Phantom Blade Zero Not a Souls-Like, No Exclusive Deal With Sony, Demo Still Being Worked On
If you’ve seen gameplay of S-Games’ Phantom Blade Zero, you wouldn’t be faulted for thinking it’s another souls-like game. I mean, it does look it based on what’s shown so far. However, it’s not and the studio made a point to stress that.
While the studio admits that they did take inspiration from souls-like, it’s more about multi-layered maps and paths. In terms of combat, they are focusing on more combo-heavy action.
Is Phantom Blade Zero a Souls-Like Game?
Here’s what the developer have to say about that:
ANOTHER SOULSLIKE?
As of now, those who have tried the demo should have a solid idea that it’s not a soulslike game. 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. There will be difficulty options, and you won’t have to face respawned mobs after you die or interact with checkpoints.
Another thing the studio clarified is the game’s exclusivity. S-Game confirmed that there is no exclusivity deal with Sony to release it as a timed exclusive on the PS5.
RELEASE PLATFORMS?
We’ve noticed that some press outlets are calling Phantom Blade Zero “PlayStation exclusive,” which is not true; S-GAME is an independent developer, and there’s no exclusive deal at this time. In addition to PlayStation 5, we’re planning to release it on PC as well.
Finally, the studio also mentioned why there’s no demo available for download by everyone just yet, and the demo available now is only in a controlled environment in select locations. This is simply due to the game not being in a stable state enough that they can release it.
ONLINE DEMO?
This demo we’re providing is offline only. We are really sorry about the disappointment and beg your forgiveness, dear eager gamers who are reading this. The unvarnished truth is that this demo simply isn’t ready for testing on a large scale. At SGF, we have already seen some framerate issues and occasional crashes.
This demo is ready for testing in a controlled environment. We will get to find out what its issues are without being overwhelmed by feedback, so we are taking this step for now. We’d prefer tackling problems early in the development process instead of releasing something hastily and having it blow up in the player’s face. Please kindly bear with us a while longer until we can get a solid demo ready for the general public.
In terms of the demo, that makes a lot of sense. I mean, if S-Game rushes a demo out with bugs and whatnot, people will think that the final game is like this, which could affect the game negatively when it launches. Better to have it in a state the dev team is happy with before they release it, right?
Phantom Blade Zero is set to launch on the PS5 and PC with no release date set just yet.
For those wondering how long the game is, S-Game confirmed that it’ll take around 30-40 hours to finish. The studio also confirmed that it won’t feature microtransactions as well.
[Source: Phantom Blade Zero Twitter]
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