Phantom Blade Zero’s Fast-Paced Action Took 15 Years, Two RPG-Maker Games, And A Whole Lot Of Money To Bring To Life

I’ve been tracking the release of

for several years now, playing the game multiple times over the course of three years, from demos that felt like little more than vertical slices all the way to a multi-hour hands-on at Gamescom this year. For a time, it felt like the game had come out of nowhere; I’d never encountered Chinese developer S-Game’s previous titles, and assumed they were never released outside of the country. However, it turns out I simply wasn’t paying attention, and

is part of a franchise known as

that’s over 15 years old and features a longtime series protagonist who has only so many days to live, while the games themselves have sought to create their own new genre and style.

games were released, with only the first making it to the West via a fan translation apparently approved by the developer, S-Game CEO Qiwei “Soulframe” Liang, and being sold on fan sites. These titles are turn-based RPGs set in the same world as

, and seem to share almost no gameplay DNA with the upcoming triple-A game. In 2013, they were followed up by

(yes, Rain Blood is two words now), a Unity-powered hack-and-slash 2D brawler which did actually make its way to Steam and consoles—though the Xbox and PlayStation versions now seem to be delisted.

All three of these games are noticeably unpolished, but make up for it with their striking, dark and twisted interpretation of the Ming Dynasty. Following

, S-game published three China-exclusive mobile games. Then in May 2023,

, a big-budget 3D action game, was announced, followed by the release of