Rainblood and Phantom Blade Play Order

Can you start with Zero

Yes. Nothing in the 2023 essay says the new game is a chapter that assumes you finished a phone release. “Spiritual rebirth” is an invitation to a new telling. The 66-day premise is restated in the game’s own later marketing, so a new player meets it at the door.

Release order

Liang’s 2023 essay dates Rainblood: Town of Death to 2010, then the phone games as a group, then Phantom Blade Zero. It does not name each phone release. The official site dates the new game to 29 October 2026. PlayStation’s August 2026 post adds 28 October for the United States and some other regions.

Story branches

Release order and story order are separate. A spiritual rebirth may repeat a character’s situation without repeating an earlier plot. The phone games are not placed inside Soul’s sixty-six days.

Inside Phantom Blade Zero, the August 2026 post says some side quests open story paths. Those paths are branches of the new game. They are not a reason to buy an older one first.

Access to older games

Liang gives both an artistic and a practical reason for beginning with the new game: most of the phone titles were not released outside China. An older title is obtained from the store that currently offers it.