The long wait for phantom blade zero is finally over, and its lightning-fast combat completely lives up to the intense hype. Getting past the opening hour requires mastering the core defensive systems right away before the game throws you against major bosses.
I found out the hard way that button-mashing will get you punished instantly during the early training fights, especially when you encounter fast-moving opponents. This walkthrough covers everything you need to survive the opening forest duel, learn essential movement tricks, and understand the combat flow.
Before jumping in, make sure your controller inputs feel responsive, as parry timing makes or breaks your survival rate in these opening moments. You will find step-by-step breakdowns for every tutorial phase and boss encounter below.
We are kicking off our first walkthrough covering the opening chapter of the game.
This is part of our walkthrough hub for the game, so check back for more detailed chapters.
- The Opening Duel: The rainy forest confrontation between Soul and Zuo Shang.
- The Movement Tutorial: Traversing environmental obstacles as young Soul.
- The Combat Tutorial: Mastering Sha-Chi, power surges, and flash attacks.
- The Friendly Duel: Practicing parry timing against a younger Zuo Shang.
- The Present-Day Zuo Shang Fight: Surviving the dramatic flash-forward encounter.
- The Twist: Choosing between the Hollow Heart and the Tainted Heart.
The Opening Duel
The game opens in a rainy forest, showing two swordsmen engaged in a duel as their blades clash and they lock eyes. Soul, the protagonist, is fighting a mysterious figure named Zuo Shang.
After leaping backward, both fighters rush toward each other with a final thrust. Soul misses his attack, but Zuo Shang strikes true, stabbing Soul deep in the chest with enough force for the blade to pierce clean through his back.
The Movement Tutorial
Right after this scene, you will get a flashback to 16 years ago, where you take control of young Soul. He needs to make it to the grounds for his training.
Walk forward along the wooden flooring as you learn the basics of movement and how to traverse the environment. The path is pretty straightforward as you practice using the terrain to your advantage.
Eventually, you will reach the temple where your training is taking place. To your surprise, you will meet a younger version of Zuo Shang waiting for you. The two of you are friends, and he is training you.
When Soul asks about Shifu, who we can assume is their master, Zuo tells him that he is investigating the massacre in Wulin, so today it will be just the two of them.
The Combat Tutorial
During this sequence, you will learn how combat works in this game, so pay attention, as there are certain pieces of information that will be critical to helping you along the way.
Sha-Chi And Standard Combos
At the start, you will learn how to perform Sha-Chi Combos. Sha-Chi is the yellow bar just underneath your health, and you consume it by guarding and performing combos that involve heavy attacks.
Don’t think of this like stamina, as it is much more forgiving. The meter is quite generous, so even if you run out of Sha-Chi, it regenerates quickly.
Enemies also have their own Sha-Chi meter, and combat revolves around draining it to break their guard. The main ways to deplete this meter are Standard Combos, which use your basic attacks, and parrying.
Power Surge
If you look at the bottom-right corner of the screen, you will see a weapon icon and a purple meter that fills up as you perform attacks of any type. Once it is full, you can use what’s called Power Surge.
A Power Surge is a unique special ability that performs a combo attack, dealing a lot of damage and depleting both the enemy’s health bar and Sha-Chi. However, Power Surge still consumes your own Sha-Chi, so use it carefully.
Given how fast-paced combat is, you will have to be quick when switching between Standard and Sha-Chi Combos, using your Power Surge, and knowing when to parry or dodge away from enemy attacks.
Understanding Flash Attacks
One more thing to know about combat in this game is that enemies have two special attacks, each highlighted by a different color.
Blue-Flash Attacks
The first is the blue-flash attack. You can perfect parry it just before the attack lands, causing the enemy to stagger.
You will then perform a Shadow Quickstep behind the enemy, leaving you in a position to perform a combo.
Red-Flash Attacks
The second is the red-flash attack. You can perfect dodge it just before the attack lands, then perform a Shadow Quickstep to get behind the enemy, where they are most vulnerable.
These are important mechanics to remember, as you will need them throughout the whole game. Even basic enemies have these attacks, so they are not exclusive to bosses. Of course, they are more useful against bosses, so make sure you remember them.
The Friendly Duel Against Zuo Shang
After the training session, you will have a chance to practice everything you have learned in a friendly boss fight against Zuo Shang.
He will perform sword combos alongside blue and red-flash attacks, so don’t be afraid. Practice parrying, dodging, guarding, and performing your combos while fighting him.
Remember that parrying is much better than dodging in this game, so it’s best to start adapting and learning the timing now.
Don’t worry about getting hit too often, as Soul receives passive, continuous healing, so go wild.
The Present-Day Zuo Shang Fight
After the friendly duel, Soul is enveloped by red energy, which staggers him and forces him down onto his knees as he starts screaming.
This triggers another transition to a cutscene, where you will be fighting the present-day Zuo Shang.
This is going to be an epic boss fight where you can practice more of what you have learned and get a sneak peek at what to expect from boss fights in this game.
You still receive passive, continuous healing here, and you won’t win because we’ve already seen what happens to Soul.
You only need to reduce Zuo Shang’s health bar to a very low level, so just try to have fun and enjoy the good music.
After the flashback concludes, the scene transitions back to the opening sequence, where Zuo Shang stabs Soul.
The Twist: Choosing A Heart
We see the Flesh Sculptor emerge from the shadows, offering Soul a choice to save him while holding two hearts.
The Hollow Heart will restore Soul’s heart but strip away all emotion and desire. The Tainted Heart, on the other hand, will work normally and keep Soul alive, but after 66 days, it will claim his life and he will die.
Soul makes the courageous choice and picks the Tainted Heart, which the Flesh Sculptor seems to have predicted.
Keep parrying enemy attacks early on to build up muscle memory for the harder encounters ahead.
Explore additional walkthroughs through the links below.
Staff writer covering action games, boss guides, and character builds.