Phantom Blade Zero promises at least 50 bosses: every fight unlocks a new weapon

With just a few weeks to go before Phantom Blade Zero hits PS5 and PC on October 29, S-Game has dropped a detail that will have any fan of demanding action games drooling: the game will feature at least 50 different bosses. That's according to Qiwei Liang, better known as Soulframe, the studio's founder and director, in an interview with Japanese outlet 4Gamer reported by Vandal. And keep an eye on this, because Liang himself leaves the door open for the final number to be even higher.

Why does it matter? Because in a genre where bosses are the heart of the experience, quantity does count, but what counts most is how it ties into progression. As the director explains, every weapon in the game is obtained by defeating a boss, which turns each encounter into more than just a difficulty wall: it's the key to expanding your combat repertoire. For anyone who lives for mastering mechanics, running speedruns or creating content, that's pure gold.

What you need to know

• Release date: October 29 on PS5 and PC.
• Bosses: at least 50, possibly more according to the director.
• Arsenal: 30 main weapons and around 20 secondary ones.
• Boss-driven progression: every weapon is earned by defeating them.
• Original source: Qiwei Liang (Soulframe)'s interview with 4Gamer, reported by Vandal, which also played the game for six hours in China.

One boss, one weapon: how progression works

The logic Liang lays out is simple and fairly elegant: if every weapon comes from a boss, the number of bosses has to be at least equal to the number of weapons. With 30 main weapons and around 20 secondary ones, the math adds up to those 50 fights as a baseline. Interestingly, in the same statement the director first mentions "more than 30 bosses" before arriving at the figure of 50, which suggests that either the studio itself hasn't locked in the final count or it distinguishes between different types of encounters. We'll have to wait for launch to find out the real number.

The context: one of the most anticipated action games of the year

Phantom Blade Zero has been building hype for a while thanks to trailers packed with lightning-fast combat and highly cinematic choreography. Vandal already got to play it for six hours on a trip to China and singled out the boss fights as one of its biggest strengths. This new detail fits that impression: S-Game is betting the entire game on making those duels memorable and varied, with challenges that, it promises, will grow more complex as you progress.

Our take

Here in the Underworld Lordz newsroom, we love the sound of this, but with a big asterisk. Fifty bosses is an ambitious number, and the history of the genre has taught us that quantity can backfire if it's padded out with recycled variants or enemies with inflated health bars. The key won't be how many there are, but how many feel unique. If S-Game manages to give every fight its own patterns and make you read your opponent, we'll be looking at something special.

From a competitive standpoint, tying every weapon to the bosses is a decision with a lot of potential. It opens the door to wildly different speedrun routes depending on which weapon you prioritize, to self-imposed challenges like "starting weapon only" and to endless debates about which build is the most broken. For content creators, 50 bosses means 50 guides, 50 "no-hit" videos and a huge catalog to keep a channel alive for months. That said, it could also be a double-edged sword: if an optional boss hides a key weapon, casual players could end up genuinely frustrated.

What we do take issue with is how vague the numbers are. Saying "more than 30" and "at least 50" in the same answer creates more noise than clarity just weeks before launch. We prefer studios that underpromise and overdeliver. Even so, the team's enthusiasm is contagious, and we'll be ready on October 29 to put it to the test, controller in hand.

What do you think?

Would you rather have a game with lots of bosses even if a few feel repetitive, or just a handful that are absolutely memorable? Are you sold on every weapon depending on beating them? Tell us where you stand in the team chat or drop by our Discord: are you picking up Phantom Blade Zero on day one, or waiting to see if those 50 bosses live up to the hype?