Phantom Blade Zero reviews praise fluid combat but split on story and boss fights

Six outlets published reviews or review-in-progress coverage of Phantom Blade Zero on Oct. 26, 2026 for PS5 and PC, converging on praise for the wuxia action title’s martial-arts combat while dividing over its narrative and boss pacing. The reviews cover S-Game’s debut triple-A release, a game that follows the studio’s mobile and smaller-scale projects. The title went gold on Aug. 5 and costs $59.99 for the standard edition and $69.99 for the Digital Deluxe edition, though outlets disagree on whether it launches Oct. 25 or Oct. 29, 2026 on Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Reviewers broadly agree the combat is fluid, cinematic, and reminiscent of kung-fu films, with strong animations and creative choreography. Eurogamer compares the dodge-and-parry loop to high-octane Sekiro, where players dodge red attacks and parry blue ones to break a boss’s guard and enter a punishment phase. PCGamesN’s critic praises the fluid combat, the striking arena, and the three-stage music. The critic first saw the game at Summer Game Fest earlier in 2026, where director Soulframe sent a boss fight video that shaped expectations for spectacle.

TheGamer spent 45 hours over a week exploring every nook of the world and declared the game a genuine Game of the Year contender. Shacknews reviewed an early PlayStation 5 copy and found the dialogue and narrative enjoyable, though the critic noted that Soul’s voiceover and some localization still needed improvement and finalization during the review process. The Outerhaven, after more than 50 hours including optional bosses and side quests, called it one of the best action-adventure games played in a long time. Game Informer’s review-in-progress critic, who had logged 40-plus hours, expected a high score and called it one of the best action games ever played.

Boss fights draw the sharpest criticism. Eurogamer reports that a high proportion of bosses felt spongy, especially on pathfinder difficulty and even on the easier wayfarer setting, making weapons feel like toothpicks and battles artificially lengthy, with parries and dodges dealing only minor damage to their sha-chi, or guard gauge, and creating a sinking feeling of long, repetitive fights early to mid-game when build options are few. S-Game released a 67GB update two days before the review embargo lifted, targeting performance, bugs, and boss, enemy, ability, and weapon stats to smooth the difficulty curve, but Eurogamer found boss sponginess remained in some early obligatory fights. The Outerhaven says some boss encounters wore out their welcome and became exhausting after escalating phases, despite the game being forgiving about restarting at later-phase checkpoints.

The story draws mixed reviews. Eurogamer and Game Informer call the narrative weakest or unremarkable, with heavy lore dumps, while PCGamesN, TheGamer, Shacknews, and The Outerhaven praise its originality, ending, and characters. The story premise follows Soul, a former Order member framed for killing his master and leader, given a tainted heart and 66 days to live before it rots him from the inside out.

Shacknews names side characters including Yu’er, who aids Soul with medicine; Lady Inanis, a mysterious guide and benefactor; Forge, a weaponsmith described as a goddess of the anvil; and Quick Hand Zhang, a mischievous thief. The Outerhaven describes the opening choice as repairing the heart to live without emotion or choosing the tainted heart to continue with only 66 days left unless a miracle occurs. TheGamer says the true ending requires completing every task, and small moments come back to have a giant impact, culminating in a momentous ending that had the critic beaming.

Performance draws mixed reports. Eurogamer and PCGamesN report frame-rate dips and stuttering that S-Game said it would address or fix by launch, while The Outerhaven found strong PC and handheld performance on high-end hardware. The Outerhaven hit over 100 FPS at 4K max settings on an RTX 5090 and 55 to 60 FPS on an MSI Claw handheld.

Eurogamer saw severe frame-rate dips in certain areas and said the side-quest loop remained after the patch. PCGamesN reports frame-rate issues and stuttering in one map, but says S-Game told the critic it would fix them by the game’s launch. TheGamer notes that Graphical Mode struggled with frame rates on the base PS5, so the critic had to play on Performance Mode.

Reviewers agree Phantom Blade Zero is not a Soulslike, though it borrows Soulslike mechanics such as bell checkpoints, parry and dodge timing, and challenging bosses. S-Game insists the game is not a Soulslike and is primarily an action RPG, while critics note its challenge is more surmountable and enemies stay dead rather than respawning at checkpoints. Game Informer estimates the game contains nearing 100 or more bosses, with few repeats outside segmented challenge trials, and says challenge is more surmountable than in typical Soulslikes because different difficulties and accessories can ease parry and dodge timing.

PCGamesN and Eurogamer describe the game as having Metroidvania elements, with exploration, backtracking, keys, secret bosses, and blocked paths gated behind weapons and tools. The world divides into five main open areas plus smaller ones, with each individual map taking about five hours to fully explore, and Phantom Edge weapons unlock access to locked areas.

The weapon system is a centerpiece of the gameplay. The game features 30 core or main weapons across One-Handed, Two-Handed, and Dual Wield categories, plus around 20 side weapons called Phantom Edges, according to TheGamer and Shacknews. Each weapon has its own moveset, animations, and finishing moves, and can level up to 30 with new skills at milestones. Phantom Edges are secondary weapons gained from bosses and include chain sickles, thunder-infused spears, humungous axes, giant cannons, a lion-headed flamethrower, and a horse-drawn chariot.

Legendary martial-arts actor Donnie Yen worked with S-Game’s motion-capture actors to make combat feel authentic. TheGamer describes the soundtrack as fusing traditional Chinese instruments with contemporary Western genres, including deathcore screaming with Chinese instrumentation, trap, EDM, and dance. Previews from Oct. 8-9, 2026 were overwhelmingly positive across outlets including Polygon, IGN, GameSpot, GamesRadar, PCGamesN, and CGMagazine, with combat and boss design singled out as highlights.