The ChinaJoy 2025 Demo, What It Was Actually Like
so ChinaJoy 2025 was basically the first time anyone outside of S-GAME got to actually sit down and play this thing and honestly I'm kinda jealous I wasn't there but from everything I've read and watched the demo was surprisingly meaty for a first public showing they had the opening Ruined Outskirts zone which is sort of a tutorial area but not in a boring hand-holdy way plus the Ogre Hammer Lord boss at the end which I've heard is a genuinely solid intro boss fight and three weapons to mess around with the Jagged Steel your basic reliable sword the Savage Axe that literally feels like you're swinging a truck at enemies and the White Python & Red Viper dual blades that are all about speed and aggression and most people I've seen talking about it walked away pretty hyped ngl and I mean that's saying something because preview builds are usually rough. But you never really know til the full game drops.
What People Actually Dug
- Responsive combat honestly the parry and dodge system is the star of the show here like when you land a perfect parry or pull off a Ghoststep counter the feedback is just ridiculously satisfying and I've seen multiple previewers say it's hands down the best part of the demo the kind of crunchy combat that makes you want to keep fighting even after you've died five times in a row to the same enemy and tbh that's exactly what you want from a game like this. And lemme tell you I've played enough Soulslikes to know bad parry timing when I see it.
- Visual quality I mean the game runs on UE5 and it absolutely shows honestly the dark fantasy vibe mixed with Chinese martial arts aesthetics is something I haven't really seen pulled off like this before and pretty much everyone who played the demo was like this looks insane the art direction is on point and the whole thing has this distinctive look that sets it apart from every other Soulslike out there which is kinda hard to do in 2026. So the visuals are def not something to worry about.
- Weapon feel each weapon type actually feels different which you'd think is basic game design but so many action games completely mess this up you know the Savage Axe has this heavy impactful swing that makes you feel like you're really demolishing something and the dual blades are just fast and fluid and buttery smooth and I've heard people say switching between weapons mid-combo feels super natural like the game wants you to experiment instead of just sticking with one blade the whole time. Also theres apparently some cool weapon swap combos you can pull off and stuff like that.
- Boss design the Ogre Hammer Lord is basically a tutorial boss but actually a good one which is honestly rare in this genre you know the kind where attacks are telegraphed enough that you can learn the patterns but punishing enough that you can't just face tank everything and spam heals and from what I've seen the fight has a really nice rhythm to it the kind of fair but tough boss design that makes Soulslikes fun in the first place instead of just frustrating. Anyway the boss designs dont seem like theyre gonna be a problem at all which is a huge relief.
Things That Could Use Some Polish
- Camera okay so the camera in tight spaces is kind of a mess right now like in the corridor sections it clips through walls and geometry which is honestly super annoying and I've seen footage where the camera just goes inside a wall during combat and suddenly you cant see what you're doing and you die and that's the kind of jank that drives people crazy especially in a game where split-second parries matter so much. Because if you can't see the enemy winding up an attack how are you supposed to parry it you get the idea.
- Lock-on the lock-on system sometimes jumps between targets when you really dont want it to especially in group fights which is basically the worst possible time for your lock-on to betray you and a few previewers mentioned it straight up cost them deaths in the demo and I've been there in other games where the lock-on decides to target the enemy three miles away instead of the guy currently swinging an axe at your face and it's infuriating. So yeah this one needs fixing before launch for sure.
- Performance theyre targeting 60fps which is great and all but on base PS5 hardware the demo dipped pretty noticeably during heavy particle effects and big attack animations and honestly I'm hoping they can iron that out before launch because nothing absolutely nothing kills a parry-based combat game faster than frame drops in the middle of a boss fight and I've been burned by launch performance issues way too many times to not be a little worried about this one. But who knows maybe theyll optimize it in time for the September release or whatever.
Score Predictions
so based on everything I've seen from the demos and previews and S-GAME's track record with their mobile games here's where I think Phantom Blade Zero is gonna land review-wise and honestly I've tried to be pretty conservative with these numbers because it's a new studio making their first big console game and a new IP and you literally never know how the full game is gonna turn out until it's actually out but I've also talked to a bunch of people in the community and these are the ranges most of us kinda agree on for now. Anyway take them with a grain of salt obviously. And dont @ me if the scores end up different when reviews drop etc.
Metacritic
PC and PS5 predicted range imo
OpenCritic
critic recommendation rate basically
User Score
what the community will probably give it
Steam Rating
Very Positive predicted on Steam
What to Expect at Launch
Stuff That's Probably Gonna Be Awesome
- parry-based combat that actually feels good to play
- UE5 visuals with that sick dark fantasy martial arts look
- over 30 weapons ngl that's a lot of blades to mess with
- bosses that are tough but fair you know the good kind of hard
- difficulty options that actually work for everyone from newbies to veterans
Stuff I'm Kinda Worried About Ngl
- camera going nuts in tight spaces honestly
- combat depth might not hit Sekiro levels tbh
- semi-open world could feel kinda small who knows
- performance at launch might be rough on base PS5
- story is still a big question mark from the demos