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Start with Devil May Cry 5. It is the clearest preparation for Phantom Blade Zero’s fast, expressive hack-and-slash combat. Follow it with Ninja Gaiden for relentless execution, then Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance for cinematic weapon spectacle. Play a Souls game afterward if you want context for the darker mood and layered environments, not as a direct combat tutorial.
What Phantom Blade Zero is actually built from
Phantom Blade Zero is not presented by its developer as a sequel to one famous action game or as a conventional Soulslike. S-GAME describes it as a deliberate merger: the speed and expressive move systems associated with character-action games, selected structural ideas from Souls games, and the visual language of Chinese wuxia and kung-fu cinema.
The project also has a direct internal predecessor. Soulframe Liang, S-GAME’s founder and CEO, introduced the game as “the spiritual rebirth of the original Rainblood.” That original RPG Maker title, Rainblood: Town of Death, dates to 2010. It is the most important piece of background if you want to understand why the new game is called a rebirth rather than a wholly unrelated experiment. S-GAME said in 2023 that the wider Rainblood/Phantom Blade audience exceeded 20 million fans; that figure is a company statement about its fan base, not an independently audited sales total.
Liang’s wording matters because it sets expectations. Phantom Blade Zero is intended to carry forward the original game’s identity while changing its scale, presentation and combat ambition. You do not need to find or play a legacy Rainblood release to understand the new game, and no current availability is established here for those older titles.
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The games S-GAME names directly
Devil May Cry: the best first stop for combat feel
S-GAME repeatedly points to Devil May Cry as part of the game’s lineage. Liang praises the series for its “huge arsenal of moves and lightning-fast pace,” which is a useful description of the target more than a claim that the controls or systems are identical. The relevant lesson is how a character-action game lets players express intent through attacks, cancels, weapon choices and timing rather than simply waiting for a safe opening.
That makes Devil May Cry 5 the most useful first game. It is a modern, polished way to learn the habits Phantom Blade Zero appears to value: staying mobile, recognizing attack ranges, switching options quickly and treating a fight as a sequence you shape rather than a fixed pattern you endure. Its emphasis is not only difficulty; it is the freedom to turn a large move set into a personal style.
Do not read this as proof that Phantom Blade Zero will copy Devil May Cry 5’s scoring, characters or weapon architecture. Liang explicitly says the new game incorporates elements from both traditions while being “neither of them.” Use Devil May Cry 5 to calibrate your expectations for speed and expressive offense, not to predict every button.
Ninja Gaiden: relentless pace and execution
Ninja Gaiden is the second named reference and the strongest preparation for pressure. Where Devil May Cry is often discussed in terms of creative expression, Ninja Gaiden is useful for its demand that you execute quickly while several threats compete for your attention. Liang groups the two series together because both demonstrate how a broad arsenal can remain exciting at high speed.
Play it after Devil May Cry 5 if you want to test whether you enjoy the more punishing side of the formula. The value is not a one-to-one mechanical match. It is learning to read enemy intent without freezing, to use movement as part of offense and to make a decision before a crowded encounter collapses around you. If you prefer a slower, defensive rhythm, this is the game in the recommended sequence most likely to feel demanding.
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Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance: making every strike feel like a set piece
S-GAME names Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance alongside Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden as a hack-and-slash classic. Its specific relevance is weapon spectacle. Attacks are staged to feel forceful, dramatic and cinematic, so the player experiences a hit as an event rather than a small numerical exchange.
That perspective is useful for Phantom Blade Zero, whose trailers and descriptions emphasize stylized martial-arts action. Play Revengeance third if you want to see how a game can turn a weapon’s identity, an enemy’s vulnerability and the camera’s presentation into one moment. It is a shorter, more concentrated lesson in spectacle than in long-term exploration or build planning, so it complements rather than replaces the first two games.
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Souls games: atmosphere, routes and layered spaces
S-GAME says it is borrowing selected level-design and art ideas from Souls games. That explains why Phantom Blade Zero can look darker and more spatially intricate than a straightforward stage-based character-action game. Expect the Souls influence to be most relevant to mood, environmental storytelling and the way spaces can connect or reveal themselves over time.
This does not make Phantom Blade Zero a Soulslike by default. Liang says the team is borrowing from both sides to create something new, and specifically describes the result as containing an essence of both traditions while being neither. A Souls game is therefore best played after the action titles, when you want structural context. It is not the closest answer to “what will the combat feel like?”
The most important influence is wuxia cinema
Game comparisons explain the combat framework, but Chinese martial-arts cinema supplies the identity. Official PlayStation material names Louis Cha’s wuxia stories, Bruce Lee films, Michelle Yeoh’s performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once, Donnie Yen in John Wick: Chapter 4 and classic kung-fu choreography. An Epic interview additionally cites The Valiant Ones, The One-Armed Swordsman and Once Upon a Time in China.
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These references point to more than costumes or a period setting. Wuxia choreography often treats combat as a conversation between distance, momentum, deception and character. A fighter can appear to glide, reverse direction or use the environment as part of a technique. That helps explain why the game’s combat is described as fast and smooth flow rather than simply a list of spectacular moves.
Combat Designer Bob Wu summarizes the design priority directly: “It’s about fast and smooth flow of combat rather than emphasizing the moves.” In practical terms, the goal is likely to make transitions and reactions feel continuous, even when the available arsenal is large. That is a different emphasis from showing off isolated animations in a gallery.
Donnie Yen’s involvement reinforces the cinematic connection. PlayStation identifies him as a creative consultant and as the performer for Mó Yuan. The project also uses in-house martial-arts capture, so the choreography is being developed with physical movement and screen presence in mind rather than assembled solely from abstract game attacks.
