Phantom Blade: Executioners is a 2.5D hack-and-slash action RPG with satisfying fast-paced combat, great art, cross-platform play, and no auto systems.

After picking one of four distinct characters to play as, the core gameplay is split into dungeon-like campaign levels made up of several areas, including hidden locations with extra rewards.

We run around these levels, jump, dodge incoming attacks, and strike the enemies with our standard attack and two skill chains. These chains each consist of up to 6 individual skills that we pick, customize, and level up.

But we can also link a “phantom” to each skill, which adds a stat boost and often sometimes a unique extra attack for that skill. These phantoms can be leveled up and improved by merging multiple of the same tier, and we unlock them via a gacha system.

The game also features dungeons played alongside a friend’s character, quests that take us back to older levels to chat with NPCs, and a cooking system for temporary buffs.

The game is incredibly loot-heavy, and we can both level up our equipment and alter its random attributes, some of which strengthen specific skills. So to truly min-max, we must make the attributes of our gear match the skills we use.

The combat feels great, the world design is high quality and detailed, and the traditional Chinese art style is well-executed.

The biggest downsides are the heavy battery drain, and that some information seems to be missing or not fully translated. Some users have experienced heavy lag, but it ran smoothly on my device.

The game has an energy system, but it takes more than an hour to run out of it, and the four characters don’t share the energy pool, so you can always switch to another to play for longer.

Phantom Blade: Executioners monetizes via iAPs for extra gacha pulls and a battle pass. Since the game is purely PvE-focused and doesn’t seem to have any paywalls, I found it easily enjoyable as a free player.

It’s a game that actually took me by surprise, and I’ve had a hard time putting it down.