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The deepest, most stylish mobile action game - Phantom Blade: Executioners Quick First Impressions

4K View2023-06-30

PLAY IT OR SKIP IT?

Absolutely play it. Phantom Blade: Executioners is a flashy action game that mixes the best elements of classic side-scrolling 2D brawlers—think Streets of Rage and Golden Axe—with a deep yet approachable combo-based fighting system that feels like something out of Devil May Cry. The result is a brilliantly fun, bite-sized title that’s worth some time even if you’re tired of gacha games.

TIME PLAYED

I’ve spent around six hours with the final beta for Phantom Blade: Executioners. Though I tried out each of the game’s four currently playable characters, I spent most of my time with Zuo Shang, a fast-moving swordfighter who can send his enemies flying into the air. I completed the first “case” in the game and explored a lot of sidequests, alternate difficulty routes through levels, and character progression content.

WHAT’S AWESOME

• Martial arts action. Phantom Blade: Executioners strikes the perfect balance between the ease required for a mobile game and the depth desired by more hardcore players. Combat is slick and responsive, even with touch controls, and if you’re less confident in your skills, you can turn on an option for the game to automatically perform combo strings for you. Getting the timing right on your own will always do more damage and be more satisfying, though.

• Customization. Part of the thanks to Executioners’ depth is due to the game’s excellent fully customizable combo system. Each character has twenty or so different skills that can be learned as they level up and then upgraded further from there. Then there are two primary combo strings that learned skills can be equipped to, with the combo strings growing as you level as well. Which skills are equipped and at what point in a combo sequence will play a huge part in determining the combos overall effectiveness. For example, I discovered that opening a combo with the Rising Dragon attack to knock an enemy into the air was great, but I couldn’t immediately follow up with the Falling Star ground smash skill or I might miss the opponent while they’re still floating in the air.

I loved playing with these combos and thinking carefully about what to equip. And beyond just equipping abilities, I was also able to modify them using “memories” from ancient martial artists. This is where the game’s gacha system comes into place, and while I’d prefer unlocking memories in a more natural way, I appreciated the extra shot of strategizing they added, allowing me to increase my attack damage, tankiness, or other stats as needed.

• Intriguing world. Story is rarely the main pull for me in a mobile game, but I will say that Phantom Blade: Executioners’ plot at least held my attention. The playable characters here are all members of a mysterious group called the Organization that fights back against supernatural forces in a world that blends fantasy, steampunk, and martial arts mysticism. It’s a setting unlike anything I’ve experienced before, and I also really liked how the story is presented as a series of “cases” that you must investigate to figure out what is causing problems across the land. Even sidequests play into your role as part of the Organization and your attempts to cleanse the world of evil.

• Gorgeous style. In addition to a unique setting and tone, Phantom Blade: Executioners just looks beautiful. It has a smooth hand-painted look that feels like it would fit just as well in a picture book of Chinese mythology. The larger character art used during dialogue scenes was also wonderful, with an incredible level of detail for even minor NPCs.

• Preparing for the future. If Phantom Blade sounds familiar to you, that may be because Executioners developer S-Game recently surprised gamers with the announcement of Phantom Blade Zero, a PlayStation 5- and PC-only spin-off of this mobile series. If you haven’t had a chance yet, be sure to check out the Phantom Blade Zero announcement trailer right here. Zero looks absolutely stunning, and I cannot wait to explore this fascinating world in a full 3D, triple-A experience. Executioners should provide a great, smaller-scale free-to-play introduction.

WHAT NEEDS IMPROVEMENT

• Some unclear tutorializing. As a fairly complex mobile game, Phantom Blade: Executioners has a lot of tutorials to work through. For the most part, I felt like I got a good grasp of what was going on in the game by playing through all these. However, there were still moments where I didn’t fully understand a system or felt like the game wasn’t clearly explaining what I needed to know. Most notably, sometimes before starting a level or entering an area, the game would provide a warning about what was ahead, but I couldn’t figure out if those were telling me I needed to level up more or if it was just for dramatic effect.

• Gacha stuff. I’ll need to wait and see how Phantom Blade: Executioners handles its gacha elements at launch, but I will say that in my time with the beta, I felt like free gacha pulls were very slow and difficult to come by. Moreover, since the gacha system is just pulling in “memories” that modify skills, they feel less exciting than, for example, pulling characters in other games. As long as the game doesn’t become impossible to progress without spending money on gacha pulls, this system isn’t a deal-breaker for me, but I know some folks are going to be annoyed by it either way.

💬 Are you ready to embrace the stylish kungfupunk of Phantom Blade: Executioners, or are you going to hold out for the franchise's PlayStation debut? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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Comments

Jonny Cream

Recommend playing on phone? I see executioners is on steams store too

2023-07-06

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Kef Author

I only played on phone and it worked great! I think it could work on PC or consoles too but it's definitely structured for those quick play sessions on phone.

2023-07-06

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