Is Phantom Blade Zero a Soulslike?
The most accurate answer is: it borrows some Souls ideas, but the available descriptions do not support calling it a straightforward Soulslike. The distinction matters because the label sets expectations about stamina management, death penalties, build dependence, checkpoint loops and deliberately cautious combat. S-GAME’s own framing places equal or greater weight on hack-and-slash speed and move variety.
Use this split when deciding what to play:
- For combat tempo and offensive freedom: choose Devil May Cry 5 first.
- For relentless reactions under pressure: choose Ninja Gaiden.
- For cinematic weapon presentation: choose Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.
- For connected spaces, darker art direction and environmental discovery: choose a Souls game.
- For the project’s direct lineage: read about Rainblood: Town of Death, while treating it as historical context rather than a required tutorial.
Sekiro can be an interesting additional comparison for readers who want precise parries and sword-duel tension, but it is not one of the specific inspirations cited by S-GAME in the supplied developer statements. It should not displace the named references if your goal is to follow the documented lineage.
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What to play first: a practical order
- Devil May Cry 5. Start here to learn the fast, expressive character-action vocabulary that S-GAME praises. Focus on movement, attack variation and maintaining control when a fight becomes busy.
- Ninja Gaiden. Use this as a stress test for your reactions. Its value is the demand for rapid decisions and clean execution when enemies do not politely wait their turn.
- Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Play it for the relationship between weapon identity, camera work and cinematic impact. It shows why a single attack can be designed as a memorable set piece.
- A Souls game. Finish with one if you want to recognize the environmental and tonal ideas S-GAME says it is borrowing. Approach it as a lesson in atmosphere and spatial structure, not as a prediction that every encounter will use Souls conventions.
If you only have time for one game, choose Devil May Cry 5. If you already know you dislike high-speed combo systems, start with a Souls game for the mood and level-design context, then decide whether the faster recommendations appeal to you.
Comparison: which influence answers which question?
| What you want to understand | Best comparison | Why it helps | What it does not prove |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fast combat and combo freedom | Devil May Cry 5 | Shows how a large move arsenal can support expressive, rapid offense. | It does not establish identical controls, scoring or weapon systems. |
| Relentless execution | Ninja Gaiden | Trains quick reactions, movement and decisions under pressure. | It is not evidence that Phantom Blade Zero will match its difficulty or encounter design. |
| Cinematic weapon spectacle | Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance | Connects attacks, camera presentation and weapon identity into set-piece moments. | It does not represent the new game’s exploration structure. |
| Dark mood and layered exploration | A Souls game | Provides context for the environmental and level-design ideas S-GAME cites. | It is not a direct combat template or proof of a Soulslike ruleset. |
| Wuxia movement and choreography | Chinese kung-fu and wuxia films | Explains the game’s cultural and cinematic identity beyond Western action-game comparisons. | A film reference cannot predict progression systems or difficulty options. |
What the announced weapon and difficulty range suggests
A current PlayStation feature published for the August 2026 State of Play describes more than 30 main weapons and 25 secondary weapons called Phantom Edges. It also lists three selectable difficulty modes: Wayfarer, Hellwalker and Sixty-Six Days. Those details make weapon experimentation and approachability part of the comparison, not just raw challenge.
The figures are tied to that PlayStation feature and can change before launch or vary by edition and region. They should not be read as a promise that every weapon will function as a completely separate character or that every mode will resemble a particular older game. They do, however, support the idea that Phantom Blade Zero is being built around a substantial toolkit rather than one signature blade and a narrow progression route.
For a newcomer, selectable difficulty is especially relevant. Someone coming from Devil May Cry 5 may want to experiment with the full arsenal immediately, while a player arriving from Souls games may prefer a mode that leaves more room to study the flow. The names alone do not establish exact modifiers, enemy health values or accessibility features, so those specifics should be checked in the final release documentation.
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PlayStation’s August 2026 State of Play article lists an October 29 launch, with October 28 in the United States and select regions. Because release schedules, regional launch times and retail listings can change, confirm the date and local availability on the official PlayStation or publisher listing when you are ready to buy or preload. The date above is the current announcement, not a guarantee that every territory will unlock simultaneously.
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The same feature identifies Donnie Yen as creative consultant and Mó Yuan’s performer, and highlights the weapon and difficulty counts described above. Those are the most useful current signposts for deciding whether to sample the older comparison games: if you are attracted by a large weapon roster and cinematic martial-arts presentation, the character-action sequence is the better preparation than beginning with a purely defensive Souls routine.
Bottom line for different players
If you want the closest combat preparation
Play Devil May Cry 5. It best matches the documented combination of speed, expressive offense and a large move arsenal.
If you want to know whether the pace will overwhelm you
Play Ninja Gaiden after it. Its relentless execution requirements reveal whether you enjoy making rapid decisions while under pressure.
If presentation matters as much as mechanics
Play Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. It is the clearest demonstration of the cinematic weapon spectacle that sits beside the game’s martial-arts choreography.
If you are mainly interested in atmosphere and exploration
Play a Souls game, but keep the category in perspective. It explains the darker, layered side of the design without being a complete model for the combat.
If you want the cultural source rather than another game
Explore the wuxia and kung-fu films cited by PlayStation and Epic, especially The Valiant Ones, The One-Armed Swordsman and Once Upon a Time in China. They are the best route to understanding why Phantom Blade Zero aims to feel like choreographed martial-arts cinema instead of a generic fantasy action game.
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