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

Valve unveils price of the Steam Frame

The VR headset starts at US$ 1,059.

Published

September 15, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

The trifecta is complete. Almost a year after announcing their new hardware, Valve has finally unveiled the price tag of the Steam Frame, complementing the Steam Machine and Steam Controller revealed a few months ago.

Whereas the Steam Machine is a console of its own, the Steam Frame is a traditional VR headset with a pair of controllers for both hands. Unfortunately, despite being in a different segment, the headset is not immune to the rising prices of technology. The Steam Frame will start at US$ 1,059 for a 256GB model and can go up to US$ 1,299 for the 1TB model. On the plus side, each box will come Half-Life: Alyx packaged along with the headset.

Here’s a more detailed rundown of what you’re getting. The Steam Frame will ship with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, paired with 16GB of RAM. Each eye comes with a 2160 x 2160 LCD screen, putting out images at up t0 a 144Hz experimental refresh rate. As mentioned above, the headset will start with 256GB of storage but can go up to 2TB. It will come packaged with SteamOS 3 and a rechargeable 21.6Wh battery.

This might be a hard buy for some. The industry currently has more affordable options, for one. Also, virtual reality isn’t the most thriving segment of gaming today.

If you’re still decided on buying one, however, Valve is using its lottery system. Interested customers can sign up from now until September 17. The company will then randomize the purchasing order. Those who draw the first ones in the lottery can get a purchase email as soon as September 18. Meanwhile, anyone who registers after September 17 will automatically be put at the back of the queue.

Gaming

BlizzCon 2026 announces World of Warcraft: Forever and Diablo V

StarCraft, Overwatch, Hearthstone, and more also get news

Published

September 14, 2026

GadgetMatch

Blizzard Entertainment kicked off BlizzCon 2026 with a packed Opening Ceremony featuring new games, major expansions, updates, and other announcements across its biggest franchises.

Blizzard Entertainment President Johanna Faries opened the event at the Anaheim Convention Center, celebrating the community behind the company’s games and the teams that bring its worlds to life.

World of Warcraft: Forever and Diablo V

The biggest announcement was World of Warcraft: Forever, a new World of Warcraft experience launching November 5 AEDT, with its beta beginning September 18 AEST. The new experience will feature three zones, more than 1,000 quests, nine dungeons, two raids, and a new Skyborne race.

Blizzard also officially announced Diablo V, marking the next era of the franchise. The game is set to launch in North America in Spring 2029, with Sanctuary having fallen and Diablo having won.

StarCraft is also returning with a new story-driven, open-world shooter. The game is currently planned for a Spring 2030 release in North America.

Beyond games, Blizzard revealed that an animated series set in the Diablo universe is in development with Netflix. The company says this is only the beginning of its plans to expand its universes beyond gaming.

For Warcraft III Reforged, the new Forsaken Kingdom campaign is available today. It marks the Warcraft RTS series’ first new storyline in more than 23 years and explores the fall of Lordaeron and the origins of the Undercity. The accompanying 3.0 update also brings graphical improvements and a revamped World Editor.

Heroes of the Storm is adding Xal’atath as its newest Hero. She arrives in the Nexus on September 29 AEST, with her PTR release scheduled for September 15 AEST.

Existing games updates

Meanwhile, Diablo IV is preparing for its next major content drop. Season of Hell’s Legacy begins September 16 AEST and celebrates the franchise’s 30-year history with the return of the Prime Evils and Deckard Cain, alongside themed rewards and gear.

The legendary Amazon class will also arrive in the first half of 2027 as part of Diablo IV’s first class pack. The Diablo IV: Age of Hatred Collection is additionally coming to Nintendo Switch 2 on September 16 AEST with cross-platform play and cross-progression.

For World of Warcraft, Blizzard teased the next major update for Midnight. Eclipse (12.2) will see Xal’atath move closer to her goal of claiming Azeroth’s Worldsoul. Blizzard also offered another look at The Last Titan, the next expansion in the Worldsoul Saga and a major culmination of more than two decades of Warcraft storytelling. More information is coming early next year.

Overwatch is getting a major update with Season 5. The season introduces new Support Hero Doctrine, reworks for Sombra and Roadhog, and the new Watchpoint: Grimsvötn map. It will also conclude The Reign of Talon, Overwatch’s first year-long narrative arc.

LE SSERAFIM & YOASABI

BlizzCon also featured performances from YOASOBI and LE SSERAFIM. YOASOBI will perform during the first-ever esports halftime show at BlizzCon, while LE SSERAFIM will return to the Main Stage to close the weekend. A new LE SSERAFIM in-game collaboration is available now, with another Overwatch Spotlight scheduled for February 2027.

Finally, Hearthstone is getting its first new class in more than six years. The Monk arrives in 2027, while the upcoming Reign of the Black Empire expansion takes players back to the earliest age of Azeroth. It introduces the Assemble keyword, which combines two cards into a new one. Battlegrounds is also adding Aberrations as a new minion type.

BlizzCon 2026 is now underway, with Blizzard promising more announcements and details throughout the weekend.

Gaming

Just Dance: Decades of Hits to launch on October 13

All-new Just Dance experience that brings every generation together

Published

September 12, 2026

GadgetMatch

Just Dance: Decades of Hits will launch on modern consoles on October 13, Ubisoft has announced.

This will offer fans of the franchise a new experience across eras of music. The game will be available on PlayStation5 , Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch on the launch date.

Nintendo Switch 2 users, meanwhile, will be able to enjoy the title by November 10, 2026.

Just Dance: Decades of Hits brings together every generation to one dance floor with 25 iconic songs across six different decades:

Mamma Mia by ABBA
Uptown Girl by Billy Joel
It’s Tricky by Run-DMC
No Scrubs by TLC
Wannabe by Spice Girls
Bye Bye Bye by *NSYNC
Feel Good Inc. by Gorillaz
Turn Down for What by DJ Snake and Lil Jon
Danza Kuduro by Don Omar feat. Lucenzo
Manchild by Sabrina Carpenter
NUEVAYoL by Bad Bunny
And more!

Bringing every generation together

Songs, visuals, and an all-new Adventure Mode are all designed to immerse players in the spirit that made each decade unforgettable.

From the funky ’70s disco floors and the electrifying ’80s rock scene to the glossy 2000s pop and beyond, travel through time and share the joy of rediscovering iconic moments with friends and family.

In Adventure Mode, follow Lyra, Dr. Gigavolt’s daughter, in a playful journey through time to rescue her father.

Explore the decades through six themed worlds, enjoy fun mini activities, and unlock exclusive rewards.

For unpredictable, chaotic fun where the rules change every round, players can jump into Party Mode. Or they can get moving with the Workout Mode, which tracks calories burned with each dance.

Up to six players can dance locally in the game, with no extra accessories needed.

In addition those who own Just Dance: Decades of Hits as well as Just Dance 2023-2026 editions will be able access all their songs in one place on the same console without having to switch games or separate menus.

This also includes songs from purchased Music Packs and songs available through an active Just Dance+ subscription.