Look, the "Soulslike" tag is basically a curse word in 2026. Every indie dev with a copy of Unreal Engine 5 thinks they can just slap a stamina bar and a dodge roll onto a dark fantasy setting and call it a day. But then I sat through the full comix zero - 26 minutes of gameplay video and honestly? It’s different. It’s weird. It feels like someone took a jagged piece of a 90s underground comic book and forced it into a 3D space until it bled.
Developed by the Chinese studio Cusp Games, this thing isn't just trying to be Elden Ring with a cel-shaded filter. It's much grittier than that. The footage shows off a world that feels genuinely oppressive, but in a "hand-drawn ink" kind of way rather than the usual "gloomy castle" trope.
Why the Art Style in Comix Zero Matters So Much
Most games try to look like a movie. Comix Zero wants to look like a mess—a beautiful, intentional, ink-splattered mess. When you watch the comix zero - 26 minutes of gameplay video, the first thing that hits you isn't the combat; it's the texture. There are these thick, heavy outlines on the character models that remind me of MadWorld or maybe the grimiest parts of The Darkness comic series.
It’s tactile. You can almost feel the scratch of the pen on the screen.
The environment design leans heavily into this "multiverse-gone-wrong" vibe. You aren't just walking through a forest. You're walking through a space where reality seems to be tearing at the seams. People compare it to Lies of P because of the smoothness, but the aesthetic is closer to something like Sifu if it was illustrated by Todd McFarlane on a bad day.
Breaking Down the Combat Flow
The gameplay loop shown in the 26-minute deep dive reveals a surprising amount of verticality. You have this protagonist who handles like a dream—quick, snappy, and seemingly less "weighty" than your traditional Dark Souls lead. That’s a risky move. Usually, if a Soulslike is too fast, it loses the tension.
But Cusp Games is doing something clever with the parry system.
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In the video, there’s a sequence around the 12-minute mark where the player engages a mini-boss. The timing isn't just about avoiding damage. It's about building a rhythm. There’s a "Posturing" mechanic that feels like a refined version of Sekiro’s posture bar, but with a visual flare that looks like a comic panel exploding every time you land a perfect hit.
I noticed the weapon variety is already looking solid even in this early build. We saw a massive cleaver-style sword, but then the player swapped to something faster, more precise. It's not just about stats. The animations actually change how the character moves through the environment. It's slick.
The "Comic Book" Mechanics Nobody Noticed
Everyone talks about the graphics. Hard to miss 'em. But if you pay attention to the UI and the way the world reacts to the player in the comix zero - 26 minutes of gameplay video, there are these tiny "meta" touches.
- Onomatopoeia as Feedback: When you slam an enemy into a wall, visual sound effects—"CRACK" or "THUD"—actually pop up in the 3D space. It’s not just for show. It seems to indicate the type of damage or the status of the enemy’s guard.
- Panel-Based Transitions: Some of the cutscenes aren't traditional cinematics. They use this layered, moving-panel approach that keeps the momentum going without breaking the immersion.
- The Ink Meter: There’s a resource bar that looks suspiciously like an "Ink" gauge. It’s used for special abilities, implying that the character is literally drawing their power from the world’s artistic medium.
It's meta. It's self-aware. It's kind of brilliant.
Let’s Talk About the Difficulty
Is it hard? Yeah. Obviously.
But watching the gameplay, it’s clear the difficulty isn't coming from "clunk." A lot of bad Soulslikes are hard because the camera sucks or the hitbox is a literal cube. In Comix Zero, the deaths in the footage looked fair. The enemies have these huge, telegraphing wind-ups that fit the comic book aesthetic—extreme poses that give you a split second to react.
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The boss fight at the end of the footage is the real highlight. It’s a multi-phase encounter against this grotesque, winged entity that feels like it crawled out of a 1994 Image Comics issue. The scale is massive. The player has to use the environment, jumping between platforms while the boss literally tears the "page" of the arena apart.
What Most People Get Wrong About Comix Zero
The biggest misconception I've seen in the comments under the comix zero - 26 minutes of gameplay video is that this is a "Chinese Stellar Blade."
Stop. Just stop.
Stellar Blade is a high-gloss, Sony-backed action spectacle. Comix Zero is an atmospheric, stylized RPG with a focus on world-building through environmental storytelling. It’s much slower in its exploration phases. It’s moody. It wants you to feel lost in its weird, ink-stained corridors.
Cusp Games isn't a massive AAA factory. They are a smaller team, and you can see that in the focused nature of the gameplay. They aren't trying to give you an open world. They’re giving you a tightly choreographed, brutal experience. Honestly, that’s a relief. We have enough empty open worlds. Give me a 15-hour game that kicks my teeth in and looks like a masterpiece.
Technical Performance and Concerns
I have to be honest: there were a few frame drops in that 26-minute video.
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Specifically, when the particle effects go wild—like when the "ink" spills across the screen during a finishing move—the frame rate dipped. This was likely captured on a development build, and we're still a bit away from a final release, but it’s something to watch. High-precision combat requires a locked 60 FPS. If this game stutters at launch, the parry system is going to feel like a chore instead of a reward.
Also, the voice acting in the demo was a bit... polarizing. It’s a bit over-the-top, which fits the comic theme, but it might grate on people after ten hours of play. Hopefully, there’s an option to stick with the original Chinese audio with subtitles, which usually carries the intended "weight" of the dialogue better in these types of games.
How to Prepare for the Release
If you're hyped after watching the comix zero - 26 minutes of gameplay video, don't just sit there. There are a few things you should do to get your head in the right space for this kind of game.
First, go play The Voidness or Mortal Shell. They don't look like Comix Zero, but they capture that specific "indie grit" and experimental combat feel that Cusp Games is clearly aiming for. You need to get used to games that don't hold your hand.
Second, keep an eye on the official Cusp Games socials. They’ve been dropping lore snippets that explain the "Zero" in the title. Apparently, the world is a recurring cycle (standard Soulslike fare, sure), but the twist involves the "Creator" of the comic itself.
Lastly, check your hardware. This game uses some pretty intensive cel-shading and lighting techniques that might be deceptively demanding on older GPUs. If you're on console, it looks like a PS5/Series X native title—don't expect a last-gen port to handle those ink physics well.
The most important takeaway? Comix Zero is a vibe. It’s a middle finger to the "realistic" graphics arms race. It’s dirty, it’s loud, and it looks like a hell of a lot of fun to master.
Actionable Next Steps for Fans
- Watch the 4K version: If you only saw the compressed 1080p stream, go find the 4K raw footage. The "ink-hatch" shading patterns are much clearer and show off the actual artistic depth.
- Study the Parries: Go to the 15:22 mark in the video. Look at the blue flash vs. the red flash. It seems like the game uses a color-coded counter system similar to Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. Learning those cues now will save you a dozen deaths later.
- Wishlist on Steam: This helps the developers more than anything else. Indie projects like this live or die on their "Popular Upcoming" ranking.
- Monitor the Beta: There are whispers of a closed technical test coming later this year. Sign up for the newsletter on their official site if you want a chance to actually feel the combat weight for yourself.