// KOTAKU — GAMING
Phantom Blade Zero Reviews Call It An ‘Incredibly Well Tuned’ Adventure With ‘Brilliant Weapon Design’
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:
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
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
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 no