From September 25 to 28, 2025, "Shadow Blade Zero" was unveiled at the PlayStation booth at the Tokyo Game Exhibition 2025 held at the Makuhara Exhibition Hall.

4Gamer has previously published a trial report of this work in TGS 2024 and ChinaJoy 2025, and published an interview with Mr. Liang Qiwei, the CEO of developer S-GAME and the producer.

By the way, this work can also be regarded as the latest work in the "Rain Blood" series released by Mr. Liang Qiwei during his studies at Yale University.Readers who are interested in this can refer to the following article, which has a more detailed introduction (it is also very interesting as a reading material to understand the development of China's game industry).

As a 4Gamer, the reason why this work is so important is its "high quality" and that "in China, everyone is privately discussing whether it will become the next hot topic after "Black Myth: Wukong".After personally experiencing the trial, the author nodded in agreement with the above view.

Due to various reasons, I was unable to take photos of the trial booth and the trial process this time, but fortunately, I successfully took screenshots of the trial screen (the one I tried this time was the PS5 demo version).In this article, I will use these screenshots to convey the atmosphere and actual operating experience of the game.

Let's re-introduce the summary of this work.The game is a stylized 3D action game with an ancient Chinese style and an industrial visual element as the stage.

The protagonist is a knight named Soul. He was framed by the organization and was seriously injured and rescued by a mysterious therapist.However, he only has 66 days left to live, embarking on the road of revenge in this limited time.I like this setting just "very" like this.I wonder what readers will think?

It has also been mentioned in previous reports (https://www.4gamer.net/games/709/G070971/20250802008/) that the overall direction of this work is somewhat reminiscent of "Second Wolf: The Shadow Falls to Die".However, in terms of the entry point and balance of combat gameplay, it is closer to "The Myth of Black Goku".

In addition, this trial version can be selected in Chinese and English pronunciations, and the UI such as subtitles also support Japanese.The staff said in advance, "It is still adjusting, please forgive me if there are any problems", but there were no strange translation or display problems during the actual trial, and the game experience was very smooth.

Aside from the topic, when experiencing overseas works, a question that the development team will almost inevitably be asked is: "Is there a need for Japanese dubbing?" (especially developers from Asia often ask).

The foundation of this work is obviously built with Chinese as the core. It is extremely difficult to bring Japanese players localization without destroying the original intentions of the developers.

Especially works from China often contain many poetic expressions in the game (the author’s subjective feelings).If these are all localized and dubbed intact, Japanese players may think that "why are all poets?" (It is a common expression locally, but the feelings in the target market may be completely different, which will also change the player's impression of the character's character).

As a result, during this trial, I almost deviated from the game itself and started a exchange of opinions on localization and dubbing.Finally, the consensus reached was: "Even if Japanese dubbing is to be imported in the future, before using dubbing, it is more important to establish a correct set of 'concepts' as the basis."

Especially developers from China and South Korea, they are not only satisfied with collecting feedback, but are more inclined to actively express their opinions in such exchanges, hoping to generate deeper feedback through discussions.The author’s intuitive impression is that this attitude may be one of the important reasons why they continue to launch popular works around the world and achieve leap.

The topic is a little remote, so here we go back to the game experience itself.The core of this game in terms of operation is simple and intuitive: the attack method is centered on a combination of strong attacks and weak attacks, as well as defense (blocking/parking) to resist enemy attacks.One of the major features is that players can equip two weapons at the same time and flexibly switch to use them during battle.

By the way, a variety of weapons are prepared in the game.During this trial, I mainly used weapons that can cause bleeding effects on the enemy, and adopted the "as long as I keep fighting, I will always be able to get rid of bleeding."

Players can choose two types of weapons with considerable numbers, different movements and effects to equip them.

The battle also contains some additional elements: such as the accumulated energy slot, the powerful attack launched by the current weapon, and the weapon that is different from the two main weapons and has special performance - Shadow Killing Armed Forces.However, the overall operating system, including lenses, movements, jumps, and steps back, remains within the general scope, and there will be no situation where players need to frequently input complex key combinations.

There are a large number of powerful skills in the game that can make players feel pleasure.The high-speed unfolding offense and defense and stylized actions are the core of this game, so it is not just the so-called "death memory game".There are basically only three slots that players need to manage: physical strength, murderous aura, and ultimate skill.Of course, the enemy also has these slots, so "how to reduce the enemy's murderous aura while ensuring one's murderous aura" is particularly important.It should be noted that this is not "the opponent's murderous aura must be cut off, otherwise it will not cause damage", but it is more like a key seasoning point in the battle.

In battle, the enemy will use attacks with blue special effects, which can greatly reduce the player's murderous aura, so you need to seize the opportunity to defend and counterattack by parrying.Attacks with red special effects cannot be defended and must be avoided using the "ghost step" at the right time.

When blocking and dodging successfully, the enemy will experience a brief flaw.Players can also instantly flash behind the enemy to attack, and these designs reflect the Chinese martial arts idea of ​​integrating offense into defense.

It is said that in terms of motion capture, the production team invited professional actors who have participated in martial arts action movies, so the soul's movements are extremely neat, and each movement is very cool, which makes people feel too handsome.

"Roll and reverse kick (precise defense).Attack is the best defense.

The game difficulty can be selected from three levels.The staff said: "If you usually play action games," it is recommended to start with the normal difficulty.So I first performed in normal mode, but then due to the trial time, it changed to a beginner-oriented difficulty.

