Just as with the SGF 2024 build, this early version of the game really soared during its boss battles, and I powered through several during this demo. There is an intensely operatic feel to these set pieces, whether caught in a frenzied duel on a rooftop overlooking a valley or confronting a real juggernaut of an opponent in a burning courtyard. S-GAME was heavily inspired by classical wuxia and anyone who’s ever seen something like Hero or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon will recognize these familiar martial arts aesthetics.
Despite its emphasis on melee combat and dark fantasy elements, Phantom Blade Zero isn’t a soulslike game and, with more elegant fighting styles, it’s not quite a standard hack-and-slash experience either. Instead the game feels like a blend of epic historical martial arts films, including Once Upon a Time in China, along with intense action that favors technique and timing, but without the unforgiving difficulty of a soulslike. For any fan of the fantasy genre or sword-based combat, this a title to definitely keep an eye on going into 2026.
Developed and published by S-GAME, Phantom Blade Zero launches Sept. 5 for PlayStation 5 and PC.
DAMON and BABY
While Arc System Works may be hard at work continuing to support fighting games like Guilty Gear Strive and the upcoming Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, they’re also working on a variety of original games debuting throughout 2026. One of the earliest is DAMON and BABY, a cozy dungeon-crawler with a solid companionship dynamic. Players control Damon, the Demon King, as he navigates dimly lit caverns and other environments with a child riding atop his shoulders.
I got to play an early build of DAMON and BABY and one of the things that struck me as unique about it right away was the fact that Damon isn’t armed with the medieval melee weapons typical to the genre, but a modern handgun. Using both joysticks, players can move and aim as they blast through waves of enemies. Though the demo started with Damon armed only with a sidearm, other glimpses at the game showcase him with an expanded arsenal, including with submachine guns and assault rifles. This sets it significantly apart from other games in the genre, though there are also melee mechanics for those who want to get up close and personal.
The other big mechanic is how Damon works with Baby to advance, able to throw the little girl and warp to her when it comes to the game’s platforming elements. This also informs the game’s quirky humor, which I got snippets of while playing through the build, though a lot of this experience was understandably geared more towards the gameplay than the overarching narrative. Finally, Arc System Works teased that the game would feature two-player co-op gameplay, though I didn’t have the chance to give it a spin at this time.
