Some 50 hours of combat are enough for Phantom Blade Zero to show its two sides: a fighting system that several reviews rank among the year's best, and an adventure weighed down by scattered storytelling and movement issues. Digital Trends, Yahoo Tech, GamesRadar+ and NME agree on the appeal of its duels, though they disagree on how much its flaws matter.
- Developer: S-Game
- Publisher: S-Game
- Platforms: PC, PS5
- Release date: October 29, 2026
A wuxia odyssey with a “kungfupunk” aesthetic
The protagonist, Soul, is an assassin accused of killing the Order's patriarch, his adoptive father. Poisoned and with 66 days to live, he sets out to discover who is behind the crime. The journey blends wuxia martial arts, horror and steampunk-inspired machinery in a fantasy world tied to Chinese culture.
Combat alternates between attacks, blocks, dodges and combos, with primary weapons and secondary tools called Phantom Edges. The latter can also be used to open routes or clear obstacles. Digital Trends' review notes that switching weapons restores the Sha Chi resource, while GamesRadar+ points out that each weapon has its own moves and properties. The latter outlet counts 30 primary weapons; Digital Trends puts the total number of weapons and Phantom Edges at around 49.
Exploration takes place across eight regions, with optional missions and bosses that can be missed. For GamesRadar+, the compact design rewards straying from the path and finding secrets; Yahoo Tech also praises the hidden missions and surprises. According to GamesRadar+, this is not an open world, but an adventure through carefully laid-out areas.
Combat earns the most praise
The point of greatest agreement among the four reviews is the quality of the fights. Digital Trends praises the speed and variety of the weapons; Yahoo Tech describes a system of blocks and dodges that soon feels natural, and says the encounter design maintains tension without turning every boss into an endless trial. GamesRadar+ celebrates duels that combine defense and counterattacks, while NME highlights the combos, acrobatics and ability to cut projectiles with the sword.
“combat that looks as good as it feels”
— Luke Kemp, GamesRadar+
The variety is not just cosmetic. According to Digital Trends, weapons change how each fight is approached, and the resources spent upgrading them can be reassigned. Yahoo Tech also emphasizes that switching weapons helps restore posture, and that the game encourages trying different setups. NME counts 30 primary weapons and 25 secondary weapons, while GamesRadar+ notes that some are easy to miss if you don't explore.
Bosses also set Phantom Blade Zero apart from a routine series of encounters. Digital Trends mentions more than 60, several of them optional, and notes that at the highest difficulty some adapt their attacks to the defenses the player uses. Yahoo Tech appreciates that completing a stage means you don't have to repeat it after dying later; GamesRadar+ also likes the generous respawn points and the fact that enemies almost never respawn.
A story that takes time to come together
The story is the most widely shared reservation. Digital Trends criticizes the jumps between time periods and says it's difficult to understand what's happening for much of the adventure, though it feels the story improves once the pieces fall into place. Yahoo Tech finds there are too many characters, terms and explanations, while NME also sees a dense plot that requires reading texts to follow its intrigues.
GamesRadar+ is less emphatic: it calls the story uneven and questions the abundance of notes and scenes devoted to the Memory Flowers, but feels the issue doesn't overshadow the action. It also reports reaching the end after 30–35 hours and getting what it considered an abrupt ending; to discover the true ending, it had to keep exploring and take on secret bosses.
How long the game lasts depends on how much content you seek out. Digital Trends completed a playthrough with 100% completion in just over 50 hours, and Yahoo Tech also puts its playthrough at around that mark. NME sums up the experience as 50 hours of action. GamesRadar+, by contrast, reached the final boss in less time before continuing through areas and side missions.
Movement issues and differing views on performance
Collision problems appear in several reviews. Yahoo Tech recounts Soul getting stuck in the environment and losing progress after some falls; Digital Trends also points to mishaps with small objects. GamesRadar+ describes two boss fights in which it got trapped and took unavoidable damage. NME goes further, arguing that bugs and performance issues make the game still feel unfinished.
Opinions differ on stability. Digital Trends says its playthrough maintained a consistent frame rate, though the game crashed twice when exiting during cutscenes. Yahoo Tech found performance more stable than in an earlier version, but cites one specific area with persistent drops. After installing a pre-release update, NME was still encountering bugs and fights disrupted by the environment.
There is also criticism of how the fights are presented. Digital Trends finds some boss encounters too visually cluttered, making it difficult to read their moves. According to that review, the English voice acting has lip-sync issues. On the positive side, all four outlets praise the presentation, and Digital Trends and NME highlight the music, which blends traditional and orchestral arrangements with electronic music and metal.
Agreement on the fights, not on how much the flaws matter
The reviews agree that combat is Phantom Blade Zero's greatest strength, with varied weapons and encounters that encourage learning patterns instead of button-mashing. They also share reservations about the story and collision issues. The difference lies in the cumulative effect: GamesRadar+ and Yahoo Tech feel the action and exploration make up for these missteps; Digital Trends points out specific flaws while still praising the game overall, while NME concludes that the bugs and storytelling hold back an experience that could have gone further.
Sources: Digital Trends, Yahoo Tech, GamesRadar+, NME
