With Phantom Blade Zero now available for several days, attention has turned to how challenging the game feels. Difficulty has been a point of discussion since its announcement, when some observers wondered whether it would be a punishing Soulslike.
Developer S-GAME has said the game is not in the same category as FromSoftware’s action RPGs. It includes difficulty settings, and players do not lose resources when they die, making its overall structure relatively forgiving.
The main test comes from combat, which can require precise defensive timing and an understanding of opponents. Phantom Blade Zero is not described as brutally difficult outside its hardest Hellwalker setting, but that does not necessarily make it easy to finish.
Sources: Push Square.