Phantom Blade Zero and Silver Pines Are New Cinematic Adventures

A martial arts fighter with just 66 days of life left seeks vengeance across eight distinct maps filled with side quests, treasure, and secrets in Phantom Blade Zero, The Week US reported.

The latest game from the Chinese studio S-Game plays like something straight out of a wuxia epic, according to IGN critic Travis Northup.

Precise parry-and-dodge mechanics accompany a system of upgrades that roll out so smoothly you slip into them like a tailored set of flowing wuxia robes. Northup noted that across 50 hours of playing time, there were few moments when he wasn’t absolutely thrilled, despite occasional performance issues.

The game “plays like something straight out of a wuxia epic,” said IGN critic Travis Northup.

In every smile-inducing fight, the player and foes use blocks, lunges, dodges, and violently flamboyant strikes, GamesRadar+ writer Luke Kemp reported. That flow stems partly from the motion-capture contributions of Donnie Yen, a legend of kung fu cinema.

The action unfolds in a setting that subtly fuses supernatural horror, Chinese mythology, and a hint of the modern world. Players battle all manner of beast and badass as the clock ticks down toward the protagonist’s final days.

Private eye Red Walker tracks down a missing musician in a fog-veiled deserted town filled with fizzing neon signs in the survival horror game Silver Pines, The Week US reported. Developed by a Scandinavian studio, the game could easily pass for a lost David Lynch movie from the 1990s, Guardian critic Keith Stuart reported.

Like a Lynch sleuth, Red energizes by guzzling black coffee while exploring buildings and locations loaded with detail. While some gameplay feels incredibly familiar, this homage to neo-noir stands apart from other point-and-click adventures through its brilliant sense of style and wonderfully constructed mythology.

Every moment spent in Silver Pines felt delightfully eerie and meaningful, Dualshockers writer Stephanie Watel reported. Players eventually do battle with otherworldly monsters, but the title excels most at imbuing users with that compelling urge to discover what is in the next room.

Solving certain puzzles requires substantial running around, but Silver Pines is so mesmerizing to look at that testers honestly did not mind. The setting combines neo-noir aesthetics with point-and-click mechanics to create a distinct atmospheric horror experience.