After generating a ton of buzz during its initial reveal back at the May 2023 PlayStation Showcase, Phantom Blade Zero is finally here. How does S-Game’s debut AAA “kungfupunk” action-RPG stack up to the years of hype? Pretty well, according to early reviews. Another non-Soulslike arcade action game has entered the arena, and some are already calling it the best action game of 2026.
The review embargo lifted last night ahead of the game’s October 28 launch on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Phantom Blade Zero currently sits at an 88 on Metacritic, though that number could tick up or down in the coming days as more reviews go live. It also sounds like a number of the issues some critics did run into, including glitchy level geometry and occasional framerate problems, may have been improved during a major pre-release patch. Reviewers have also remained tight-lipped on what the game’s story is really about due to the developer’s review embargo restrictions.
IGN‘s Travis Northup wrote that while Phantom Blade Zero‘s “tale of betrayal and revenge mostly plays it extremely safe,” its arcade combat and difficulty curve are exceptionally “well tuned.” Others considered the game overly lenient in places, including boss battles with multiple phase checkpoints. You will spend a lot of your time parrying and dodging in this game, but an arsenal of 30 collectible and upgradable weapons, two of which can be equipped at all times, apparently keeps the combat feel fresh, inventive, and satisfying. “Every weapon is wholly unique, like picking up a new character in a fighting game, each with its own moveset and abilities,” wrote Wesley LeBlanc for Game Informer.
Here’s what the rest of the early reviews are saying:
IGN
Something I admire about Phantom Blade Zero’s difficulty is how consistently it feels exactly right – not too unforgiving, but it rarely lets you feel like you aren’t in danger of getting your butt kicked. I’m typically someone who relishes a challenge from games like this and so played Phantom Blade Zero on its hardest difficulty exclusively, but found myself beating just about every major boss fight in two or three tries, plus a good chunk that I cleared in one go – and I didn’t mind that one bit! It meant that I rarely saw enough of a boss to know every tool in their murder belt, and refreshingly made me feel like the one to be feared rather than the other way around. It’s pretty damn cool to enter a room and watch a 10-foot-tall badass with an eight-pack swing around a blade and think, “oh, man. This guy’s totally screwed.” – Travis Northup
Polygon
Phantom Blade Zero‘s world is a place where you fight warriors turned into cyborgs who have undergone procedures to improve their skills and their ability to manipulate the mystical energy Sha-Chi. It’s a place where power, honor, and treachery are intertwined. And ultimately, it’s a place where, regardless of the degree of widespread suffering, there are good people trying to do good things. During my time with Phantom Blade Zero, I didn’t experience a mindblowing story. However, by giving it the chance to tell its story on its own terms, I did find a sincere game with a fascinating, unique fiction. That’s all S-Game needed as the backdrop for the main attraction. – Paulo Kawanishi
Eurogamer
I think we all know why we’re here, and that’s because the main draw of Phantom Blade Zero is its combat. The FromSoftware influence is evident in so many aspects of this game, from the series of “bell” checkpoints scattered throughout the world, to the multi-stage bosses that, yes, can deliver one-shot attacks. Regardless of your weapon loadout, the most important thing you can do in a boss battle is correctly dodge red attacks, and parry blue ones. It’s the single most effective way of breaking a boss’s guard so that you can enter a punishment phase, and finally get your heavy-hitting moves in. It’s kinda like high-octane Sekiro. So if you’re not a fan of this dodge/parry combat style, this might not be the game for you. – Emma KentÂ
GameSpot
S-Game, the Chinese studio behind Phantom Blade Zero, clearly understands the core tenets of character-action games. If your melee combat isn’t tight, responsive, and oozing cool, then what’s the point? Some games might have better combat, but few can match Phantom Blade Zero’s style. Every moment feels like you’re in the middle of a Chinese martial-arts movie, pulling off moves that shouldn’t be feasible–moves that go against what we expect from third-person action games–yet are baked into the mechanics. The game is not without issues, and they do hold it back from reaching the genre’s upper echelons, but the highs are stratospheric. – Richard Wakeling
Gamesradar
After 30-35 hours, I reach the final boss and – eventually – emerge victorious. Of course I do. Look at how much I’ve buffed up Soul and his weapons! After all that time, and a great deal of chasing down sidequests and digging out secrets, I am rewarded with what is very definitively the Bad Ending. It’s abrupt, and unsatisfying on a few different levels. Nonetheless, I’m surprised to find that I’m not too bothered. There’s so much of the map I have yet to explore – including an entire region – I immediately dive back in, eager to see what I’ll find next. – Luke Kemp
VGC
The boat hasn’t been rocked and the genre hasn’t been overturned, but Phantom Blade Zero is a damn good action game that shouldn’t be ignored. This is undoubtedly stronger than genre stablemates like Black Myth: Wukong, and S-Game has also managed to craft one of the best looking Unreal Engine games. It could use a bit more polish, but Phantom Blade Zero has ensured that I will be eagerly paying attention to whatever S-Game makes next. – Dave Aubrey
Game Informer
It is one of the best action games I’ve ever played, and I’m shocked to be writing that. This is a debut of sorts for developer S-Game, which has dabbled in mobile games and smaller-scale titles; it’s the team’s first triple-A release, and its first game of this kind. This studio is so clearly a dedicated student of the genre, analyzing what works here and what works there in other action greats to create something of its own. It looks forward at what action games can do, can play like, can look like, while looking back at the games before it and understanding why those games – games like Devil May Cry, Elden Ring, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Bayonetta, and just about every other quality action game you can think of – continue to be ones we hold so highly. Should it stick the landing, Phantom Blade Zero will join that echelon of action pedigree. – Wesley LeBlanc
