Let me start by saying that, usually, you don’t see here many phone-only games. However, Phantom Blade Executioners (PBE) is one of the few exceptions since this game surprised me in every aspect. The art-style is simply gorgeous and effective, the lore and the setting are truly original, the enemies are disturbing beings, and even the plot of each episode is intriguing and captivating!

But let’s start from the beginning. PBE is an action RPG set in a dark fantasy version of ancient China, a world shaped by many sects and religious orders, each with personal doctrines and values. The world is shaped by the Sha-Chi energy, a force flowing into special people and great martial artists. By dominating this force, people can achieve incredible powers. But the world of PBE is not only shaped around the Sha-Chi, but it also features steampunk elements. Specifically, mech masters and automaton are also common in this world, disturbing humanoid beings and weapons created by ancient artisans. What happens when you combine the two elements? Ordinary people looking for powers tried to invest mechanical devices inside their bodies to generate artificial Sha-Chi energy: the Sha-Chi Mod. If it is true that these people achieved incredible powers in the blink of an eye, long exposition to the Sha-Chi Mod mutates the owner’s body into a grotesque and mindless abomination.

While the Sha-Chi Mod is typical of end-chapter bosses, the automatons part of the steampunk side of the game are pretty common enemies, with a killing aesthetic and disturbing design. The first enemies are gigantic automaton axe-man, deranged maniacs with porcelain-like skin. Other automatons are instead smaller figures, for example, the insane pyromaniacs throwing bombs, which according to the lore are very well-selected people turned into mechanical beings. There are also female automatons, in the shape of musicians playing the lute with six arms, able to play a deadly melody and levitate above the ground.

But if mechanical men and women are not that disturbing, wait to see how creepy are the automaton kids. And the iced mountain in episode 3 is full of creepy automaton kids. They have small bodies and far bigger heads, looking like parodical creatures, with gigantic grin smiles on their faces. Even if only slightly different, there are both boy and girl versions of these automatons. The kids can be recruited as Phantoms, entities summonable by the player. Their cards are completely missing details, which are instead only summarized in creepy laughs such as “Muahahah” or “Ehehehe,” highlighting the maniac side of these synthetic kids. But how were they created? According to their official biography, “Kids with worry-free faces have the most innocent smiles. No one bears to kill a child with an innocent smile.” So yes, these smiling kids were created so that people would lower their guard, and they would easily kill even the strongest master.

These kids attack like bandits, using small weapons and vomiting a toxic gas. They are not so strong enemies when alone, but their strength in numbers can create a lot of problems. And since the kids also have automaton mothers, the mountain is swarming with them. The Imp Mother is a creature with an incredible design. A sort of female mechanical witch standing on top of a gigantic cauldron, with several arms going out from it, and also helping it to move around like arachnid paws. In combat, the Imp Mother throws toxic swamps all around, but that is the least problem since the mother also generates the automaton kids. The reason behind her summoning is especially creepy. Long ago, the Imp Mother lost her children. Since then, she has been kidnapping human children every 10 days, to then turn them into automaton kids. But she is never satisfied with their mechanical love, hence, she continues to kidnap more children.

Why is the mountain full of mechanical mothers and progenies? Everything is related to the sect of female fighting monks living in the mountains. The sect was fighting in favor of justice but had very strict rules regarding the chastity of the members. One day, a powerful woman, and the favorite candidate to become the next master, fell in love with a man. In secret, she became pregnant, and then the man disappeared. Waiting for his return, while keeping secret the pregnancy, the woman suffered alone. Betrayed by a close rival, the woman was persecuted by the heads of the sect. And she was forced to lose the child. After disappearing, mad from the tragedy, she accepted the gift of Sha-Chi Mod, and used her new powers to create a colossal automaton infant. A surrogate child to pursue her revenge against the sect. The story is more twisted and complex, but I am trying to avoid too many spoilers.

During her boss battle, the woman will literally ride the gigantic child from inside its huge broken head, while the baby crawls around trying to kill the player. Every boss battle inside the game is epic and visually striking, but the gigantic baby of the third chapter is definitely the most unexpected and creepy boss battle. The crawling automaton infant is the largest automaton inside the game, and the most terrifying but also sad being. But there is another gigantic kid automaton missing from the list, even “younger” than this one and unable to crawl. However, to meet this creature we must leave the cold mountains toward an experimental hospital.

The last baby automaton is another colossal being, obese, and disturbing. The chubby creature is an experiment, always hiding its deadly power behind an innocent facade. The Chubby Doll has a very weird and disturbing story, hidden inside its Phantom description once unlocked as a summonable ally. The creature has a huge complex of inferiority, hating people for considering it dumb and goofy, but too slow to crush them while following the hate. Sad of being unable to rip apart fast people like ants, the Cubby Doll discovered that in some rare moments, it could become very fast. So fast to crush and rip people having fun of it. During the fight, the doll will alternate between two attacks. The first is maniacally crying on the ground, damaging all around. The second one is much faster, probably its “haste,” where the baby will jump in the air to then crush the player beneath. The obese creature is unable to move, and will simply stay there. However, due to its insane HP pool, defeating the Chubby Dolls is not trivial.

The world of PBE is an amazing and complex scenario, full of disturbing elements and pieces of lore to discover. The automaton kids are a small part of it, and I hope to see more of this intricate world in future updates.