Phantom Blade Zero: What the First Reviews Actually Say (and Who Should Buy It)

Review-roundup note: Hot Game Review has not yet completed its own full playthrough for a scored review. This article is a critic-consensus roundup — it collects, compares, and contextualizes what professional reviewers and early player data actually say, so you can decide whether to buy at launch or wait. Every score and performance figure below is attributed to its source; none of it is presented as our own testing.

Phantom Blade Zero arrived as one of the loudest launches of October 2026, and the first verdicts are unusually clear about one thing: the combat is special. S-GAME Studio’s wuxia action RPG — you play Soul, a warrior with only sixty-six days left to live, fighting through a world that blends Chinese martial-arts fantasy with steampunk — launched digitally on October 28, 2026 for PlayStation 5 and PC, and within a day it was pulling nearly 400,000 concurrent players on Steam. The critical consensus, led by a Metacritic score of 88, puts it among the year’s best-received action games. But the same reviews that praise its swordplay also warn about a divisive story and launch-week technical rough edges. Here is what the first reviews actually say, where they disagree, and who should buy it now.

The scoreboard: 88 on Metacritic, 91 on OpenCritic

The headline numbers held steady as the review count grew. Early coverage reported an 88 on Metacritic from around 30 to 40 critic reviews, settling at 88 across PC and PlayStation 5 — 43 reviews counted on one platform snapshot, 98% positive, none negative. OpenCritic sat at 91. That is the profile of a game critics broadly liked, not one carried by a handful of perfect scores.

Those perfect scores do exist. Wccftech awarded a perfect score, comparing the feeling to Elden Ring and Street Fighter 6, while Saudi Gamer and But Why Tho? also gave top marks, with But Why Tho? calling it a potential game of the year. IGN, GamesRadar+, Push Square, and TheSixthAxis all scored it 9 out of 10; VGC gave it 4 out of 5; GameSpot was slightly more reserved at 8 out of 10.

Player data tells a similar, slightly cooler story. A day after release, Steam showed 399,310 players in game at one morning snapshot, with 2,002 user reviews at 79% positive — Steam’s “Mostly Positive” label. That gap between the critic average (88) and early user sentiment is normal in launch week, when day-one technical issues weigh more heavily on players than on reviewers. Commercially, market firm Alinea Analytics estimated about 850,000 digital copies sold across Steam and PlayStation 5 before launch, worth roughly $43 million. For context on how crowded this season has been, see our Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launch guide.

What critics love: the combat, the bosses, the weapons

Across outlets that otherwise disagree about plenty, three praises repeat so consistently that they form the core of the consensus.

First, the combat itself. Reviewers describe fast, fluid, parry-and-counter martial-arts action that feels cinematic without playing itself. Phantom Blade Zero has no stamina bar, deaths carry no penalty, and difficulty can be changed at any time — a design choice reviewers flag as welcoming, because it lets the combat system, rather than punishment, carry the challenge.

Second, the boss fights. Multi-phase encounters, secret bosses hidden in the world, and fights that reviewers call spectacular are the single most praised element in the roundup. Wccftech’s perfect-score review singled out boss encounters as outstanding, GamesRadar+ pointed to fights that “feel great and flow smoothly,” and multiple outlets described the boss roster as the reason the game sticks in the memory after the credits. If you buy action games for their boss fights, this is the part of the consensus aimed directly at you.

Third, the arsenal and the visuals. Critics highlight a wide weapon selection — previews had already pointed to more than 55 weapons — and a distinctive wuxia-meets-steampunk art direction in Unreal Engine 5. Digital Foundry praised the animation and visuals at 60 frames per second on PlayStation 5, and reviewers describe the world as rich and carefully designed, with secrets worth hunting for.

