Phantom Blade Zero’s director has revealed that your actions of honor in side quests can influence the main quests.
S-Game’s upcoming Wuxia-based action RPG, Phantom Blade Zero, is all set to release in September 2026 for PlayStation 5 and PC. Ahead of the release, the developers have revealed only a few details about the game, such as that the boss can analyze and adapt to different situations. Now, we have been informed about one of the other systems of the game.
Phantom Blade Zero Side Quest Actions Will Influence the Main Story
During a recent interview, S-Game CEO and creator of Phantom Blade Zero, Soulframe Liang (aka Qiwei Liang), was discussing the game’s Wuxia elements when the term “actions of honor” was mentioned. The CEO first spoke about breaking it down into two aspects, ‘Wu’ and ‘Xia’. Wu is an external expression that is manifested through martial arts combat. To implement this, the developers have visited numerous martial arts schools, explored options, and drawn inspiration from classic Wuxia films.
On the other hand, the ‘Xia’ aspect is considered more important to developers, as it refers to the ‘interior.’ The essence of Xia is that even when the character is in the worst situation imaginable, they will be thinking about others, Liang explained.
The director then discussed how they will bring the spirit of ‘Xia’ in Phantom Blade Zero’s gameplay, which led to the discussion about the honor system. Liang spoke about the main quests and side quests in ARPGs and RPGs, stating that main quests are for facing your own conflicts, while side quests have players encountering strangers by chance, and those characters have their own stories, and the player is just a passerby.
However, helping others can create a butterfly effect, Liang stated. He explained that when the player acts with honor, they “might actually influence” the main questline and their “own story of vengeance and love”. The developer emphasized that as long as the player acts according to their “code of honor” and does the “right things”, they will discover that their actions will have “a bigger, more macroscopic impact.”
In other news, S-GAME, the studio behind Phantom Blade Zero, has spoken out against the use of artificial intelligence in game development. What are your thoughts on Phantom Blade Zero featuring an honor system that affects the main questline? Leave your thoughts down in the comments, and join the official Insider Gaming Discord server.
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