AI Summary
This video is a live gameplay stream of Phantom Blade Zero, a wuxia kungfupunk action game. The player struggles against a challenging boss, learning its mechanics through repeated attempts, and eventually succeeds. The stream also includes narrative exposition about the boss's backstory and a brief discussion of the game's design philosophy.
Chapters
The player begins fighting a boss that uses white flowers as projectiles, which can be destroyed by slicing through them. The player is hesitant because the boss warps to them if hit.
The player discovers that starting a heavy weapon charge triggers an immediate grab attack from the boss, which seems unavoidable. This happens regardless of the boss's state.
The player reads a developer note explaining that boss moves are independent components that can interrupt themselves, throw out feints, or select varied finishers based on the player's immediate condition (e.g., broken guard stamina).
The player praises the difficulty, noting it's tight but not cheap. They feel they need to 'get good' and lock in rather than grind for strength.
The player notes that weapon switching fully recharges the stance bar, which is powerful, but difficult to execute mid-fight due to needing to keep fingers on the control stick and parry button.
The player confirms that parrying in this game is always a perfect parry, and that only blue attacks can be parried, while red attacks must be dodged.
The player analyzes the boss's flower attacks: white flowers stun, red flowers explode. The white flower stun gives the boss a free opener, making it a key threat.
The player observes that enemy poise/stamina does not regenerate quickly, which is advantageous for the player.
The player describes situations where they must parry flowers to avoid stun, but the boss simultaneously uses an unblockable red attack, creating seemingly impossible scenarios.
The player finally defeats the boss, attributing the win to 'getting good'. They express surprise at winning on that attempt, given the difficulty.
The player reads lore items revealing the boss is a bride who killed her grooms. The area is filled with graves of her suitors, and the player is invited to hunt her down.
The stream showcases the player's perseverance and learning process against a difficult boss, highlighting the game's dynamic AI and demanding combat. The victory is satisfying, and the narrative adds depth to the encounter.
Mentioned in this Video
💡 Key Takeaways
Boss AI Design Philosophy
Provides insight into the game's unique approach to boss fights, emphasizing adaptability over pattern memorization.
05:36Difficulty is Fair
The player's assessment that the fight is tough but fair highlights the game's design quality.
09:13Weapon Switching Recharges Stance
A key combat mechanic that adds depth to the gameplay, rewarding strategic weapon changes.
12:24Parry is Always Perfect
Clarifies a core combat rule, essential for understanding the game's difficulty.
15:54Victory Through Persistence
Demonstrates the value of perseverance and learning from failure in challenging games.
42:57Full Transcript
[00:06] missed it? No, I don't think so. No, I don't think so. I don't think so. Oh, that was a torch. I'm sorry. Oh, it's fine. It's fine. It seems like you
[00:20] can maybe destroy the white flowers coming at you. We could try that. A little hesitant cuz she warps to us if they hit us, but we try. We'll just try slicing through it when
[00:32] We'll just try slicing through it when she does it next time.
[00:44] Nope. Second I hit the attack button, I was instantly
[01:02] I Dude, I just dodged, girl. Come on, man. Oh, that's some [ __ ]
[01:21] recovering. You are still recovering from what I just did and you just made a red move out of it. That's terrible. You were literally in stun state. What are you doing?
[01:36] are you doing? Cheater
[01:57] >> Oh, she again, dude. Okay, so if I It seems to be a trigger. If I start to do the charge on my heavy weapon, she immediately does a grab. And I don't I don't know. I don't think I can dodge out of that. So,
[02:16] doesn't matter what state she's in. She just immediately grabs us. Okay. So, that's weird, man. That's not That's a little strange for that to happen a little strange for that to happen twice in a row. That fight was odd.
[02:39] Am I playing on the hardest difficulty? Mhm. Yep. Is this fight hard? Um, it's it's not really hard so far. We're just learning it. It's it's like every fight so far, we've kind of
[02:52] learned a new major thing about the fight. Yeah. Does Con know that on very didn't know that. That's horrifying. didn't know that. That's horrifying. Yeah, actually horrifying.
[03:35] away from this properly. Feels real bad every time I get hit by I think I'm just not doing it right though. I'm pretty sure I'm not doing it right.
[03:49] like sprint the other direction. I think I need to stop being lazy.
[04:08] I don't know if you can really
[04:50] Very cool fight though. This fight's hard as hell, but it's it's very cool. Oh, wow. It actually didn't really do much, but
[05:09] autotracked her into the red goo and then killed me.
[05:21] Okay, that's a bit of a thing. Yeah, the red the red stuff on the ground is um is very much a uh detractor. So, yeah. Okay. Wow, dude. Interesting.
