Phantom Blade Zero was the surprise mystery hit of Sony’s PlayStation Showcase

polygon.com:

Of 25 trailers shown during Wednesday’s PlayStation Showcase, the one most fans seem to be talking about the next morning also was the one most out-of-the-blue. It’s Phantom BladeZero, from S-Game, and its genre/style/features are also kitchen-sink difficult to describe.

We’ll do our best to bring you up to speed on this intriguing adventure, which at the very least appears to present players with stylish, sword-and-melee combat set in a world based on feudal China.

It is an action role-playing game that should delight fans of recent action role-playing games like Ghost of Tsushima, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, especially as they share themes from Asian culture.

But Phantom Blade Zero layers on a lot of its own lore with a striking blend of martial arts and steampunk. “Be the Dark Raider exiled by ‘The Order,’ embark on the path of vengeance, and uncover the darkest secrets of Wulin!” says its official YouTube listing.

A PlayStation Blog post from S-Game founder Soulframe Liang after the Showcase said, “‘Phantom World’, the universe that the game is set in, is a universe where many kinds of powers converge. You’ll find Chinese Kungfu, intricate machines reminiscent of steampunk, arts of the occult, and intriguing stuff that doesn’t quite fit into any of these categories.”

The player-protagonist, called Soul, is an assassin who is framed for the murder of the leader of The Order. After being mortally wounded, Soul’s life was saved by a magic healer, but only for 66 days. So, there’s a race against time through the game’s narrative to defeat the enemies of The Order and bring justice to those responsible.

As for the game’s visual presentation, Liang said, “The dark/bleak visual style that you’ll