Is Phantom Blade Zero a Soulslike? Difficulty Modes Explained

Quick answer

Partly. It borrows Soulslike structure: bell checkpoints, interconnected regions and demanding bosses. But combat is faster and combo-driven, and you choose your difficulty. Wayfarer is the easiest mode, Pathbreaker is standard, Hellwalker makes enemies smarter, and Sixty-Six Days (unlocked after one clear) caps you at 66 deaths.

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Is Phantom Blade Zero a Soulslike?

It sits between a Soulslike and a character-action game like Devil May Cry. Here's what it shares with Soulslikes and where it differs, based on what the developer and hands-on coverage describe:

	Soulslike trait	Phantom Blade Zero
Checkpoints	Bonfires / sites of grace	Bells act as checkpoints and fast-travel points
World	Interconnected areas, shortcuts	Semi-open regions joined seamlessly, with some areas opened by Phantom Edges
Bosses	Hard, pattern-based bosses	Many multi-phase bosses; on higher difficulties they adapt to how you play
Combat pace	Deliberate, stamina-limited	Fast and combo-driven: two main weapons swapped mid-combo, Power Surge finishers
Defense	Block / dodge / parry with stamina	Block, dodge and parry around the Sha-Chi meter. Blocking drains it; parrying wears down the enemy's
Difficulty	Usually fixed	Selectable, from an accessible story mode to a 66-death challenge run

In short, the structure and the bosses will feel familiar to Soulslike fans, but the moment-to-moment fighting is quicker and flashier, and you can pick how hard it is.

Soul's blade clashes with an armored boss under red lanterns — A parry against a boss. Parries and dodges wear down the enemy's Sha-Chi.Official screenshot © S-GAME

Difficulty modes at a glance

The game ships with four modes. The August 2026 developer overview named three (Wayfarer, Hellwalker and Sixty-Six Days). The released game also includes Pathbreaker as the standard setting.

Mode	Who it's for	What changes	Available
Wayfarer	Story-first players	Less aggressive enemies and simpler boss patterns	From the start
Pathbreaker	Most players	The standard balance. Bosses use set combos you learn over repeated attempts	From the start
Hellwalker	Experienced action players	Smarter enemies that react to your spacing, bait parries and counter repeated moves. Reportedly a tighter parry window and slightly more damage taken	From the start (per launch coverage)
Sixty-Six Days	Challenge runners	Hellwalker-level AI with a hard limit of 66 deaths across the run	After finishing the game once

The director has said harder modes don't just inflate health bars: "We don't just change the stats. We change the AI and enemy behavior trees."

Which difficulty should you pick?

Want the story and the spectacle? Pick Wayfarer. The developer describes it as built for players who mainly want the story, and it still uses the full combat system.
Played a few action games before? Pick Pathbreaker. It's the intended experience and the best default.
Cleared Sekiro or high-level Devil May Cry? Try Hellwalker from the start, but expect bosses that punish repeated tricks.
Finished the game and want a test? That's when Sixty-Six Days unlocks.

Save before switching down

Preview builds suggested that dropping to Wayfarer mid-game could lock that save to Wayfarer, though other outlets saw no lock. S-GAME hasn't clarified this. Until it does, make a backup save before lowering the difficulty.

How Sixty-Six Days works

Sixty-Six Days takes its name from Soul's story deadline: the cure keeping him alive lasts 66 days. As a mode, it works like this, according to the director and hands-on reports:

It uses Hellwalker's enemy AI.
You get 66 deaths in total for the whole run.
It runs on its own save file, so your main save is untouched.
It reportedly saves only at bells, and reaching zero ends the run for good.
It unlocks after one clear. Previews disagree on whether the clear must be on a particular difficulty.

The story's 66 days and this mode are separate things. On normal difficulties the 66 days are part of the story, not a countdown you can run out of. See the spoiler-free story guide.

Does difficulty affect achievements?

The director has said most players should be able to earn every achievement in one run on any difficulty. None of the 66 Steam achievements mention a difficulty mode. See the full achievement list.

Tips that help on every difficulty

Parry, don't turtle. Blocking drains your Sha-Chi; perfect parries drain the enemy's.
Spend Sha-Chi Essence. Landing hits fills it. A full bar unlocks a Power Surge (L2 on PS5) that interrupts enemy attacks.
Mix your two main weapons. Swapping mid-combo is where most of the damage comes from. See the weapons guide.
Use your Phantom Edges. They have limited uses but hit hard, and some open new paths.
Collect Memory Flowers. Finishing a story's set of flowers raises Soul's maximum health.