[05:36] Interesting. From the devs, instead of long unalterable strains, boss moves are treated like independent components. They can interrupt themselves, throw out faints, or select from varied finishers depending on the player's immediate
[05:50] condition, such as whether your guard stamina is broken or if you are affected stamina is broken or if you are affected by moment at college. >> That's exactly what we were talking about pretty much.
[06:22] >> Find so hard to avoid that exact move. So quick, Jesus. I was even like I had my finger. Oh, there we go. Finally. Three times in
[06:35] timing thing. It's not cuz she just completely kicked out. HOLY [ __ ] FOUR completely kicked out. HOLY [ __ ] FOUR TIMES, BRO. IN LIKE A MINUTE.
[06:58] different. There's no pattern learning. There's nothing like that with this. with the flowers. Wait for me to disappear. Yep. I think
[07:13] that's the safest way. Okay, that's the safest way.
[07:49] Bro, I I can't even move my finger away from the combo button fast enough. games, chat. I think that's what it comes down to.
[08:24] know what was doing damage there. Dude, I'm walk I can't I have to I'm forced to like walk through goo cuz I have to stay locked through goo cuz I have to stay locked onto her for the warp throw.
[08:40] go down a little bit with this. Oh [ __ ]
[09:01] gives you three more heals to make this fight easier. keep going with the main story? Okay. Honestly, like I I don't I This is This
[09:13] is a really good difficulty. I like I I'm getting my ass beat, but it's tight window. Like it's not It's not cheap. It's just It just takes I just got to get good. That's all it comes down to. So, I'm I'm not I'm not really
[09:28] get stronger. I feel like I just need to lock in a little more, you know? And I love fight I love fights that feel like this. I really do. this. I really do. Okay. Ready, chat?
[09:47] in. Let's see if locking in's the play.
[10:44] That was so fast, dude. That was so fast. I was I was even looking for it. I really was.
[11:18] getting a parry and it's in that little window that she keeps doing her move. I swear she couldn't be timing it better if she tried. It's that same big slow hit combo that this I think it's this one. No, it's a
[11:32] this I think it's this one. No, it's a different That was a different one. I don't even know what that was.
[11:45] think, you know, one thing that I'd love to do is I'd love to do more of this weapon switching thing to give me my my um power back, but the problem is I can never really take my thumb off the control stick cuz my finger always has
[11:58] left uh trigger for the parry for the left uh button. Try dodging the overhead slam instead of parry. I think I might. Yeah, I think I might. I think I' I've been trying to do dodge the overhead or excuse me, parry
[12:12] the overhead, but I think we're going to try to dodge the overhead. I seem to be try to dodge the overhead. I seem to be having a lot better luck with that. Yeah, weapon switching fully recharges your stance bar, which is super big, but
[12:24] doing it in the fight is a little difficult, unfortunately.
[12:46] dude? I don't even know what move she's doing now. Like what? You can't really learn the fight if it just if it's new [ __ ] every single time.
[12:59] Let's try it again. I So, she's got that very long combo move that starts with like one slam and then goes into different moves. So, we're going to like And she's using that more now.
[13:17] And I don't know the best way to deal with that, but clearly my parry's not. This boss is a lot harder than the other boss. There there's like one boss at the
[13:31] very beginning of the game that's like clearly for the the mega tryh hards. This is not that. This is just a normal fighting game.
[14:13] her parry and opened her up, but because I did that in the animation, then caught the white flowers, it stunned me and she didn't move.
[14:25] used to it right now at all. Are not really a thing of this game. Not nearly like other games. You can't count on a state to do You can't count on a state to do anything. How do I lose health?
[15:12] insane. Like, you can't I can't even get away from the flowers, dude. Let alone her doing second flowers and jumping at me with moves. supposed to do in that phase. You're saying I'm supposed to parry the
[15:26] flowers? Oh, you have to. I tried that at the beginning. Let me try that again. If you can parry the flowers, that makes a lot more sense. I tried pairing the like I was able to. But let's try pairing the flowers because that would
[15:39] that would make this a lot easier. Does he know the blue is red and parry Does he know the blue is red and parry is red dodge? Yes. Yes, that parrying and blocking. I don't think there's a perfect parry. I think
[15:54] parrying in this game is perfect parry. Yep.
[16:06] bosses in this game, though. I got to admit, this is this is really cool.
[16:32] arena everywhere. Just want to fight her, please.
[17:01] I have to do five parries really quickly? Oh, wait. There's red flowers you have to dodge and white flowers you have.
[17:23] the white the red flowers blow up. They're probably the undgeables. just going to try running away again. I wonder if we just run away without wonder if we just run away without dodging if that's fast enough.
