Phantom Blade Zero difficulty modes explained

Updated 2026-10-26 · Reported

Three tiers in the first run, one New Game+ challenge mode, four different naming schemes in the wild — here is the table.

Phantom Blade Zero ships with three selectable difficulties for a first playthrough and one New Game+ only challenge mode. Because previews, reviews and the Chinese build used different labels, the same four modes appear online under at least four naming schemes. This table uses the English names reported by launch reviews next to the Chinese names from the producer's interview; we will confirm the in-game names on launch day.

Mode (reviews)	Chinese name	What it is	When available	Trophies
Wayfarer	入阵者	Easiest. Built for the story and the spectacle; enemies hit softer and windows are wider.	First run	Yes — the full list, including the platinum
Pathbreaker	破局者	The intended default.	First run	Yes
Hellwalker	逆天者	Hardest standard tier, with adaptive enemy AI: bosses react to your spacing, whiffs and repeated habits and gain new attack strings.	First run — launch reviewers played it from the start; an earlier plan to lock it behind a first clear was dropped	Yes
Sixty-Six Days	六十六天	Hellwalker-level enemies plus a counter that starts at 66 and loses a day for every death; at zero the run ends for good with its own failure ending. Separate save, autosave only, no reloading.	After clearing the game on Pathbreaker or Hellwalker	No

Names you may see elsewhere

Easy / Normal / Hard / Extremely Hard — the labels used when the 2025 Chinese build was shown.
Initiate / Breaker / Defier — one preview's translation of the three first-run tiers.
Wayfarer / Gamechanger / Hellwalker — another preview's rendering; only the middle name differs.
Standard / Hard / Sha-Chi Master — invented by an SEO wiki; not an official scheme.

All of these describe the same three tiers plus the Sixty-Six Days mode. Treat any list with five or more difficulties as wrong.

Can you change difficulty mid-game?

Yes — between the three standard tiers, from the pause menu, at any time (launch reviews). Sixty-Six Days is separate: it has its own save slot and autosaves only, so you cannot drop into or out of it mid-run. One pre-release build would not let you climb back up after switching down to Wayfarer; reviews of the final build do not report that.

Is there a time limit?

No. The 66 days are the story's premise — the protagonist, Soul, has 66 days to live — not a clock you play against. The Sixty-Six Days mode borrows the name for its death counter. Nothing in a normal run is timed. The link between the two: at the revival scene you choose one of two hearts, and the 66-day heart becomes selectable only after a first clear.

Which should you pick?

If you want every trophy in one run, the easiest tier allows it. If you want the game as designed, take the middle tier; it is where the weapon-switching and Sha-Chi systems matter most. Save Hellwalker for a second run unless you already live in character-action games.

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