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No, not in the sense most players mean by the label. Phantom Blade Zero shares some Soulslike structure: interconnected areas, shortcuts, hard bosses, bonfire-style checkpoints and a dark fantasy tone. But S-Game’s stated design goal is fast, choreographed kung fu combat, and the most recent hands-on report describes combat and progression that depart from Souls conventions. “Soulslike” captures how the world is laid out. It misses how the game is fought and how the character grows.
What the Soulslike label captures and what it misses
Players usually use “Soulslike” to describe a bundle of traits: a grim setting, punishing bosses, bonfire-style save points, maps that loop back on themselves, and a death penalty that costs you something you have to recover. Some of those traits show up in Phantom Blade Zero. The label becomes unhelpful when it implies the combat rhythm, the death rules and the progression model of the genre as well. Those are the parts that determine how the game actually feels in hand.
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| 1 |
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Stellar Blade - PlayStation 5 | $46.30 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls- PlayStation 5 | $59.00 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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Persona 3 Reload: Standard Edition - PlayStation 5 | $14.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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Dolmen - PlayStation 5 | $31.95 | Buy on Amazon |
What S-Game says it set out to build
In a developer-authored PlayStation Blog post dated May 24, 2023, S-Game framed the game around cinematic, fast kung fu action. It contrasted that goal with slower “strategic action game” approaches and named Soulslikes and Monster Hunter as examples of that slower category. The point of the comparison was to explain what the studio was not building, not to deny that the game has any shared DNA with the genre.
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“Combat moves in Phantom Blade Zero have to be made with handcrafted animation, because motion capturing can’t do it justice.”
Where the Soulslike resemblance comes from
MeriStation’s hands-on report, published October 9, 2026, describes several features that readers will recognise from the genre. Each one explains part of the first impression.
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- Fighting is both immersive and intuitive, with a range of unique move sets, combos, and strategies to master. Adjustable controls, both traditional and quick inputs, plus easy chain combos make diving right in a breeze.
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Interconnected world and shortcuts
The preview describes zones that connect to one another, with shortcuts and locked routes that open as you progress. This is the clearest Soulslike-adjacent element in the reporting, and it is where the comparison is most accurate.
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Bosses and checkpoints
The preview calls the boss fights challenging and describes bonfire-like checkpoints. Checkpoints are the main way the game marks progress, so a player who expects the genre’s rhythm of explore, die, return and retry will find something familiar here.
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Dark fantasy tone
The report also places the game in a dark-themed world. Tone alone does not make a game a Soulslike, but it is a large part of why the game is often grouped with them at a glance.
Where the game departs: combat, death and progression
The table below sets the usual Soulslike expectation against what S-Game has said and what the October 9, 2026 preview reports. The preview findings apply to the normal difficulty the reporter played.
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| Axis | Typical Soulslike expectation | Phantom Blade Zero as stated or reported | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Combat rhythm | Deliberate, weighty exchanges | Fast, expressive kung fu combat. The preview contrasts it with slower, Souls-style combat. | S-Game PlayStation Blog, May 24, 2023; MeriStation, October 9, 2026 |
| Stamina | A stamina bar limits attacks, dodges and blocks | No stamina bar in the preview | MeriStation, October 9, 2026 |
| Death penalty | Dying costs souls or currency and experience, which must be recovered | Death does not remove souls or experience on normal difficulty | MeriStation, October 9, 2026 |
| Enemy respawn | Resting at a checkpoint respawns enemies | Resting does not revive enemies | MeriStation, October 9, 2026 |
| Boss retries | A failed boss fight restarts from the beginning | A boss fight can resume at its later phase after death | MeriStation, October 9, 2026 |
| Progression | Character attributes levelled through XP or souls | Moves are unlocked with resources found during exploration, rather than attribute farming | MeriStation, October 9, 2026 |
Taken together, these rows show where the label breaks down. Layout is shared with the genre, while the moment-to-moment act of fighting and getting stronger is built on different rules. Whether the death and respawn rules change on harder difficulties is not stated in the preview.
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MeriStation’s October 9, 2026 report says that unnamed people at S-Game described the game as “30% soulslike.” Because no one is named, this is a reported characterization, not a formal studio definition or a quote attributable to a specific person. It is also not a measurement: the report gives no method for arriving at 30 percent. Treat the phrase as a loose way of saying the game borrows some Soulslike structure, not as a figure that can be checked or compared.
Release date, editions and difficulty
- Release date: October 29, 2026, according to the official site as of October 9, 2026. The date moved from September 9 after a June 2 letter from S-Game’s creative director said the extra time was for additional improvements and polish.
- Platforms: PC and PlayStation, according to the official site.
- Editions: The US PlayStation listing shows a Standard edition and a Digital Deluxe edition.
- Digital Deluxe extras: the Wulin Legend and Blood-Steel Form outfits, a digital artbook and a digital soundtrack.
- Preorder unlocks: an accessory and an outfit that can also be earned through in-game progression.
- Physical extras: the official listings do not establish a physical artbook, a physical soundtrack, a collectible or a physical game edition.
- Difficulty modes: Wayfarer, Hellwalker and Sixty-Six Days, as named in S-Game’s official feature article from August 2026.
- Pricing: prices and availability vary by region and store, so check your regional store before buying.
What is and is not established yet
The Soulslike comparison rests on one hands-on report and on S-Game’s 2023 description of its goals. Neither is a review of the finished game, and the mechanics described from the preview have not been independently verified against the October 29, 2026 release. Use the following as a guide to what the current evidence supports:
- Supported: the game has interconnected areas, shortcuts, hard bosses and checkpoints, according to the October 9, 2026 preview.
- Supported: S-Game has said it wants fast, cinematic kung fu combat and handcrafted moves.
- Reported but not confirmed for the final release: the death, respawn, stamina and progression details from the preview.
- Not established: how the death rules work on every difficulty mode.
For readers deciding whether the game suits them, the practical test is the combat. If you come for the layout and the boss challenge, the genre comparison will feel right. If you come for the slow, resource-managed duels that define Souls-style combat, the preview suggests you will find something different.
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