Story and world
The premise
Soul is an elite assassin of The Order, a secretive organisation. He is framed for the murder of its patriarch (his master) and badly wounded in the heart. A healer saves him, but the cure only lasts 66 days: that is how long he has to find out who is behind the conspiracy.
The official description talks about fending off assassins, world-ending conspiracies and a journey “through rain and blood, kindness and vengeance”, in search of a heart.
In RPGFan's preview, the director explains that the 66-day limit is “purely narrative framing” and does not affect your first playthrough — there is no clock ticking while you play.
Soul
The protagonist. Former assassin of The Order, framed and with 66 days to live.
Who has been revealed
Mó Yuan Official
Soul's father. Played through facial and motion capture by Donnie Yen, who has also been the game's creative consultant since 2023 and helped with combat design.
The Order Official
The secretive order of assassins Soul belonged to. The death of its patriarch sets the story in motion.
Flesh Sculptor Preview
According to RPGFan's preview, the sorcerer who gives Soul a tainted heart and his 66 days to live. Not yet mentioned in the official descriptions.
The Wulin and the Phantom World
What S-GAME says
- The game takes place in the Phantom World, where Chinese kung fu, steampunk-style machines and occult arts overlap.
- The world is split into several handcrafted semi-open maps rather than one big open world.
- There are hidden passages and mechanisms for explorers, and side quests and conversations with citizens can open new story paths.
- The Steam page teases some names without explaining them: Memory Flowers, the Wulin and the Discordance, Transcension, the Lady of the Veil and Inanis' Dreamscape.
What the press reported
- RPGFan describes open zones with linear progression, not an open world, with backtracking to earlier areas as you get new tools (metroidvania-style, an influence the director confirmed).
- The Outerhaven notes the game does not flood the screen with markers: returning a bow to a character on a rooftop earned them a Phantom Edge.
- According to S-GAME, as quoted by The Outerhaven, there are more hidden rewards like that throughout the game.
Who is behind it
- S-GAME founder & CEO
- Soulframe Liang (Liang Qiwei), creator of the original Rainblood
- Action director
- Kenji Tanigaki (per the 2023 PlayStation Blog post)
- Creative consultant
- Donnie Yen, since 2023 (he also plays Mó Yuan)
- Animation
- Motion capture with martial arts choreographers from wuxia cinema; every strike is rooted in real techniques