Is Phantom Blade Zero a Soulslike?
Short answer: no. S-GAME's own description is a “wuxia action game” — explicitly neither a Soulslike nor a traditional action game. It borrows checkpoints and multi-phase bosses from the subgenre, then removes the death penalty, the level system and the stamina-limited roll that define it. If you are coming from Sekiro, the parry focus will feel familiar; the rest will not.
What the studio actually said
In a June 2025 letter, S-GAME's CEO — known as Soulframe Liang — addressed the comparison directly, describing the project as a wuxia action game rather than a Soulslike or a conventional action title. That framing has held through launch: reviews consistently describe the game as faster, more cinematic and far less punitive than the games it gets compared to. The “Souls-like” tag on Steam is applied by users, not by the studio.
Criterion by criterion
| Criterion | Typical soulslike | Phantom Blade Zero | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Defensive core | Roll through attacks; stamina-limited | Parry (blue) or Ghoststep (red); Sha-Chi is built by attacking | Different |
| Death penalty | Drop currency, respawn enemies, corpse run | No penalty; enemies stay dead | Different |
| Character growth | Levels, stats, builds around scaling | No levels; permanent upgrades found in the world | Different |
| Combat pace | Measured, methodical | Fast, combo-driven, weapon swapping mid-string | Different |
| Checkpoints | Bonfires that respawn the region | Bells that restore and save without respawning enemies | Similar |
| Boss design | Multi-phase, pattern memorisation | Multi-phase with phase checkpoints and colour-coded telegraphs | Similar |
| World structure | Interconnected with shortcuts | Eight semi-open regions, Metroidvania gating | Partly similar |
| Difficulty options | Fixed | Four modes, changeable mid-run | Different |
Where the soulslike comparison comes from
- Bells look like bonfires. Rest, restore, save — the ritual is identical even though the consequence is not.
- Bosses are multi-phase. Phase transitions, new movesets and escalating aggression are core to both.
- Telegraphed attacks. Reading an animation before it lands is the central skill in both designs.
- Metroidvania gating. Tools open routes you previously could not pass, which produces Dark Souls-style “I remember a door” backtracking.
Where it diverges — and why that matters
- No death penalty at all. No lost currency, no corpse run, no respawned enemies. Bosses checkpoint at phase transitions, so progress inside a fight is never lost.
- No levels or stats. You do not spend souls on attributes. Permanent HP, attack and Sha-Chi upgrades come from Memory Flowers, Blackstone and Sha-Chi Amber found in the world — so exploration replaces grinding.
- Sha-Chi instead of stamina. You build your resource by attacking and refill it by swapping weapons. Passive stamina management is absent.
- Four difficulty modes, changeable mid-run. No fixed tuning, and no trophy requires a hard run.
- Fast, flashy combat. Aerial strings, Ghoststep-through attacks and mid-combo weapon swaps put it closer to Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden than to Dark Souls.
So what should you compare it to?
| If you liked… | What carries over |
|---|---|
| Sekiro | Parry-centric defence and posture-break punishment — the closest match |
| Devil May Cry | Style-driven combos, weapon swapping, ranked aggression |
| Ninja Gaiden | Fast enemy pressure and mobility |
| Dark Souls | Only the checkpoint rhythm and boss structure — not the punishment |
Reviews landed at 88 on Metacritic with 100% of OpenCritic critics recommending it, and the recurring note in that coverage is the same one: the combat is excellent, the story is the weak leg. See the review roundup for the numbers.