Phantom Blade Zero reviews: 88 Metascore, 91 on OpenCritic

Key takeaways

• Phantom Blade Zero holds an 88 Metascore on both PS5 and PC, and a 91 Top Critic Average on OpenCritic with a 100% "Critics Recommend" rating (pages checked about 02:30 UTC, 26 October 2026).
• Critics consistently praise the fast wuxia combat, the boss design and the soundtrack; complaints focus on traversal, map and quest tracking, and performance dips in some areas.
• S-Game's action RPG launches on 29 October 2026 on PS5 and PC (Steam and Epic Games Store). The PlayStation Store lists 7:00 PM PDT on 28 October, or 02:00 UTC on 29 October, according to Vice.
• The Steam Deck is a weak spot: Steam Deck HQ could not hold a stable 30 frames per second even on the lowest settings.

Phantom Blade Zero reviews are strongly positive: S-Game's wuxia action RPG holds an 88 Metascore on PS5 and PC and a 91 average on OpenCritic from 24 critic reviews, three days before its 29 October launch.

For a game that has carried "most anticipated" awards since 2024, the early scores suggest the hype was largely justified. Below is the score table, what critics agree on, where they disagree, and the launch details players need.

Phantom Blade Zero Metacritic and OpenCritic scores

The table below shows the aggregate scores as they appeared when Bullquill checked the review pages. Aggregates move as more reviews arrive, so treat these as early figures.

Data as of about 02:30 UTC, 26 October 2026. Sources: Metacritic platform review pages and OpenCritic game page.

There is a small wrinkle on PC. When Metacritic first announced the scores on X at 00:43 UTC on 26 October, after 57 critic reviews had been logged, it listed PC at 89 and PS5 at 88. By the time Bullquill checked, both platform pages showed 88. A one-point move this early is normal as late reviews are added, and there is no meaningful gap between the two versions.

Selected critic scores

Scores as listed by OpenCritic and the outlets' own reviews, 25–26 October 2026.

Metacritic also lists three perfect 100 scores, from But Why Tho?, PCGamesN and Wccftech. Among the reviews Metacritic had counted, it showed one mixed review and no negative ones.

What critics praise in Phantom Blade Zero

Combat that rewards precision

Combat is the headline in almost every review. CGMagazine reviewer Jordan Biordi wrote that the game has "one of the best combat systems I've ever experienced," and pointed to the guard, parry and Shadow Step systems. TheSixthAxis described a readable rule set: blue attacks can be parried and red attacks dodged, which the reviewer said quickly becomes second nature.

Weapon variety comes up repeatedly. Screen Rant counted 30 primary weapons and 25 Phantom Edges, each with distinct mechanics, and GamingBolt noted that swapping weapons restores Sha-Chi, the game's resource for special moves.

Bosses and respect for the player's time

GamingBolt called the bosses memorable and said they escalate in complexity, singling out Mo Yuan, a character voiced by martial arts star Donnie Yen. TheSixthAxis named the Lion Dance Grandmaster and Bai Chilian as standouts.

Several reviewers say the game is less punishing than many soulslikes outside of fights. According to TheSixthAxis, enemies do not respawn, bosses skip already-cleared phases after a death, shops can be reached from any Bell, and players do not lose experience on death. Screen Rant summed it up as "the perfect cure for soulslike fatigue."

Music, voice acting and presentation

The soundtrack, which mixes traditional Chinese instruments with other genres in boss fights, draws praise from GamingBolt, Screen Rant and TheSixthAxis. Screen Rant also highlighted lip-synced voice acting in both English and Chinese, and CGMagazine praised the bleak atmosphere built in Unreal Engine 5.

What critics criticise

Traversal, map and quest tracking

Screen Rant was the most detailed critic here. It said run speed feels slow until a skill-tree upgrade, contextual prompts break up parkour, the map is confusing and quest tracking is poor. It also said the story leans heavily on lore documents and that difficulty swings between frustrating and too easy.

Performance and polish

On PS5, GamingBolt reported 60 frames per second on the base console but noted drops in the Pangzhen area, brief one-second freezes during fights at Meigu Lake, texture pop-in, and characters getting stuck on scenery. TheSixthAxis mentioned "small technical hiccups" and a texture problem from a pre-release patch that switching graphics modes fixed.

On regular PC hardware, Screen Rant reported strong performance and quick load times. Steam Deck owners should be cautious, though. Steam Deck HQ gave the game a 1 out of 5 Deck score, saying it could not hold 30 frames per second on the lowest settings and dipped to around 10 frames per second in some areas.

Opinions split on enemy respawns

The no-respawn design is praised by some and criticised by others. TheSixthAxis counts it as respecting the player's time. CGMagazine and Screen Rant say it is a shame that the excellent combat cannot be repeated against regular enemies at save points. GamingBolt also found it unnecessary that resetting weapon upgrades past certain levels costs talismans.

Phantom Blade Zero release date, platforms and unlock time

The game was originally set for 9 September 2026, a date announced at The Game Awards in December 2025. In June 2026, S-Game moved it to 29 October, saying it needed more time to improve quality. No Xbox or Nintendo Switch version has been announced.

Pre-orders include early unlocks of the Treasure Basin accessory and the Legacy outfit, both of which can also be earned in play, according to Vice. The Deluxe Edition adds two outfits, a digital artbook and the digital soundtrack.

What it means

An 88 to 91 aggregate puts Phantom Blade Zero in the same critical bracket as the biggest action RPGs of recent years. For S-Game, which both develops and publishes the game, strong reviews arriving three days before launch give it momentum for launch week, when buying decisions on the PlayStation Store and Steam are often shaped by aggregate scores. The game also won Most Anticipated Game at the UCG Game Awards 2024 and the Ultra Game Awards 2025, so expectations were already high.

For players, the reviews point to a clear profile. Players who want fast, readable melee combat, many bosses and fewer punishing setbacks are the main audience. Players who care most about open-world navigation or a tightly told story should expect rough edges, and Steam Deck owners should wait for patches or performance reports after launch.

Bullquill will follow the launch-week performance patches and user scores. For more, see our Phantom Blade Zero topic page, coverage tagged PlayStation 5, and the latest from the Games section.