Gaming

Phantom Blade 0 makes you feel like a total badass

Fun, engaging hack and slash game

Published

August 24, 2025

Difficulty: Gamechanger (Normal). Time played: 1:07:04. Death count: 13. Those were the numbers I tallied at the end of my hands-on session playing Phantom Blade 0 at gamescom 2025 in Cologne, Germany.

The demo at gamescom 2025 gives you a pretty extensive impression of how the game’s combat looks and feels. Which is great because it looks like Phantom Blade 0 is placing most of its bets on its prowess as a hack and slasher.

Controls

If you have any experience at all with action games, this should be relatively easy to pick-up. We played on the PlayStation 5 Pro so these are the controls I’ll reference.

Square and Triangle are your primary and secondary attack buttons. Cross or X is, per usual, the jump button, and Circle lets you dodge. Pressing Circle and then using L3 will let you determine the direction of your dodge.

Holding L1 lets you block while pressing it at the right moment lets you parry attacks. L2 becomes available once you’ve filled up the gauge of your main weapon. L2 unleashes your special attack.

R1 lets you interact with your environment. I mostly remember using it to scale and run along walls . R2, meanwhile, triggers the use of your equipped secondary weapon.

You essentially carry four weapons in combat. There are two slots each for your main and secondary weapons. You can switch them out any time during combat using the left directional button for the main weapon and the right directional button for the secondary weapon.

The down directional button lets you consume items. For this demo, it was used for healing.

Combat

What carried this whole experience is how polished and engaging the combat felt. Not once will you feel like you don’t have the tools to win despite facing off with multiple enemies at certain points in the demo.

There are certain combinations of Square and Triangle for specific combos. But I’m gonna be honest with you, during the first 15 minutes, I was mostly button mashing and was still getting stylish results.

After beating down enemies, a Triangle button appears that lets you execute finishers. These look absolutely striking and differ depending on the weapon you have equipped. And while it can be interrupted to start, once you’re in the middle of it, you’re practically invincible.

If you deal enough damage to multiple enemies, you can chain these finishers from one enemy to another for an even higher level of badassery finishes.

Boss encounters

It wasn’t until the first boss encounter that I actually locked in and became more mindful of when I block, dodge, and parry. Most of my 13 death counts also happened here.

It wasn’t particularly difficult to read the boss’s patterns. My elder millennial reflexes just couldn’t keep up. It took plenty of tries, but with the encouragement of my play guide, Luke (shoutout to Luke, he was great company during the playthrough), I finally bested the first boss encounter of the demo.

It took a few tries of learning his patterns and properly timing my blocks, dodges, and parries, along with changing up my loadout to best deal with the boss battle.

So, while you can get away with button mashing through the fodder throughout the game, the boss battles will test both your reflexes and strategically figuring out your windows to attack.

After that there were a couple more mini-boss encounters, which I surprisingly dealt with in one go, before the final boss of the demo – the Seven Judgments. It’s the boss battle featured in the Year of the Snake trailer that looked absolutely difficult to deal with.

At this point though, I was already locked in and only died once. Still, it was a challenging, engaging, and extremely fun boss encounter.

Watch it play out here:

Release date and more game details

I tried pressing but as of now, the folks over at S-Game still aren’t ready to disclose any potential release window for the game. We’re just gonna have to wait.

The demo itself showed the potential for some of your usual exploration and mini-puzzle solving. But bear in mind that this is mostly a linear hack and slash game most similar to the likes of Ninja Gaiden.

Hack and slash at its finest

I know it was only an hour of gameplay, but it was more than enough to get me looking forward to seeing more of what Phantom Blade 0 has to offer. I’m 100% certain more depth will be added to the combat and it will be an overall fun and flow-state-inducing experience once it fully releases.

Related Topics:Phantom Blade 0 PlayStation PlayStation 5 S-Game

Gaming

Tides of Annihilation opens first public demo at Gamescom 2026

First hands-on

Published

August 6, 2026

Leez

Tides of Annihilation will make its public playable debut at Gamescom 2026.

Developer Eclipse Glow Games announced that attendees can try an extended demo of the upcoming action-adventure game during the event in Cologne, Germany. Players can find the demo at Hall 6, Booth B-050 inside Koelnmesse.

The studio will also reveal a new trailer during Gamescom Opening Night Live on August 25, before the show floor opens.

