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Digital Foundry gives a positive first impression of Phantom Blade 0. Gameplay trailer was running in real time and uses Unreal Engine 5 they claim

feynoob

Member
Sony finding another gm.
Noice Thats Nice GIF
 

Kuranghi

Member
So its not just a QTE sorta thing?

edit - Didn't realise the tweet was a video, watched it now. I understand that the framerate not being perfect indicates that its not just pre-rendered in-engine stuff but that in no way makes me think its definitely real gameplay, it could just be a not perfectly optimised in-engine demo playing back.
 
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Yeah this actually looked good, UE5 games should start to appear more often and hopefully we'll start to see what these consoles can actually achieve.
 

ungalo

Member
So its not just a QTE sorta thing?
the devs said themselves it was just in engine not in game

honestly given the camera angles made to fool us and the fact they said they started the game last year with 2 devs, this might be the definition of a scam trailer, whatever DF is saying
 
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01011001

Banned
We still don't know. It's okay to be cautiously optimistic about it, but it's still a AAA Chinese game made by a mobile game studio.

we know that the fighting system works by you predefining combos in a menu, and then mapping a combo to 1 of 2 buttons.

you then hold down the button while your character will automatically attack with the combo string you set previously.

and it seems like blocking/dodging works the same, you hold a button when you see an enemy attacking to evade/block while they attack.

they said the fighting system is designed to work on touchscreens, keyboards and controllers
 

Kuranghi

Member
We still don't know. It's okay to be cautiously optimistic about it, but it's still a AAA Chinese game made by a mobile game studio.
the devs said themselves it was just in engine not in game

honestly given the camera angles made to fool us and the fact they said they started the game last year with 2 devs, this might be the definition of a scam trailer, whatever DF is saying

China Eye Roll GIF by MOODMAN
Disgusted Colin Farrell GIF
colin farrell GIF by A24


I wish them good luck in their future careers as animators at real studios making real games
 

SeraphJan

Member
the devs said themselves it was just in engine not in game

honestly given the camera angles made to fool us and the fact they said they started the game last year with 2 devs, this might be the definition of a scam trailer, whatever DF is saying
Many Chinese dev are doing this in the past years, this gimmick is very popular, there is an idiom for this sort of behavior:
空手套白狼 is a Chinese idiom that literally means “to tie a white wolf with bare hands”. It can be used to describe a way of cheating without any investment, or a way of gaining valuable things with worthless things or even nothing. It has a negative connotation.
Which involve few individual instead of making an indie game (with limited man power) they would spent years polishing a small footage with triple A quality with nothing else made outside of that footage, to pitch it so they lure investor in, Wu Kong also started in this form. Once the investor (who thought they have a working proto type) are interested they will expand their teams with that fund which they then will start making the actual game, if not the project was never started in the first place. The entry for this gimmick is very low, while the reward could be large, there are many dev doing this.

However Phantom blade 0 do seems to be legit, consider they had actual games released before this one, albeit mobile.
 
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Gexxy1

Member
the devs said themselves it was just in engine not in game

honestly given the camera angles made to fool us and the fact they said they started the game last year with 2 devs, this might be the definition of a scam trailer, whatever DF is saying

To be precise, they were asked "is all of that gameplay actual combat" to which they responded with "Yes, all combat scenes are captured in-engine, they are real." Might have just been a bad translation.
 
we know that the fighting system works by you predefining combos in a menu, and then mapping a combo to 1 of 2 buttons.

you then hold down the button while your character will automatically attack with the combo string you set previously.

and it seems like blocking/dodging works the same, you hold a button when you see an enemy attacking to evade/block while they attack.

they said the fighting system is designed to work on touchscreens, keyboards and controllers
Ughhhhhhhhh
 

Gojiira

Member
we know that the fighting system works by you predefining combos in a menu, and then mapping a combo to 1 of 2 buttons.

you then hold down the button while your character will automatically attack with the combo string you set previously.

and it seems like blocking/dodging works the same, you hold a button when you see an enemy attacking to evade/block while they attack.

they said the fighting system is designed to work on touchscreens, keyboards and controllers
I mean Godhand had you set predefined combos and its one of the most brutal games ever made. So this alone doesn’t mean that the combat will be bad or lack depth, who knows how directional inputs, or triggers or whatever affects combat.
Just playing devils advocate, it looks great but it did scream of qte’s so who knows.
 

