Soulframe, the producer of Phantom Blade Zero, released a statement on Weibo confirming that the game was originally designed to be a pay-to-play game, and that decision has never changed along the way, nor will it change in the future.
Phantom Blade Zero
As Soulframe promised, Phantom Blade Zero will focus on story, action, and exploration, and its target platforms are consoles and PC.
Source: Weibo