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Unofficial guide · Launch edition · Last checked Confirmed Reported Conflict After unlock

Phantom Blade Zero save and fast travel: how Bells work

You save at Bells, and touching one saves automatically. Reported · Game8 You can fast travel to any Bell you have already visited. Reported · Game8 Dying costs you nothing you carry. Reported · TheSixthAxis

How to save

Bells are the game's checkpoints, roughly its version of a campfire. There is no save anywhere else.

Saving · sources
Where you save
Bells are the only place to save: interact with a Bell on the map to save, and touching one also auto-saves.
Reported · Game8
What else a Bell does
Besides saving, a Bell is where you upgrade gear and stats, learn skills, open the shop and map the surrounding area on your first visit.
Reported · Game8
Reviewer view
Checkpoints/save points are called Bells; you rest at them to save; shops are reachable from any Bell once unlocked. Save/respawn points are generously placed.
Reported · TheSixthAxis
Rest effects
Resting at a Bell refills your healing medicine and the uses of your Phantom Edges, restores health, and does not bring defeated enemies back.
Reported · PC Gamer

Reviewers describe Bells as placed generously. PC Gamer and Game8 both say resting at a Bell refills your healing medicine and Phantom Edge uses, and neither brings enemies back. We have not yet seen it in our own play. Cleared areas are reported to stay clear (see below).

On 66 Days mode the rules are stricter: its own save, no manual save, no reloading before a mistake. Reported · S-GAME director's letter See 66 Days mode.

How to fast travel

Fast travel · sources
Between Bells
Fast travel works between Bells you have already visited: interact with a visited Bell, pick another visited Bell on the map and you travel there instantly.
Reported · Game8
From anywhere
Away from a Bell you can use a Traversal Talisman to travel to any Bell; the talisman is consumable (one use) and can be found in the wild.
Reported · Game8
  1. Reach a Bell once. The first visit also maps the area around it, per Game8. Reported · Game8
  2. At any visited Bell, interact with it and choose another visited Bell on the map. Reported · Game8
  3. Away from a Bell, spend a Traversal Talisman to jump to one. It is single-use, so keep it for when you need it. Reported · Game8

Not yet verified by us: whether any area or story moment blocks fast travel, and where Talismans are sold or dropped beyond "found in the wild".

What you lose when you die

Death · sources
Penalty
Dying costs no experience/currency: nothing is lost on death and there is no corpse run.
Reported · TheSixthAxis
Enemies
Defeated enemies do not respawn once an area is cleared.
Reported · TheSixthAxis
Boss fights
Multi-phase bosses have checkpoints: dying in a later phase puts you back at the start of that phase, not the whole fight (cannot be disabled).
Reported · TheSixthAxis

So there is nothing to recover after a death: no dropped currency to run back for. The one place with a real death cost is 66 Days mode, which counts your deaths.

What we're still checking

Questions

Does it have checkpoints / bonfires?

Yes. Save points are called Bells; boss fights also checkpoint between phases.

Reported · TheSixthAxis
Can you fast travel in Phantom Blade Zero?

Yes. Interact with a Bell you have already visited and pick any other visited Bell on the map. Away from a Bell, a consumable Traversal Talisman can take you to one.

Reported · Game8
Do you lose anything when you die?

Reviewers say no: nothing is lost on death and there is no corpse run. Defeated enemies stay down once an area is cleared.

Reported · TheSixthAxis

Sources and checks

Press, reviews and data sites

Other sources