Where the reviews split: story, ordinary enemies, and polish

The most important dissent comes from Eurogamer, which gave the game 6 out of 10 — the lone mixed score in an otherwise positive field. Its reviewer liked the fluid, cinematic kung fu combat but argued that balance problems and quality issues took the shine off the experience. That single review matters disproportionately, not because it outweighs dozens of positive ones, but because it names the exact complaints other reviewers raise in milder form.

The story is the biggest split. Several outlets call the narrative safe, convoluted, or thin compared with the combat, and roundups summarizing the early reviews repeatedly list a “divisive story” alongside the praise. If you play action RPGs primarily for narrative — if the plot is what keeps you going between fights — the consensus is honest that this may not be your game of the year. If you play for combat systems and boss design, the same reviewers suggest the story will not get in your way.

Ordinary enemies draw the second recurring complaint. Where boss fights earn superlatives, regular encounters are described by some reviewers as repetitive, with one roundup finding that ordinary enemies drew more criticism than praise. That distinction matters for expectations: Phantom Blade Zero is, by consensus, a game of peaks — extraordinary boss fights and stylish combat — rather than a game where every corridor encounter feels equally fresh.

Finally, polish. Roundups note stuttering, frame-rate drops, and uneven performance, particularly on base PlayStation 5, along with linear levels, limited exploration in places, and some invisible barriers. None of this stopped the game from scoring 88, but it is the reason the “wait for a patch” argument has real support — and it connects directly to the platform advice below.

PS5 vs PC vs Steam Deck: which version should you play?

Platform choice is where launch-week reporting gets most practical, and the guidance differs sharply by hardware. On PlayStation 5 Pro, reviewers and performance coverage point to mostly steady 60 frames per second in Performance mode, with drops in some boss fights and rain-heavy scenes — the safest console pick. On base PlayStation 5, Performance mode is again the recommendation, with mostly steady performance but rain drops, occasional freezes, and some pop-in reported. Either way, Performance mode is the consensus call on console, not a fidelity mode chasing resolution at the cost of smoothness.

On PC, the ceiling is higher and the caveats are louder. High-end PC coverage reported around 100 frames per second on an RTX 4080 at 4K with DLSS Quality, while path tracing sat around 30 frames per second before the day-one patch — figures reported by other outlets, not measured by us. Two steps dominate the PC advice: install the day-one patch first (roughly 5 GB on PC, about 2 GB on PlayStation 5), and heed S-GAME’s warning about NVIDIA driver 621.01, which can cause unstable performance — the recommended rollback is driver 617.42 until NVIDIA issues a fix. Our NVIDIA DLSS 5 explained guide is useful background here.

Steam Deck is the clear exception: coverage puts it under 30 frames per second at the lowest settings, and the current verdict is to skip it for now. There is also no Xbox version at launch and no day-one Game Pass availability — among consoles, this is a PlayStation launch — and physical PlayStation 5 editions are not scheduled until 2027. Storage is another practical note: the PC install is roughly 145 GB, and players were advised to free around 300 GB for preloading, so clear space before you start downloading.

One more console note for online players: if you play on PlayStation 5 and deal with lag or connection issues in online games generally, our how to use a VPN on PS5 and Xbox guide and our NordVPN vs ExpressVPN comparison cover the legitimate, performance-related side of that topic — though Phantom Blade Zero itself is a single-player game, so a VPN is not part of its buying decision.

Launch facts at a glance

• Release: October 28, 2026 (digital) for PlayStation 5 and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store; physical PS5 editions in 2027.
• Price: $59.99 standard, $69.99 Digital Deluxe, as reported at launch.
• Scores: Metacritic 88 (PC and PS5 snapshots; 88–89 across platform listings as reviews accumulated), OpenCritic 91.
• Standout scores: Perfect scores from Wccftech, Saudi Gamer, and But Why Tho?; 9/10 from IGN, GamesRadar+, Push Square, and TheSixthAxis; 4/5 from VGC; 8/10 from GameSpot; 6/10 from Eurogamer.
• Early players: 399,310 concurrent Steam players the morning after launch; 79% positive across 2,002 early Steam user reviews (“Mostly Positive”).
• Pre-launch sales estimate: About 850,000 digital copies on Steam and PS5, roughly $43 million (Alinea Analytics estimate).
• Day-one patch: About 5 GB on PC, about 2 GB on PS5; NVIDIA driver 621.01 flagged as unstable, rollback to 617.42 recommended by S-GAME.
• Not at launch: No Xbox version, no day-one Game Pass.

