After Onimusha's focused swordplay, Phantom Blade Zero delivers a sprawling, maximalist action epic

At just about 15 hours into Phantom Blade Zero, I've changed out my primary weapons more times than I do in an entire Souls campaign. I quickly dropped my starter sword for a pair of dual blades and a jagged weapon that chunks damage off my enemies in showers of blood. But I didn't stick with either for long. Soon I was running around with a two-handed blade taller than my martial arts hero Soul, which sprouts a trail of magical, energy-sapping flowers with every swing. It shares a moveset with another two-handed giant that absorbs life with each hit. But I don't have time to use either one: I'm already smitten with my new twin blades, one of which I can send spinning in a circle around me like a protective Beyblade.

Somehow I haven't even touched the weapon that I took off a crazed monk that turns Soul into a drunken boxer. …