Phantom Blade Zero delivers the action I wanted from Stellar Blade

This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.

I liked Stellar Blade for the PlayStation 5 when it launched in April, but I’ll admit its gameplay was a bit slower than I had hoped. Shift Up’s game leaned more into its Dark Souls influence rather thanNier: Automata‘s roots during combat. I’ve been looking for a new character-action game that makes me feel powerful with flashy animations, big combos, and a fast pace. After going hands-on with a demo of Phantom Blade Zero at Summer Game Fest, I think it’s the game I was looking for all along.

I was actually a bit skeptical heading into my appointment for Phantom Blade Zero. Its reveal trailers were so flashy that I had my doubts that they were showing actual gameplay. While the camera work in those trailers is definitely a bit different than what’s in-game, Phantom Blade Zero‘s fights are just as exhilarating to play as they are to watch. If you’re attending any of the shows where a demo for it will be available this year, you have to give it a shot.

Phantom Blade Zero — «The Blade is Drawn» Gameplay Trailer | PS5 Games

My demo began with a tutorial that eased me into Phantom Blade Zero‘s combat system. While the look of levels and lock-on camera are straight out of a Souls game, it becomes abundantly clear that Phantom Blade Zero is not a Soulslike as soon as blades start swinging. For one, its attacks are mapped to face buttons on the controller (a personal preference of mine), and players are encouraged to input different button combinations to pull off various combos.

Even within this simple tutorial, I had fun workshopping a few different strings of attacks to mow down enemies with. Plus, there are more Power Surge and Phantom Edge weapon attacks that players can use if they want to deal a particularly powerful blow. Whenever I was fighting an enemy, Phantom Blade Zero was one of the most entertaining things I played on the Summer Game Fest show floor.

I could stay on the offensive too because I could