Phantom Blade Zero: The Final Big Hands-On Preview

I’ve previewed Phantom Blade Zero four times now. I usually don’t preview a game more than once for fear of repeating myself. That should tell you everything you need to know about my thoughts on this one. I recently played PBZ for two hours at Gamescom, and while I was there, the S-Game team graciously invited me to China to play six more hours, speak to its director Soulframe, and watch how the fighting was meticulously choreographed at its Shanghai studio. Even before this trip, I had an unshakeable feeling that we could have an all-time great action game on our hands. Piecing everything together, I now have a much deeper appreciation for everything the studio is doing, and having played around ten hours from different segments, I can’t see anything else beating it for my Game of the Year - not even Grand Theft Auto 6. I'm A Phantom Blade Zero Historian At This Point The first time I played Phantom Blade Zero was at Summer Game Fest in 2024. I only played a small snippet, facing off against three of the game’s bosses, but I already felt it was something special. Back then, I said it would be “one of the next big action hits”. I had so much fun fighting those three bosses that I had to revisit it at Gamescom 2025. This time I got an hour to explore a segment of the game’s world. Here, I called it “the best version of an old Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden title.” Despite a packed schedule at Gamescom this year, I couldn’t turn down a third opportunity to play the title, and before I knew it, I was making plans to head to Beijing and Shanghai for a final, extended dive into the game. While previous previews had been hand-selected experiences from Phantom Blade Zero, in this preview, I was able to play six hours of the game from the very beginning. It gave me a more comprehensive view of the melding of exploration, character development, and boss fights; this time, though, I also got a deeper appreciation for the craftsmanship, love, and dedication S-Game built into Phantom Blade Zero’s world. I’m not going to retread too much old ground here: Phantom Blade Zero’s exploration is great, its movement is fluid, combat is top-notch, and boss fights are exceptional. Instead, I want to look at how the game came to be and why you should be excited. A Dedication To Realism Second To None Image via S-GAME First and foremost, Phantom Blade Zero is an ode to Kung Fu. Throughout the seven-day trip, director Soulframe often mused about his love for all things wuxia. Donnie Yen, who appears in Phantom Blade Zero, is one of his favorite actors, and he cites movies like Hero, New Dragon Yin, and The Blade as inspirations for this game. The opening cutscene alone shows how much love and respect the team has for the art. It features a confrontation between protagonist Soul and another key character, set around a traditional temple as moody rain punctuates the night sky. A highly choreographed scene follows with picture-perfect swordplay, high-flying acrobatics, and what can only be described as a stereotypical wuxia ending. It sets a mouthwatering expectation of what’s to follow, and the six hours I played delivered on that promise. Exploring Phantom Blade Zero’s world is a treat, and so many secrets and so much lore are tucked around every corner, but its combat and action are the meat on the bones. Rightly, this is what S-Game wanted to spotlight. Phantom Blade Zero offers 30 different weapons throughout its campaign. These range from snappy dual blades to hefty greatswords and long-reaching polearms. I naturally gravitated toward a katana-like weapon—fast enough that I could steal an extra hit, but rarely too weak—and it saw me through most encounters. Sometimes, though, it didn’t quite cut the mustard, and something with more reach or heft was preferable. One of the beauties of Phantom Blade Zero is that, while there are weapon upgrades, you’re not punished for respecing them. This means that if you’re struggling against a boss with your usual piece of kit, you can go back to the drawing board and power up a weapon that is likely to be more effective. I did this a couple of times, and it was a lifesaver. One of the beauties of Phantom Blade Zero is that, while there are weapon upgrades, you’re not punished for respecing them. While I loved the flowing nature of Phantom Blade Zero’s combat, my appreciation grew exponentially after visiting the S-Game mo-cap studio in Shanghai. Those of us who made the trip were treated to a full-day session with Master Yang, the game's combat director. Here, we got to see the meticulous detail he put into planning every encounter and the thought process that went into how the game’s protagonist used each of the tools in his arsenal. The game’s cutscenes, like the one I saw in the introduction, are choreographed as if they were featuring in the next Jackie Chan or Donnie Yen movie. Actors on ropes, wearing tight black suits, flying through the air were a spectacle, but one slight misstep, and the whole scene was recorded again. Nothing but perfection was accepted. For a 30-ish hour game, S-Game spent well over 1,000 hours recording in the mo-cap studio, ensuring every cutscene was to their liking and exuded the wuxia spirit they wanted. The cutscenes were only one part of a bigger picture, though. Naturally, protagonist Soul would wield each of Phantom Blade Zero’s weapons differently, depending on their size and weight, and this was a big part of the mo-cap strategy. The team crafted replicas of each of Phantom Blade Zero’s weapons, and recorded every swing the way that Soul would when using them. It amped up the level of authenticity and is one of the many small but significant touches S-Game is adding to make the game feel real. It added context to the company's recent comments that it would never use AI. As much as I’ve mused about the game so far, some wrinkles still need ironing out. Its world felt more cohesive and fluid than Black Myth Wukong, which was littered with invisible walls, but it still featured some frustrating backtracking, and one or two bosses need serious tuning before release; they did truly feel like small wrinkles, though, and Soulframe told me personally that one specific boss was in the line for a little nerf before the game came out. Phantom Blade Zero’s team still vehemently denies it’s a Soulslike game, something I’m inclined to agree with, despite noticing more similarities this time around—think shortcuts, bonfires, and rhythmic bosses—but I don’t think genre matters here. With difficulty settings, Phantom Blade Zero differentiates itself from that genre, and I truly believe anybody who appreciates Kung Fu, action games, Souls games, and wuxia stories is in for a treat when Phantom Blade Zero launches later this month. 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