[17:37] dodging. Let's just anytime I see white flowers, I'm just going to run like a flowers, I'm just going to run like a small child. I'm just going to run.
[17:51] I think that's the smartest option. Run like small time.
[18:25] Maybe I have to take off. GOD, I WAS RUNNING AWAY FROM YOU. God GOD, I WAS RUNNING AWAY FROM YOU. God damn it. I was holding B to run, so I damn it. I was holding B to run, so I couldn't tap it to dodge.
[18:37] That's terrible. Okay. Okay. Um,
[19:14] far as we can. Try to bait out some moons. Get some practice.
[19:27] Come on, girl. Where my flowers at? Where my flares? Give me some flares. Come on. Oh. Oh, come on. There we go. Those are definitely white, SO I CAN NO.
[19:40] I WAS GOING TO TEST BLOCKING, YOU [ __ ] Jesus Christ. The second in my head, I'm like, "Okay, get ready to block the flower." She warps over and and does an instant cast red on me. I was so ready to do some science. I was so ready,
[19:54] chat. So ready to do some science. What the [ __ ] No science for this gentleman.
[20:15] super fast. It's like less than a second. Uh she can weave it into like three different combos or just do it whenever she wants. And um the white flower is also stunned. So she immediately she gets like a free opener
[20:29] immediately she gets like a free opener after that.
[20:44] Okay, that worked. That that worked. Okay.
[21:06] there wasn't [ __ ] everywhere in the arena like constantly dealing little bits of damage and stunning us and breaking it up. Like I I'm I'm really looking forward to being able to just focus on a boss.
[21:22] [ __ ] spawned, I'm like, "Okay, where can I move?" And while I'm looking at the floor, she does an unblockable red cuz I couldn't focus on her.
[21:39] every single boss in this game is going to have [ __ ] everywhere around it. This game. I want to use this heavy axe, but I I've tried, she's just punished me for it.
[22:14] I've noticed their stamina, their poise doesn't seem to come back very quickly. doesn't seem to come back very quickly. So, that's kind of awesome.
[22:30] you all those things you have to parry and then immediately hit you with a red. That's so messed up. These deaths are jerks.
[23:03] This is still the farthest we've been though. That's awesome.
[24:09] random [ __ ] in the arena. Don't you? Doesn't it feel good when you lose to that stuff? Doesn't it feel great? Things are going just comes in and hits you for that last little bit. Oh, feels so good. Feels so
[24:24] little bit. Oh, feels so good. Feels so good. Yeah, that's that's that's how you want to die in those situations. That was good, though. Hey, it's still it's still we're getting there, man.
[24:39] I'll take it. I'll take it. It's been fun learning I'll take it. It's been fun learning this fight.
[24:53] make us a lot better for future fights in this game.
[25:07] >> So, I can't I I cannot consistently parry all five. I don't think that's parry all five. I don't think that's going to be a thing.
[25:38] Does he not know he can only parry blue attacks? I Thank you. attacks? I Thank you. I I did the tutorial. I appreciate it.
[25:57] you have any time to do anything but focus on the fight in these games. I I literally cannot take my hand off of my dodge key or I am going to die. I There's no there's no switching out anything. Also, I already can't see.
[26:11] onto her cuz maybe that's been my problem. I keep dying to stuff I don't see, but it's only cuz I'm locked onto it. Maybe I need to learn how to do it. Maybe I need to learn how to do these fights without lock on.
[27:17] out. There we go.
[28:01] Is this game just an arena battler? No. No. I'm just stuck on a boss. Yep. It kind of looks like an arena battler for the last hour, but nope. Just stuck
[28:14] for the last hour, but nope. Just stuck on a boss. playthrough, so it's not nearly as hard as it looks. Okay,
[28:27] this is just the boss that the game picked for me to have a tough time on Is this the hardest difficulty? It is. Yes.
[28:57] these for a second. 3,000 years later. Accurate statement.
[29:16] Those are red. Okay. Wait, are those white or they red? Those were white. Yeah. Okay, we're good there.
[31:05] Hey, Co. How about you drink some water? Do that, buddy. out of the [ __ ] please. Oh my god.
[31:43] damage all the [ __ ] in the arena is infuriating.
[32:00] >> Dead. I I get in positions that are literally impossible to get out of. Heal. I don't think I had any healing left. Did I? Was I Would I actually have healing? I
[32:14] thought I had no healing left. Oh, I did have a heal. Jesus Christ. And so many attempts at this point. I did have one left. Well, hey, it was still a good attempt. But yeah, some of the times, man, the game
[32:27] like you have two groups of flowers coming at you. She's bearing down on you. Like you can't get away. You can't dodge cuz if you dodge once, the other I don't know what you're supposed to do in those situations. It's It's crazy.
