Here’s an exciting new game you might not have heard of before, and it’s releasing in just two months. Phantom Blade Executioners is a spinoff of Phantom Blade Zero, and it’s a hand-drawn sidescrolling action RPG.
It seems primarily focused on a massive and in-depth combat system with incredibly stunning hand-drawn visuals, like a true form of any Castlevania animation.
The trailer they’ve shown today gives us a release date and shows off quite a bit of what this game has to offer, mostly combat with really cool animations. If you’re into games that feel like you’re actually playing that really cool cutscene, then Phantom Blade seems up your alley. So, let’s dive into that trailer now.
What’s in the Phantom Blade: Executioners Trailer?
As I said, this trailer is entirely focused on the combat, and we don’t know anything about this game’s other aspects. And, given its release on mobile, console, and PC, it could very well just be a combat-focused game with little else to offer.
That said, combat looks very fleshed out, drawing much inspiration from Castlevania and other Action-RPGS.
Opening this trailer and throughout it, we see a bunch of pre-rendered cutscenes drawn in the same high-contrast anime art style as the actual gameplay, which looks incredible. I imagine this type of animation won’t just be a one-off for the opening and cutscenes but also throughout the game in finishers and the like.
As for the gameplay itself, it’s rendered in completely hand-drawn animation, using a low framerate to its advantage to sell every strike.
We see a dash attack followed by a back-slash, a downwards strike followed by a quick burst attack, and a character using throwing knives and air combos, all indicating the combat will be incredibly free-form.
On top of the combos, we see some incredibly cool finishers, like raining swords of light from the sky, a giant flame pillar, a flurry of slashes, and more cutscenes showing off slashes in front of the moon.
The bosses fight back, though, sometimes having massive, overwhelming hits that look like they can combo you to death quickly.
All of this seems very anime and especially Castlevania-inspired, which makes me wonder if this game is a proper Metroidvania. Still, nothing from the descriptions of this game indicates it’s anything other than a combat-focused action RPG.
If you’re here for fast-paced, high-action combat, this is the right place. Phantom Blade: Executioners drops on the PlayStation Store, Epic Games Store iOS, and Android on November 2nd.
Further Reading
If you want more on Phantom Blade when it drops or just some awesome combat-focused indies, stick here for more.
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