S-Game Explores Combat Variety with 30 Distinct Weapons
Creating a diverse and engaging combat system is one of the most demanding tasks in modern action game development. For S-Game, the studio behind the upcoming title Phantom Blade Zero, offering players a wide selection of combat choices was clearly a top priority. In a recent visit to the developer's studio in Beijing, outlet PCGamesN sat down with the director of Phantom Blade Zero to discuss how the team is managing the game's substantial collection of 30 weapons.
Offering 30 weapons provides players with a vast array of choices, but it also creates a complex design challenge for developers. Every weapon introduced into an action game brings its own pacing, rhythm, and tactical potential. Fine-tuning an arsenal of that scale requires significant effort, especially when determining how each piece of equipment interacts with enemies and overall game flow.
Why 100% Weapon Balance Isn't the Ultimate Goal
During the conversation, the director of Phantom Blade Zero offered a surprisingly candid view on how S-Game approached the tuning process across its 30 weapons. Specifically, the director expressed relief and happiness that the team "didn't have to make everything 100% balanced."
In many modern action games, strict balance can sometimes become a double-edged sword. When developers strive for total mathematical equilibrium across an entire arsenal, weapons risk losing their unique identity. Overly precise balancing can cause different gear options to feel homogenized, smoothing out the extreme strengths or quirky weaknesses that make certain items memorable or satisfying to wield.
By stepping away from the requirement of absolute 100% balance, S-Game appears to have prioritized fun, distinctiveness, and variety over rigid mechanical parity. This freedom allows individual weapons among the 30 available to occupy specific niches, offer unusual combat advantages, or simply serve as expressive tools for different player preferences.
Inside the Beijing Studio Visit
The opportunity to speak directly with S-Game's director at their Beijing headquarters provided valuable insight into how the studio views player experience versus strict statistical tuning. Crafting 30 weapons without the burden of forcing absolute parity across every single item gives the team space to experiment with distinct mechanics across their full weapon lineup.
Rather than obsessing over whether every weapon deals identical long-term damage or fits into a symmetrical design template, the studio was able to focus on how each weapon feels in practice. Balancing an arsenal of 30 weapons remains a crucial part of development, but S-Game's willingness to embrace a degree of inherent asymmetry highlights a practical, gameplay-first mindset.
A Practical Approach to Action Game Design
The director's comments shed light on a broader conversation within game design regarding the role of weapon balance. While competitive environments demand strict balance to maintain fairness, action games often benefit when certain weapons possess powerful quirks or distinct situational advantages.
S-Game's experience working on Phantom Blade Zero demonstrates that managing a large 30-weapon arsenal does not require stripping away identity in pursuit of perfect balance. As development progresses in Beijing, the studio's choice to avoid rigid 100% balancing could prove to be a defining factor in shaping the personality and variety of Phantom Blade Zero's combat.
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