, rewarding and exhilarating.”

“We did take inspiration from Soulslike games, such as multi-layered maps, multiple approach paths, and hidden nooks and crevices, but the similarities stop there,” said the developer. “There will be difficulty options, and you won’t have to face respawned mobs after you die or interact with checkpoints.”

More recently, Liang has also noted that players won’t get to see all of Phantom Blade Zero in their first playthrough. However, he noted that a typical first run through the title will only reveal around 30 percent of it to players.

Phantom Blade Zero is being developed for PC and PS5, and doesn’t yet have a release date.