01011001

Banned
I mean Godhand had you set predefined combos and its one of the most brutal games ever made. So this alone doesn’t mean that the combat will be bad or lack depth, who knows how directional inputs, or triggers or whatever affects combat.
Just playing devils advocate, it looks great but it did scream of qte’s so who knows.

the issue is that their whole system is designed for phones. so I highly doubt directional inputs will be used in this.

you basically have to imagine playing it on a phone, and then think about what's realistically possible on a touchscreen.

that means that while the right thumb is holding down a touch button, every other button on that side is no longer realistically useable. which is why they made this system most likely, as that way you don't have separate light/hard attacks or punch/kick buttons to press semi-blindly without tactile feedback while fighting.

so my impression from how the "gameplay" looked and now with what they officially said about it, I bet there will be 2 combo-string buttons (like stated by them), 1 dodge and 1 defence button that make up the core of the combat system.

they might have and item button and a button for special attacks on top of that.

what I also bet, due to it being designed to work on phones, is that the defence button I expect will work by having a stamina bar that empties as you hold the button, and while holding it you will automatically do defensive moves.

I don't expect there to be too much timing based stuff, more lightly and generous timing based things. because you have to quickly shift your thumb from one touch button to the other, and that can be an issue if you expect the player to do that in too small a timeframe.

the reason why I don't expect direction based inputs is because touch sticks in games are usially dynamic, meaning they pop up beneath your thumb the moment you touch the left side of the screen, so their position isn't the same at all times. their center also moves with your thumb if you exceed their max range.
this would make directional input in the heat of the battle very cumbersome.


so this statement that it's designed with phones in mind makes me think it will be very simple.
such a fighting system can be ok of course... like a more stats based action RPG for example with lots of strategy elements to it would work really well with something like this.
 

Represent.

Represent(ative) of bad opinions
Any game with "project" in the title never comes out

edit: its Phantom. slightly better chance. still never coming out
 
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Fafalada

Fafracer forever
but that in no way makes me think its definitely real gameplay, it could just be a not perfectly optimised in-engine demo playing back.
Compared to the amount of work setting up all of that effect and animation work JUST to get a playback of a non-interactive cut-scene - getting it to run at stable fps would be almost trivial amount of effort. Basically the explanation suggested is the least likely (and most cumbersome) option of possible scenarios.

Also - I'll say that one thing that stood out to me in this demo is the very obvious intent on combat camera doing this bizarre 'extreme close-up' of attacks - that simultaneously made me feel motion-sick and dizzy, but the reason I mention it is that it's a very precise repetitive motion of camera behaviour that you see over and over again throughout the clip - something you'd do in gameplay, but definitely not in scripted scenes that are just meant to look flashy.

Anyway - speaking of which - while I like the aesthetics, if this is the 3Cs they end-up with for final game, I will likely not be able to play it - this is giving me RE4 (original) camera vibes, except worse.
 

Go_Ly_Dow

Member
Stellar Blade
Phantom Blade
Black Myth Wukong
(thinking I'm missing 1-2 other Chinese/Korean bid budget games).

If these games actually deliver then the industry is gonna get a bit more exciting, as we may see some serious competition.

I'd take a bet that they can't all be smoke and mirrors, given Sony has money-hatted both Stellar Blade and Phantom Blade.
 
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I heard this game started development late 2022. As cool as this looked, I find it very difficult to believe that what we saw was the actual game.

If it is legit, we just found the most time-productive developers in the history of gaming.
 
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hemo memo

Gold Member
I heard this game started development late 2022. As cool as this looked, I find it very difficult to believe that what we saw was the actual game.

