Phantom Blade Zero Is The Highest-Rated Chinese Game Of All Time

Phantom Blade Zero Overtakes Wukong, Genshin Impact As Best-Reviewed Chinese Game Ever Published Oct 28, 2026, 4:20 AM EDT Sam Woods is TheGamer’s Senior Reporter. He’s been in games journalism since 2020 and has undertaken a variety of roles in that time. These have included roles such as SEO Editor, Managing Editor at DualShockers, and Global Head of Gaming, and he's also been seen on the BBC. He was promoted to the Senior Reporter position in 2025 following a series of high-quality reports and exclusives for TheGamer. Since 2020, Sam has written over 3,000 articles and specializes in telling the stories of the people behind the games. He’s interviewed the biggest game directors, some of the industry’s top talents, told the stories of how indie games came to be, and spoken to players about what really makes them tick. He’s also interviewed some of the world’s biggest musical artists to find out how the medium has inspired their work, and TV and Film actors about their roles in video game adaptations. He even hosted a PAX panel in 2021 and made a documentary in 2024 surrounding the creation of a Disney game. Alongside this, Sam focuses on breaking news. He got the scoop on Perfect Dark’s cancellation, provided context on some AI drama, and revealed that Lady Dimitrescu’s actress would love to step back into the character’s giant shoes. These articles have been picked up by the biggest gaming sites, including IGN, GameSpot, and PC Gamer. He also loves to dive into the numbers behind the games. Sam’s journey in games journalism has taken him all over the world. He’s covered Gamescom in Germany, Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles, and Tokyo Game Show in Japan, each on three occasions. He’s been learning Japanese since 2024 with the intention of identifying and translating Japanese-language news and bringing it to English-language audiences first, something he’s done countless times. Sam’s first review was 2020’s Battletoads reboot, and he’s since reviewed games in The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, and Pokemon franchises. Sign in to your TheGamer account Chinese game development is experiencing a massive boom right now. Games like Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, and Marvel Rivals have captured the typical GaaS audience China is used to, but the country is also producing big, well-received single-player narrative adventures. Two years ago, Black Myth Wukong exceeded all expectations, earning a Game of the Year nomination and becoming Steam's second-most-played game of all time. It scored 81 on Metacritic, and while that didn't make it the highest-rated Chinese game of all time, it was an impressive score. Genshin Impact instead held that record. With the recent lifting of Phantom Blade Zero's review embargo, Genshin Impact's title as China's best-reviewed game has crumbled, with S-Game's upcoming adventure taking the crown. Phantom Blade Zero Has Just Become China's Best-Reviewed Game Ever Phantom Blade Zero has earned near-universal critical acclaim. Aside from one outlier, the majority of its reviews fell in the 8-10 range. This saw it land at an 88 on Metacritic, making it not only one of the best-reviewed games of the year, but the best to ever come out of China. With a score of 88, the game beats Genshin Impact by two, Icey by four, and Black Myth: Wukong by a whopping seven points. While it may struggle to beat Wukong's behemoth Steam concurrent player record, it's an incredible feat. You can view the full top ten below: Rank Game Developer Metascore 1 Phantom Blade Zero S-GAME 88 2 Genshin Impact miHoYo 86 3 ICEY FantaBlade Network 84 4 Eastward Pixpil 83 5 Black Myth: Wukong Game Science 81 6 Wuchang: Fallen Feathers Leenzee 81 7 F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch TiGames 81 8 Honkai: Star Rail miHoYo 80 9 Zenless Zone Zero miHoYo 77 10 Marvel Rivals NetEase Games 74 I contributed to the game's 88 Metacritic score, earning my first-ever top marks after seven years in this job. In my official Phantom Blade Zero review, I was enamored by the game's combat, boss fights, and intricate level design, saying, "Over the course of a week, I spent 45 hours exploring every nook of the world S-Game created, and I can say with great confidence that it announces the studio to the world with aplomb, as Phantom Blade Zero really does have the sauce." Systems Released October 29, 2026 ESRB Unreal Engine 5 Developer(s) S-Game Publisher(s) S-Game Engine Unreal Engine 5 Genre(s) Action, RPG