Phantom Blade Zero and Rainblood: How the Games Are Connected

Yes, you can start with Phantom Blade Zero. You don't need to play the older Rainblood games first. The developer has said that knowing the earlier backstory "is not a necessity to begin playing PBZ." He also calls Phantom Blade Zero a spiritual rebirth of Rainblood: it keeps the world and some familiar names, but tells a new story.

The rest of this page explains what that means, what the earlier games are, and why a familiar name doesn't tell you where a character's story goes. It contains no plot details from Phantom Blade Zero or the older games' endings.

Can you start with Phantom Blade Zero?

In a February 2024 interview with eXputer, Soulframe Liang, the game's director and the head of S-GAME, was asked whether Phantom Blade Zero's story picks up directly from a duel shown in the studio's Year of the Dragon animation, which he described as "a fast flashback of Rainblood." He said yes: after that duel the two main characters go different ways, and that is where Phantom Blade Zero begins. Then he added:

"But knowing this backstory is not a necessity to begin playing PBZ."

So the older material gives extra context, but the game is designed to stand on its own. If you enjoy Phantom Blade Zero and want more, the earlier games are an interesting look at where the world began. They aren't homework.

The developer was talking about the backstory in general, not giving a ruling on each older game. Our advice to start with Phantom Blade Zero is based on that statement.

What “spiritual rebirth” means here

Early coverage sometimes called Phantom Blade Zero a Rainblood remake. The director corrected that directly:

"Phantom Blade Zero is a spiritual rebirth, not a straight remake such as Final Fantasy 7 remake or Resident Evil 4."

A straight remake rebuilds an existing game's story scene by scene. A spiritual rebirth goes back to the original's setting and spirit and builds something new on it. In the same interview he explained that since Rainblood's release, the studio had expanded its setting "into a big fantasy world."

Both things are true at once: the games are connected, and Phantom Blade Zero's plot is not a retelling of Rainblood's.

Where Rainblood and Mirage fit

You don't need a full timeline to get started, but it helps to know what the older titles are.

A note on the year. You'll see both 2008 and 2010 for the original Rainblood, and both come from the developer. In the 2024 interview he refers to "the release of Rainblood in 2008" and says the game went global in 2010. His 2023 PlayStation Blog post says he made it "back in 2010," and his October 2026 launch letter says he finished it "twenty years ago," while still a student. The most likely reading is that 2008 marks the original Chinese release and 2010 the international one. If someone quotes a single date, ask which release they mean.

This is not a complete franchise history. There are other Rainblood and Phantom Blade titles, including mobile games, that we haven't verified yet, so we haven't listed them.

Why familiar names do not settle the story

Players who know the older games sometimes predict Phantom Blade Zero's story from them: who a character will turn out to be, or who the final enemy must be. Be careful with that.

• The developer describes Phantom Blade Zero as a new story that keeps the world and main characters. It isn't a replay of earlier plots.
• Mirage already featured a Soul and a Shang Zuo. That shows the names have history. It doesn't show that Phantom Blade Zero's characters go through the same events or reach the same fate.
• The reverse is just as unproven. "Everyone is completely different from before" isn't something the developer has said either.

The safe approach is to let Phantom Blade Zero tell its own story. If you've played the older games, treat what you remember as background, not a guide to what happens next.

The short version

• Do you need to play Rainblood first? No. The developer says the backstory isn't necessary.
• Is it a remake? No. It's a "spiritual rebirth" with a new story.
• Is it a prequel? The developer has said the story starts after events shown in the Year of the Dragon animation, but none of the sources we've checked call it a prequel to any particular game.
• Can you guess the plot from the old games? Not reliably, and doing so risks spoiling yourself on guesses.

New to the setting? Start with the spoiler-free story guide, and keep the Glossary open for terms like Wulin and xiake.