[32:47] I don't I don't know if there's a way out of some of these situations or there probably is. I just don't know what it is.
[33:34] I died the second she moved, bro. Dude, I I there's I swear sometimes there's like a bug in there or something like I can you just when the flowers get really close. I'm just I'm just going to stop in
[33:46] I'm just I'm just going to stop in focus.
[34:39] She did a red move while I was parrying the flowers. I had to parry to prevent from getting stunned. So, she couldn't do a red move. You know, honestly, I'm not balanced around this system they have.
[34:52] Because if it's intelligently picking moves, if I get hit by a flower, I get stunned and she reds us. But I have to stop the and she reds us. But I have to stop the flower.
[35:08] red that she's doing on me at the same time. like I I think the solution is to get good.
[35:23] Maybe maybe maybe that's a situation where I'm I'm never supposed to put myself in that situation and that's why there's like a no way to get out of it. So maybe it's like you have to run from the flowers.
[35:37] like you have to run from the flowers. Maybe just windman. Yeah, I know, right? flight fight, but it's kind of tough because the fight changes so often. So, like I normally can kind of like slow like Elden Ring style, right? You slowly
[35:51] figure the fight out, but I can't really do that cuz the moves are all over the do that cuz the moves are all over the place. There's no
[36:21] I take was I taking damage standing in the red thing? I was right.
[36:45] Okay, let's get our stamina back.
[36:59] Oh, trying to get away from the red flower. All right.
[37:14] God damn. I'm trying to dodge that move, but it is just not working. You have to Oh, dude. I just took a huge amount of
[37:28] Oh, dude. I just took a huge amount of the
[37:59] You know what? I'm just going to try holding block for that, I think.
[38:14] on. Got to work with you a little there, Got to work with you a little there, dude.
[38:34] Oh, come on, dude. This game is trying TO
[39:07] this is just a got to get good fight. That's all it is, man. That's all it is. I just got to get good. We're just not there yet. But we're I feel like we're getting there, but we're just not there yet. Just not there yet.
[39:21] Yep. Fight a little bit more um healing. And story and come back to this, but honestly, like still having fun fighting a boss, I'm going to keep fighting it. I'm
[39:36] going to keep fighting it. I'm definitely still having fun with it.
[40:43] to cut you. I just used my special power. Come here, girl. I got to cut you. Come here. There we go. Thank you, girl.
[42:57] >> That was it. We just had to get good. That's all it was. That's all it was. That's all it was. >> I could kind of tell the whole time, but that was fun. But honestly, you know, I
[43:10] understand why they call this game easy. I mean, I was not expecting to just come in and beat that guy in the first try without any other attempts. So, you know, I I really get I really get why they say that. So, I mean, the fact that
[43:22] we just one-shotted that boss was really surprising to me. really surprising. YouTube guys, you know what to do. So, that was uh Man, I tell you though, don't you think? Like, I'm I'm glad we're um
[43:36] Yeah. Okay, great. Good talk. for? >> I think so. The flesh lily.
[43:52] Each invitation lists a different groom's name. the words written in tiny script besides each time. My husband. Oh, every single
[44:04] dead person we saw on the way up here was were her suitors. their money, but I've got strength in my arms. You deserve the most beautiful for you tomorrow. Midnight by the stream outside the village. I'll be waiting.
[44:18] Let's run away together. Oh, dude, Oh, dude, that's wild. turned into a funeral. The the bride gutted the groom, then slipped away in
[44:33] They sh say she's a beauty unlike any other. If we manage to catch her, I'd Anyone with a nerve meet at spider lily valley. Let's go meet this lovely bride valley. Let's go meet this lovely bride ourselves.
[44:47] My love, I continue to wait for you the night beneath the uh smoke filled tower. drunk and lying in a bed of crimson flowers like a cat bask in the sun. But our wedding banking will earn the envy of every richest family in the province.
[45:07] My love, I continue waiting beneath the smoke fil tower. Oh god, that was all of the different people. The liquor is dark red as blood.
[45:28] Here lies we Oh, there's one grave and it's for the dude in the Oh, chat. What a fun first day of Phantom Blade.
[45:43] with me. This has been a lot of fun. This has been cool. I I really like that we had like a boss that gave us a run for our money. That was that was fun. be continuing this game tomorrow. I very much hope to see her for it. I'm not
[45:56] done today though. I should be back in probably like uh 30 minutes, 45 minutes. Enshrouded this afternoon. Keep that going. But as always, thank you so much morning, afternoon, evening, wherever you are around the globe. I will see you
[46:09] all soon and thank you for the support. See you guys soon. Bye bye.