For the fullest picture of where this launch sits in the year, check the current aggregate listing on Metacritic’s Phantom Blade Zero page — scores will keep drifting by a point or two as more reviews arrive, which is normal in the first week.

Who should buy it now — and who should wait

Buy it now if: you play action games for combat systems and boss fights; you enjoy wuxia settings or stylish, weapon-driven action; you own a PlayStation 5 Pro or a strong PC and are comfortable installing the day-one patch (and, on PC, checking your NVIDIA driver version first). For that player, the consensus is about as strong as launch-week consensus gets: an 88 average, multiple perfect scores, and boss fights reviewers keep returning to.

Wait for a patch and a sale if: story is your main reason to play, you are on base PlayStation 5 and sensitive to frame drops, you play on Steam Deck, or you dislike troubleshooting drivers and day-one issues on PC. Eurogamer’s 6 out of 10 is essentially written for this player — not as a verdict that the game is bad, but as a warning that its weaknesses land hardest exactly where this player cares most. A few weeks of patches should also clarify whether the base-console performance complaints fade or persist.

Skip it for now if: you only play on Xbox or Steam Deck, you need a physical edition (those arrive in 2027), or you want a sprawling open world with deep exploration — reviewers describe more linear levels with limited exploration, and this game earns its praise in arenas and boss rooms, not in open-world wandering.

If you do buy in, it joins a remarkably strong 2026 field — our best games to play in 2026 hub puts the year’s standouts by genre in one place, and Phantom Blade Zero’s 88 already places it near the top of the action conversation, just short of the year’s 89-scored titles and ahead of several other major 87-scored releases.

FAQ

Is Phantom Blade Zero a Soulslike? No, by the consensus description: there is no stamina bar, deaths carry no penalty, and difficulty can be changed at any time. It shares DNA with character-action games and boss-rush design more than with punishing Soulslike structure.

What is Phantom Blade Zero’s Metacritic score? 88 at launch week, across PC and PlayStation 5 listings, with OpenCritic at 91. Expect small movement as more reviews are counted.

Is Phantom Blade Zero on Xbox or Game Pass? No — there is no Xbox version at launch and no day-one Game Pass availability. It launched digitally on PlayStation 5 and PC only.

How much does Phantom Blade Zero cost? $59.99 for the standard edition and $69.99 for the Digital Deluxe edition, as reported at launch.

Should I play on PS5 or PC? PlayStation 5 Pro is the safest console pick in Performance mode; a strong PC offers the highest ceiling but currently needs the day-one patch and attention to the NVIDIA driver warning; Steam Deck is not recommended yet.

Verdict

Phantom Blade Zero is, on the first evidence, one of the best action games of 2026 — and a game whose flaws are unusually well documented for a launch week. The 88 Metacritic average, the 91 on OpenCritic, the perfect scores, and nearly 400,000 day-one Steam players all point the same way: the combat and boss fights deliver on years of anticipation. The dissent is equally specific: a divisive story, repetitive regular enemies, and launch technical issues that matter most on base consoles, Steam Deck, and unpatched PC setups. Buy it now for the swordplay; wait for patches if story, stability, or handheld play decide your purchase.

Sources: Metacritic (88), OpenCritic (91) via launch-week roundups, Steam data reported October 29, 2026, S-GAME patch/driver guidance October 28–29, 2026, Alinea Analytics sales estimates. Scores may shift as more reviews publish.