Demo offers more exploration and combat

The Gamescom demo gives players a longer look at Tides of Annihilation. It features branching paths that lead to different exploration routes and combat encounters. Players can also explore key locations and experience several of the game’s biggest set pieces.

“Gamescom will be an incredibly important moment for our team since this will be our first global playtest and we’re excited to see how first-time players experience our game,” said Ary Chen, Game Director and Co-CEO of Eclipse Glow Games.

“The team has poured heart, soul, and maybe even a few tears into developing the game over the last few years, and it’s finally our opportunity to share it with players. We’re looking forward to seeing their reaction.”

Members of the press and content creators can also schedule private hands-on sessions with the development team during the event.

Arthurian-inspired adventure

Tides of Annihilation blends fast-paced action with a Neo-Medieval vision of modern London. The story follows Gwendolyn after an Outworld invasion leaves the city in ruins.

Driven by a mission to save her sister, she travels between a shattered London and the mythical realm of Avalon. Along the way, she uncovers the mystery behind her newfound powers. She must also decide the fate of reality itself.

Eclipse Glow Games is developing Tides of Annihilation for PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.

Gaming

Street Fighter 6 adds first Filipino fighter Yasmine to its roster

Eskrima fighter joins battle

Published

August 6, 2026

Rodneil Quiteles

Street Fighter 6 has officially welcomed Yasmine, making history as the first Filipino martial artist to join the franchise’s playable roster. The new character is now available across PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2 as part of the game’s Year 4 content.

Yasmine practices Eskrima, having learned the Filipino martial art alongside her older brother under their grandfather’s guidance. She wields Karambit knives in battle and embarks on a journey to find her missing brother.

Players can access Yasmine by purchasing the Year 4 Character Pass or Year 4 Ultimate Pass. Her default outfit features traditional Eskrima-inspired combat attire, while a school uniform serves as her second costume. In combat, she specializes in fast, aggressive attacks that build toward an enhanced Bayani Mode.

Yasmine is the first of four Year 4 fighters, followed by Arjun, Tifa from the Final Fantasy VII Remake series, and Bosch. Her release also arrives alongside battle balance adjustments affecting the entire roster.

Onimusha crossover arrives this week

Capcom also announced a limited-time collaboration between Street Fighter 6 and Onimusha. Running from August 7 to August 31, 2026, the event introduces Oni EX character colors, themed Battle Hub decorations, avatar items, and additional rewards for players who log in during the event.

The update also adds new Avatar Arcade courses, additional ending scenes, a Frame Meter option for Avatar Random Match, and refreshed Master ACT rewards.

Philippine launch event set for August 9

Capcom will celebrate Yasmine’s debut with an official Philippine community launch event on Sunday, August 9, at Salud! by Primera Bar & Restaurant in Palanan, Makati. The event runs from 2:00 PM to 9:00 PM and features a double-elimination tournament, gameplay showcases, giveaways, and community activities.

Attendees can also receive limited-edition Yasmine merchandise, including event T-shirts, lanyards, and collectible keychains while supplies last. Special guests and cosplayers are also scheduled to appear. Admission will be on a first-come, first-served basis and is subject to venue capacity.

Gaming

Gangstar Mirage City launches on August 20 with SEA localization

Join a faction now for a chance to win rewards

Published

August 5, 2026

GadgetMatch

Gangstar Mirage City is set for a full regional launch on August 20, with localization for the Southeast Asia region.

Published by Level Infinite, the free-to-play multiplayer, urban, open-world action game is available for download on iOS and Android.

The full regional release features an expanded open world, a new PvP Arena mode, and local languages.

In Gangstar Mirage City, players can team up for up to 4-man co-op heists, drive powerful vehicles, customize their arsenal, build an empire, and fight for control of Rooklyn City.

Players can register on gangstarmiragecity.com for in-game rewards.

In Southeast Asia, players can also register as a member of their respective local faction and get an exclusive in-game Avatar to represent their loyalty:

Philippines: Manila Brigade
Indonesia: War Kanda
Malaysia: Taiko Tedung
Thailand: SIAM APEX

Factions will be ranked based on how many players join and support them. The winning faction will enable all members to get 300 Diamonds, sent directly to their accounts.

Meanwhile, all players, including those who already began their journey in Rooklyn City with the soft launch last July, are invited to join the Global Vault Heist.

Reaching the final Registration Milestone will unlock the Full Tilt Vehicle Pack. These are the rewards up for grabs per milestone: