Phantom Hellcat, A Nier-Inspired Hack-And-Slash Action Adventure, Revealed In New Trailer

All in! Games, the publisher behind titles like Ghostrunner and Chernobylite, revealed its first internal studio, Ironbird Creations, during today’s Gamescom Opening Night Live showcase. A 30-second teaser was also shown for Phantom Hellcat by Games, the Nier-inspired hack and slash action adventure coming to PlayStation/Xbox consoles. 

“Break a leg as Jolene, a rebellious young woman who makes the grave mistake of breaking the seal upon a cursed theater filled with dangerous dimensions full of pompous props,” a press release reads. “The theater’s seal holding back the darkness weakens until the evil trapped within takes Jolene’s mother hostage. Soon, twisted stories of humanity will begin to escape and wreak havoc upon the world.” 

The teaser trailer for Phantom Hellcat is available below.: 

You can clearly see that this IP is heavily inspired by Nier Automata. This includes the ending of the segment at the amusement parks. 

“Claim a stake in a Transylvanian Bibliotheque castle possibly full of vampires,” the press release reads. “Venture across other theatrical plays inspired by pop culture and ensure Jolene has the starring role in them all, no matter who she has to cut down. Turn the surroundings and props from these worlds into extra weapons to use against enigmatic enemies as well as opportunities for character growth.” 

Hacking and slashing looks elegant and quick-paced. Jolene has the ability to access diverse skills and make stat changes through mysterious character masks. Dynamic camera perspective shifts will allow the player to change between 2D/3D, and vice versa. 

Ironbird Creations’ creative director, Norman Lenda, says the team has a lot of nostalgia for the era of action games from the 2010s and wanted to revisit that era together. 

“Lately, action games have leaned more toward the ‘Soulslike’ and ‘Roguelike’ subgenres and are missing the classic DNA,” Lenda writes in the press release. “Phantom Hellcat will bring the hack-n-slash title back to their roots.” 

However, there is no release date at the moment.