How to Save in Phantom Blade Zero: Bells, 20 Manual Slots and Autosaves

Phantom Blade Zero has no save option in its pause menu. Progress is saved at bells, the checkpoints scattered through the world, and the game adds its own autosaves alongside them. The first bell is called The Beginning. It sits in Weeping Creek Valley, early in Chapter 1, after the first climb and the masked brutes.

Quick answer: You save at a bell. Press E at the bell, choose Save, then pick “New Game Data” to make a manual save. There are 20 manual slots, and autosaves cannot be overwritten.

How to save at a bell

Walk up to a bell and press E. After your first touch, interacting with a bell opens a menu with three rows: “Train Abilities”, “Save” and “Leave”. The bell’s name, such as “The Beginning”, shows in the bottom left corner.

Soul in a wide hat stands beside a wooden cross shrine with a hanging bell in a mossy canyon, menu options shown. — Touching the bell at The Beginning brings up the Train Abilities, Save and Leave options.

Highlight “Save” and select it. On PC, Enter selects the highlighted row in the bell menu.

The Save row highlighted in the bell menu at The Beginning in Phantom Blade Zero — Highlight Save in the bell menu and press Enter

Check the save screen header. It reads “Save (0/20)” on a fresh file. The number in brackets is how many of the 20 manual slots you have used. The top row is “New Game Data”, labeled “Save New Game Data” with a + icon, and your autosaves are listed below it.

Save menu showing a New Game Data option and two autosave slots titled The Beginning with dates and playtime. — The Save menu lists New Game Data above two autosaves for The Beginning on PATHBREAKER difficulty.

Don’t select an autosave row. Confirming that choice brings up the message “Autosaves cannot be overwritten.” along with a Confirm button. No save is made.

Dimmed save menu with a pop-up message reading Autosaves cannot be overwritten and a Confirm button. — Choosing an autosave slot in the Save menu shows the warning that autosaves cannot be overwritten.

Choose “New Game Data” and confirm your selection. The list gains a manual save entry beneath the autosaves, marked 01, and the heading updates to “Save (1/20)”.

Save (1/20) list with a new manual save under the two autosaves in Phantom Blade Zero — The new manual save sits under the autosaves and the header reads Save (1/20)

On PC, the arrow keys may not move the cursor in the save list. Hover over the row with your mouse, then press Enter or Space. The footer lists the screen’s keys as “Space Confirm”, “Del Delete Save” and “Esc Back”. Delete Save only shows up once at least one manual save exists. While the list holds only autosaves, the footer shows just Confirm and Back.

Save slots and autosaves

Slot type	How many	Can you overwrite it	Stamp
Manual save	20	Made with “New Game Data”; Del deletes it	Numbered from 01
Autosave	Made by the game	No	AUTO 01, AUTO 02

Both types use the same row layout. Each row shows a thumbnail, the bell or area name, the difficulty (for example, “Difficulty: PATHBREAKER”), a red stamp with the save type and number, the date and time of the save, and the play time on that save.

Can you save anywhere in Phantom Blade Zero?

Not from the pause menu, at least in Chapter 1. Manual saves come from the bell menu. Pressing Esc opens the pause menu, and its last tab, QUIT GAME, offers “Load Game”, “Return to Title Screen” and “Quit to Desktop”. None of those options saves your game. Outside of bells, the game handles saving on its own through autosaves.

The prologue has no bell at all. Until you reach The Beginning in Chapter 1, autosaves are the only saves you have.

Bells do more than save. Touching one restores HP and Medicine. The game’s tutorial card reads: “Touch the Bell to restore HP and Medicine. The first touch reveals new areas on the map.” The menu’s other row, Train Abilities, is where you spend Remnant Dust on abilities.

How to load a save in Phantom Blade Zero

Press Esc and go to the last tab, QUIT GAME. Then pick “Load Game”. Its description reads “Open the save list to view and load previously saved progress.”

Read the warning before you confirm. The game asks: “Please manually save your current progress before loading the game.”

Choose Confirm to open the Load Game list. Pick a save from the list. The rows use the same layout as the save screen: thumbnail, area, difficulty, an AUTO or manual stamp, the date and the play time.

Choose Continue from the title screen to load your most recent save.

Phantom Blade Zero save files on PC

On the Steam version, save files are stored in the game’s install folder. They also sync through Steam Cloud. The save file location guide has the full path and how to back them up.