--- title: 'Phantom Blade Zero | Early Thoughts | 5+ Hours Played' source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=oIUXg-i0llU' video_id: 'oIUXg-i0llU' date: 2026-10-31 duration_sec: 228 channel: 'CohhCarnage' --- # Phantom Blade Zero | Early Thoughts | 5+ Hours Played > Source: [Phantom Blade Zero | Early Thoughts | 5+ Hours Played](https://youtube.com/watch?v=oIUXg-i0llU) ## Summary This video presents early impressions of Phantom Blade Zero after roughly five hours of gameplay. The creator praises the game's visual beauty, action-heavy combat, and its unique approach to progression that eliminates enemy respawning, which they find refreshing. They also discuss the game's difficulty, noting that despite initial feedback about it being too easy, they have encountered challenging bosses. ### Key Points - **Initial Impressions** [00:02] — The creator describes Phantom Blade Zero as a 'Woosha Feast for the senses,' highlighting its beautiful graphics and fun-to-watch combat that is wavy, floaty, action-heavy, and combo-focused with quick attacks, parries, and dodges. - **Gameplay Experience** [00:19] — After about 5 hours of play, the creator has been stuck on a boss called 'the bride' for 10+ tries. They are enjoying the game a lot, noting an aggressive queuing system that affects combat feel. - **Difficulty and Balance** [00:47] — The creator is playing on the hardest difficulty, 'Hell Walker,' and finds it well-balanced so far. They appreciate the challenge it provides. - **Not a Soulslike** [01:00] — The game is described as an action-adventure game, not a soulslike. It uses a similar framework of bonfires and semi-open world but deviates from the typical 'drop your souls and fight back' mechanic. - **No Enemy Respawn** [01:27] — A key feature is that enemies do not respawn. The game focuses on forward progression, respecting the player's time by eliminating the need to replay areas after death. - **Visuals and Audio** [02:07] — The game is beautiful with great sound effects and is fully voice-acted so far. The world is relatively linear but offers many side areas and exploration opportunities. - **Exploration and Structure** [02:50] — The world feels like a corridor that splits enough to feel sandboxy and semi-open, with lots to do and explore around the main quest. - **Difficulty Feedback** [03:06] — The creator addresses initial feedback about the game being too easy. They find it relatively easy at times but have encountered a challenging boss ('the bride') that took 10+ attempts, so they haven't experienced the overblown easiness. ### Conclusion The creator is thoroughly enjoying Phantom Blade Zero so far, praising its combat, visuals, and player-friendly progression system. They plan to provide a final review if their opinion changes significantly by the end of the game. ## Transcript another early thoughts video. This time on Phantom Blade Zero. This game is a Woosha Feast for the senses. This game is beautiful. Combat is fun to look at. It is very wavy and floaty, very actionheavy, comboy with, you know, quick attacks and quick parries and and dodges. But really, at the end of the day, uh I've only played this now for I think going on about 5 hours. I've already been stuck on a boss for about 10 plus tries, the bride. And I gotta say, I'm really really enjoying this game, like a lot. Um, the game features kind of a queuing system which make makes combat feel a little sometimes, but I think that's just because the queuing system is very aggressive. I am playing on the hardest difficulty, which I am really enjoying. It's called Hell Walker, and it seems pretty dang well balanced so far. It does a lot of interesting things that other games of this kind of type, and It's not a soulslike. It's more of an action venture game. But a lot of games with this framework, this more soulslikey framework of bonfires and and semi-openw world kind of stuff. A lot of these types of games follow this drop your souls and then you have to fight back through the enemies you've defeated. uh if you get to a boss, you have to try to kill it through its back to the beginning, etc., etc. We're kind of used to that. We're conditioned to that. But this game kind of turns that on its head. And so far, I think I that on its head. And so far, I think I really like it. Uh no enemies respawn. really like it. Uh no enemies respawn. Anytime you get to a a new phase of a never have to do the one before it again. This is a game that kind of focuses more on forward progression. And in a lot of ways, I will say, especially for players that aren't particularly skilled, it kind of respects your time a little more if you think about it. Because a lot of times, all that that death run does is kind of exacerbate your game time because you're having to where you were, right? You have to catch up. So, this game doesn't have that catchup. It doesn't have that that extra time where you're doing the same thing. And uh I have to say like it's it's working for me so far. But getting back to it, it's a beautiful game. Great sound effects. Uh, so far it's been fully voice acted. The world is relatively linear, but there's lots of little side areas to go off onto and lots of areas to explore. I mean, I've getting up to a part where it said, "Okay, go this way." And I said, "Nay." hanging out in the zone I've been in doing completionary quests and exploring it is kind of a corridory approach, the corridor splits enough to where it so far has felt pretty good. Kind of kind of a little sandboxy, very semi-open lots to do and explore around the main quest. So, yeah, I'll probably make anything changes significantly. But, in the time that I've played this so far, I've really enjoyed Phantom Blade Zero. Uh, I did hear a lot of initial feedback Uh, I did hear a lot of initial feedback about this game being too easy. There are times when I would say that this game feels relatively easy, but I that I have not been able to beat it. So, or I've or like I said, I got to this this boss called we'll call her the bride and I that took 10 plus attempts. Um, it was not it was not a pushover. So, um, so far I have not encountered this overblown easiness. Um, but it is it has been enjoyable for me on Hell so much for watching this early thoughts video. Like I said, we may be doing feel the same way all the way to the end. And on that note, as always, thank you for watching. We'll see you in a little bit. Bye-bye.