As the difficulty varies, the enemy's attack power will naturally increase, and even the action mode will change.I personally experienced it. Under the current highest difficulty, the enemy will adjust the tactics according to the player's operating habits and try to break through the player's response.If you can stabilize the confrontation with it, the picture will show a very ornamental effect, which is an interesting highlight.

The staff also said: "When you master the operation and challenge the high difficulty, you can experience the fighting feeling like the intense action scenes in a martial arts movie." However, the enemy's attack was so painful, I don't need to say more, and I quickly adjusted the difficulty back.

However, no matter what difficulty the rapid switching between attack and defense will appear quite difficult before getting familiar with it.Although it is mainly defense, it has almost no unique feeling of "waiting". Before mastering the rhythm, it often keeps taking over the enemy's attacks, and there is a situation where it is completely unmovable for a period of time.Therefore, compared to the boss battle with confrontation, I am more likely to fall into a hard battle in front of groups of miscellaneous soldiers on the road.

This trial includes levels with operational teaching and a battle with three bosses.First of all, I feel that the picture is extremely exquisite.The overall art style is very unified, and the light and shadow effect created based on Unreal Engine 5 is also excellent.The two are superimposed on each other to create an excellent spatial atmosphere and environmental texture.

The character design of the soul is also very outstanding, which makes me unable to help but stare at the picture and observe carefully.The first thing that made me feel the persistence of the production team was the "bleeding effect when slashing the enemy."What gushed out of the enemy's body was black blood; what splashed into the air was bright red color; and what dripped onto the ground was thick and dark blood.Just the expression of "blood" shows a delicate and beautiful layer.

The little soldier had the option to ignore it, so I went on a quick journey and went straight into the boss battle.The first thing I met was the first boss - Wanjun with the giant hammer.As the name suggests, he is a power character with a huge attack range, but the flaws after the attack are also obvious.

He also uses some tricks, such as raising sand and dust to block the view, but the overall movement is more intuitive, and even includes undefensive attacks, which looks more like a boss with both teaching significance.Therefore, the battle was not too difficult. I relied on weapons with bleeding effects to attack and defeated it unexpectedly smoothly.

The next boss I met was the "Female Swordsman in Red".Completely different from just now, she attacked continuously with flexible body movements and high mobility.However, accordingly, she will also expose many opportunities for counterattack when switching defense and offense, so this battle is very interesting to play.

By the way, when she suddenly started to move, I was startled and blurted out, "I thought she was the kind of statue that I placed", which made the staff laugh.

What makes me care is that during the battle with the female swordsman in red, the soul will say such words, "Do you want to avoid her and continue moving forward?"I asked the staff, "Can you just leave without fighting?" The answer I got was that this battle was indeed designed as a boss fight that could be avoided.

But I thought to myself, "Anyway, I'll be able to win soon, so I'll just get rid of her." So I continued to attack, but unexpectedly defeated her quickly.Compared with Wan Jun of the Giant Hammer, her physical strength seems to be set lower.

The last boss who appeared was "Seven Star Sword Man·Senior Brother".The previous bosses were basically able to beat them relatively smoothly, but I encountered a considerable challenge in him.He moves quickly, his attack methods are full of changes, and he will deliberately add some delays, which is a powerful boss that is very suitable for the end of this trial version.As the name shows, the Seven-Star Sword Man and Senior Brother will launch a joint attack with seven people, and also have defensive shooting skills, long-range flying props and other means.Moreover, during the confrontation, he will gradually recover some of his physical strength.Compared to the two previous bosses, it is obvious that he is a completely different level of existence.

Although he finally defeated him in a hard battle, I thought it would be over... the result, huh?

A damn thing!!He was actually resurrected!!This is a trial version!!

So the fourth boss battle officially began - "Desperate Sword Intention·Senior Brother".The entire picture was rendered bright red, and the BGM also turned into a rock style with full electric guitar, just like a brand new martial arts kung fu punk action drama officially staged.I just wanted to complain: "Hey, I haven't heard of this before!"

By the way, if she hadn't defeated the female swordsman in red on the court before, she would have entered the battle as an enemy here (?).I complained, "Please say this in advance!" The staff just smiled embarrassedly.In short, no matter what, the battle with the female swordsman is ultimately unavoidable. It is indeed the right choice to solve her in advance.

After entering this form, although the seven-man team is no longer used to attack, the movements become more bizarre and complex.He will repeatedly pull and distance closer at high speed, and will use flying props to supplement the attack when leaving, and the overall battle shows a strong sense of turn.Every time you approach, fierce offensive and defensive alternation will be launched, which makes the fighting atmosphere completely different from the previous boss battles, and will not make people feel bored until the end.

The thoughts after the trial are, in one sentence, "Well, I really like them." To be honest, high-difficulty 3D action games are everywhere in the market.But even so, this work still shows its unique charm through its stylized action and Kung Fu Punk worldview.

I think there should be quite a lot of people who will be attracted to this setting, but not everyone is good at action games.It is highly commendable to be able to provide difficulty that can be enjoyed without tightening your nerves, the difficulty of passing the level by just trying hard to challenge, and the difficulty of experiencing rigorous battles.The elements of artistry, entertainment and comfort are fully integrated and sublimated here.

Since it is a trial version, the overall feeling is basically to advance along a straight level.However, the staff also added: "The official version will include scene exploration, item collection and other elements." This undoubtedly makes people look forward to the subsequent information disclosure.This is a truly exciting work.