Phantom Blade Zero’s Unique Challenge: Mastering Hard Difficulty

Phantom Blade Zero has introduced a compelling new take on what it means to tackle difficult modes in a video game. Instead of focusing solely on making the game punishingly difficult, the developers aim for players to surpass their challenges in a beautifully executed manner. The ‘Hellwalker’ difficulty mode was described by Qianli Ma, the combat director at S-Game, as being significantly easier than typical hard modes in other action games, such as those from FromSoftware.

“In terms of the difficulty level, this is actually not that bad. It’s actually on the easier side, despite being the ’extreme’ hard mode,” said Qianli Ma. “The idea is that if you want to pass the level not as beautifully… the whole concept is the wuxia, kung fu style—you want to dance. So if you want to beat it in a mediocre, not-as-beautiful way, it’s pretty achievable. But if you want to do it in a very beautiful manner, that’s the difficult aspect.”
(Translation: “在困难模式的意见上，这实际上并不难。实际上是比较简单的，尽管是极难模式的概念。其理念是，如果你想以不那么美的方式通过关卡……整个概念是武侠，功夫风格 - 你想跳舞。如果你想以中等的、不太美的方式打败它，那是相当容易的。但是，如果你想以非常美的方式做到这一点，那就是困难的部分。”)

During a recent preview event in Beijing, players experienced the game for themselves. It became clear that Phantom Blade Zero’s greatest challenge comes from applying elegant combat skills rather than just brute force to win. With ample opportunities for parries and counter-attacks, this game promises an engaging and satisfying combat experience.