Phantom Blade Zero Wins Praise for Combat, Stumbles on Story and Frame Rate

Phantom Blade Zero has earned praise for its fast combat ahead of its PS5 and PC launch, while reviewers disagree on story and performance.

Phantom Blade Zero has collected strong early reviews ahead of its PS5 and PC release.

That includes an 80/100 from VGC, where reviewer Dave Aubrey ranked its combat among the quickest and most showy in the genre. Other outlets are less certain about the rest of the package.

The martial arts action RPG from S-GAME launches on October 29, 2026, though Steam currently lists October 28. On PC, the Standard Edition costs $59.99. The Digital Deluxe Edition costs $69.99.

HermitGamer's review roundup puts the game at 88/100 on Metacritic and a 91/100 average on OpenCritic. Every included reviewer there recommends it.

Soul's 66 days and a fast fight system

Players control Soul, a former member of The Order. He has been framed and is hunted by his old comrades.

A character called The Flesh Sculptor saved him with a tainted heart that will keep him alive for only 66 days.

Aubrey wrote that the setting draws on classic wuxia stories about ancient martial artists.

Most boss fights revolve around sha-chi, a stamina-like stagger gauge. Draining it opens a long window for combos and leaves the health bar exposed.

Special attacks that glow red can be countered with a perfect dodge. Blue ones call for a parry. Dodge anything accompanied by a black flash.

HermitGamer's roundup adds that the game offers more than 30 primary weapons and over 20 Phantom Edges.

Story and level design draw complaints

Aubrey found the characters bland and the levels overly linear. HermitGamer says several reviews fault the game for weak storytelling, restrictive level design and technical problems.

Scores run from 100/100 at the top to 60/100 at the bottom. That lowest review cited bugs, frame-rate drops, poor quest guidance and boss arena problems.

A late pre-release patch fixed some of those issues, though not all, according to the roundup.

Performance differs by platform

Console players should note the split on PS5 Pro. One review recorded significant frame-rate problems that persisted with ray tracing switched off.

Another saw mostly steady 60 FPS, with occasional slowdowns during boss fights. A PC review described relatively smooth performance.

HermitGamer says results may depend on platform, hardware and review build. Anyone weighing the PS5 version will want to see how the launch patch behaves.

Averages may shift because more reviews are still to come.