If it is legit, we just found the most time-productive developers in the history of gaming.
Ah. I doubt it. Even a decent indie title wouldn’t take less than year now. Unless this is Order1886 level of on rails.
 

peronmls

Member
Feet animations need to be better. He looks like he's just gliding on the ground. Looks bad when he runs up walls as well.
 
Many Chinese dev are doing this in the past years, this gimmick is very popular, there is an idiom for this sort of behavior:

Which involve few individual instead of making an indie game (with limited man power) they would spent years polishing a small footage with triple A quality with nothing else made outside of that footage, to pitch it so they lure investor in, Wu Kong also started in this form. Once the investor (who thought they have a working proto type) are interested they will expand their teams with that fund which they then will start making the actual game, if not the project was never started in the first place. The entry for this gimmick is very low, while the reward could be large, there are many dev doing this.

However Phantom blade 0 do seems to be legit, consider they had actual games released before this one, albeit mobile.
Yea. Another studio famous for ‘tying the white wolf’ is Ubi-Soft.
 

Darsxx82

Member
Those DF impressions are made before the Studio confirms that the video was inengine and choreographed and that the game is only 1 year in development.

I mean, I would recommend being patient and waiting for the next real gameplay. The game looks set to be released for 2025-26 at the earliest, based on the information offered by the Studio.
 
Ehhh I’ll reserve judgment until we get actual gameplay. When is that journey to the west game with the monkey king (can’t remember the name lol) coming out?
 

nemiroff

Gold Member
Nah, the demo looks sus as fuck. Until proven wrong I'm not going to believe yet another Chinese videogame demo scam (and not so happy about the inflation of asset flipping UE5 demos in general). I'd be happy to be wrong though.

..and DF should stick in the niche they are good at, no one should go to them for advice on anything else than hands on tech performance.
 
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MoreJRPG

Suffers from extreme PDS
The real question is will DF make a video when this game launches? They won't, because this will never release.
 
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Gojiira

Member
the issue is that their whole system is designed for phones. so I highly doubt directional inputs will be used in this.

you basically have to imagine playing it on a phone, and then think about what's realistically possible on a touchscreen.

that means that while the right thumb is holding down a touch button, every other button on that side is no longer realistically useable. which is why they made this system most likely, as that way you don't have separate light/hard attacks or punch/kick buttons to press semi-blindly without tactile feedback while fighting.

so my impression from how the "gameplay" looked and now with what they officially said about it, I bet there will be 2 combo-string buttons (like stated by them), 1 dodge and 1 defence button that make up the core of the combat system.

they might have and item button and a button for special attacks on top of that.

what I also bet, due to it being designed to work on phones, is that the defence button I expect will work by having a stamina bar that empties as you hold the button, and while holding it you will automatically do defensive moves.

I don't expect there to be too much timing based stuff, more lightly and generous timing based things. because you have to quickly shift your thumb from one touch button to the other, and that can be an issue if you expect the player to do that in too small a timeframe.

the reason why I don't expect direction based inputs is because touch sticks in games are usially dynamic, meaning they pop up beneath your thumb the moment you touch the left side of the screen, so their position isn't the same at all times. their center also moves with your thumb if you exceed their max range.
this would make directional input in the heat of the battle very cumbersome.


so this statement that it's designed with phones in mind makes me think it will be very simple.
such a fighting system can be ok of course... like a more stats based action RPG for example with lots of strategy elements to it would work really well with something like this.
Yes I know how touchscreen controls work,but this is a console game, there is no phone version so something was clearly lost in translation as has been suggested in this thread already.
Its supposedly a 40+ hour game…If its essentially boiling down to holding a button yo match the circumstance there is no way that would make for a compelling game at that length, its just a ridiculous concept.
No I think combos are automatic on the Attack strings, and it will definitely have some kind of stamina based defense, but it looks like it has sidling, jumping, backflips, dodges, wall running etc, theres no way you could assign all these manoeuvres to a single ‘dodge’ button.
Im sure a lot of it will be autopilot mode but a console game with zero player agency or input beyond holding single buttons…Yeah I cant see it, and Im sure its going to be a letdown regardless. Idk, time will tell.
 
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