Phantom Blade Zero Dev Compares The Action-RPG’s Level Design to Dark Souls

Phantom Blade Zero is an upcoming PS5 and PC action-RPG that made waves at a 2023 PlayStation Showcase thanks to its impressive combat and striking dark fantasy aesthetic. In a recent interview, the director of the game–known by the moniker “Soulframe”– compared its map and level design to the pre-Elden Ring Dark Souls games, though he stressed that it’s not a “Souls-like.”

“It’s just like the old Souls games,” Soulframe told GamesRadar. “You move around and explore in a seamless map, it’s just not a huge open-world map. But every region is connected together seamlessly…There are certain gates requiring keys, and the keys are obtained from some missions. There’s still some process you go through, but it’s non-linear. There are always multiple paths you can go through. It’s just like the Souls games before Elden Ring.”

Dark Souls 1 in particular is often praised for its highly interconnected world design, where players can choose to take a variety of paths through Lordran–provided that they’re skilled enough to deal with the difficult enemies, of course. Based on the trailers we’ve seen, Phantom Blade Zero has fluid, propulsive combat similar to what you might see in the Ninja Gaiden games. It also might remind you of Koei Tecmo’s Nioh series, or 2024 release Rise of the Ronin. Phantom Blade Zero doesn’t have a release date yet, but we do know that a 30-minute playable demo is on the way sometime in 2024.