The first hands-on demo of Phantom Blade Zero, the kung fu-powered action RPG that made quite the splash at last May's PlayStation show, was hovering around the middle of the pack on my mental list of games to see at Summer Game Fest 2024. I ended up beating its demo twice, and it has rocketed to the front as one of my favorite games of the whole show. It is not a Soulslike, and I'm uncharacteristically not disappointed by this. Saddling this game with the deliberate pacing of that genre would only weaken the absurd speed and aggression that makes Phantom Blade stand out. It is irresponsibly fast, but it just works.
