Phantom Blade Zero True Ending Guide

Phantom Blade Zero contains 2 endings, the “Normal” ending and the “True” ending (Perfect Ending). The Normal ending occurs if you do not complete all steps to trigger the True ending, so is the default ending. Completing the True Ending unlocks the With Heart and Blood trophy & achievement (All Comes to Light). Completing the steps for the True ending causes it to occur instead of the Normal ending after defeating the normal final boss. There is no trophy/achievement for the Normal ending, so you can earn all trophies/achievements in a single playthrough by going for the True Ending.

True Ending Steps

The overall requirement to trigger the True ending is to complete all of the quests marked with a purple icon in the story menu. Gold icon quests are ones to complete the overall story and are all required to be completed, whereas the purple icon quests are mostly optional, and completing them before certain points in the story is required to trigger the True Ending.

Aside from completing them before specific points, none of the quests required for the True Ending are missable from other progression or taking specific actions.

The first cutoff point for completing quests is when entering the Mirage Estate area in Pangzhen. This is done at the end of the main quest The Four Serpent Houses where you must obtain an item from the White, Black, and Red Serpent House areas in other regions to open the door at the back of the Green Serpent House in Pangzhen. If you do this and then attempt to progress to the Mirage Estate region before all True ending steps are complete, you will receive a warning from the game if you still have not completed all quests required for the True ending.

The quests you must complete up to this point in order are:

Deep in the Valley
Illusion of Inanis
Sha-Chi Powered Boat
Allure of Vanity
Illusory Pipa
Pillars of Kunlun
Whence the Weeping
The Herald’s Illusion
Crimson Manor
Secrets at the Heart of the Lake

After entering Mirage Estate you can complete the final part of the requirement for the True Ending, which is the quest Bloodline Awakening. This is the quest related to completing all 5 of the Long Pillar challenges, with the quest being completed after completing the 5th one. Before progressing to Mount Soulrend it would also be recommended to complete all other side quests if you haven’t already, as certain ones can become missable by progressing through Mount Soulrend.

You are given one final warning about completing quests before entering the final boss area, at the Bell “The Last Chance” in Mount Soulrend. You will receive this warning no matter what even if you have completed all required quests, as you aren’t able to leave the final boss area until after you complete the ending. After which you can return to exploring all areas.

Once you progress past this point you fight the final bosses of the game, and if you completed all quests to trigger the True ending you fight the true final boss after defeating Meng Hua, which then triggers the true ending and awards the trophy/achievement With Heart and Blood.