![\"Phantom](\"https:\/\/gameinformer.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/body_default\/public\/2026\/10\/25\/22105bb3\/pbz10.jpg.webp\")
<\/p>\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/article>\n
Protagonist Soul is a quiet, mostly stoic martial arts master who prefers to let his blades (of which there are so, so many) do the talking. The Order he\u2019s sworn his life to betrays him, and, in an effort to right wrongs, he discovers a villainous conspiracy to seize full power of the blood-soaked Chinese martial underground known as Wulin. As a result, puppets, secret sects, powerful god-like creatures, monstrous beasts, and much more prowl Wulin\u2019s various biomes. I haven\u2019t kept count, but there are a massive number of enemies to take down, both standard mob variants and bosses, and the game stays fresh throughout. It’s even fresher when you consider how many weapons you can acquire on Soul\u2019s journey.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Every weapon is wholly unique, like picking up a new character in a fighting game, each with its own moveset and abilities. Upgrading these weapons through various tiers unlocks additional abilities, and you can even Soul Temper weapons to add one final, game-changing ability or perk. A fully upgraded weapon can have a moveset that uses the majority of buttons on your controller. You can do the same with Phantom Edges, special tide-turning weapons with limited uses (before you build up additional charges). Combined with different accessories and medicine types, Phantom Blade Zero offers hundreds, perhaps thousands, of combat kit permutations. You can play as a drunken fighter who switches between sober, tipsy, and drunken states, with his range and damage output changing as a result; you can focus on a bleed build, ripping enemies to shreds with charged attacks that utilize Soul’s own HP to deal extra damage (that can then be earned back with bleed); you can use lightning, wind, fire, and ice to create elemental storms against enemies, and you can use a sword that switches between different elemental states on command as well. You can also just pound enemies to pulp with Phantom Edge fists, too. I\u2019ve struggled to stop using these fists since acquiring them because they\u2019re so satisfying.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/article>\n Forty-plus hours into Phantom Blade Zero, it feels like I\u2019ve played as dozens of different Souls because I’ve discovered so many build types. S-Game smartly pushes you to try new builds and weapons as you get them, doling out generous upgrade materials and currency; it encourages you to try everything, and the next weapon might just become your new favorite.\u00a0<\/p>\n Finding these materials (and additional fights) is great fun, too, because Phantom Blade Zero\u2019s various open-area biomes are a genuine joy to explore. You are always rewarded for taking the optional path, and those rewards are always worthwhile. You might find a healthy pile of upgrade materials, or a boss with a weapon you\u2019ll fall in love with. The way buildings, alleys, caves, cliffsides, and other environmental features weave in and out of each other evokes FromSoftware\u2019s architectural design and the subsequent shortcut \u201caha!\u201d moments.\u00a0<\/p>\n That said, Phantom Blade Zero is definitively not a Soulslike, though you\u2019d be forgiven for assuming as much given its challenging suite of bosses, interconnected world, and Phantom Bell checkpoints, which are this game\u2019s equivalent of bonfires. However, its challenge is much more surmountable (with various difficulties and accessories to ease parry and dodge timing), and its world progression is materially different. Kill an enemy and it\u2019s dead for good, which to my surprise, adds a sense of worldbuilding I didn\u2019t know I wanted. Progression through this journey feels tangible because I\u2019m actually removing traces of evil with my weapons, traces that don\u2019t respawn when I interact with checkpoints. It\u2019s a nice change of pace that narratively speaks to Soul\u2019s efforts.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Along the way, countless reading materials shed light on Phantom Blade Zero\u2019s intertwining stories, and tracking down the next memory, scroll, or book entry rewards you if you\u2019re interested in the full picture of this Wuxia story. I\u2019d argue the game\u2019s story is its weakest element, but only when compared to the rest of the package. It doesn’t break any new ground narratively, but it provides enough mystery and thrill to keep things moving. And while performances are great, talking to characters is still mostly just two people standing across from each other talking through a new quest. Fortunately, cutscenes pick up the slack with dramatic villains, heartfelt revelations, raw tension, and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n Production value is high across the board, thanks to incredibly impressive animation and a beautiful rendering of this dark fantasy China. Faces are lifelike, nudging up just shy of the uncanny valley as close-ups reveal porous details, lip quivers, and more, bringing an excellent cast of Chinese performances to life. The English voice acting has its standouts, but Soul\u2019s voice is boring, so I highly recommend the Chinese vocals.\u00a0<\/p>\n Boss fights draw clear inspiration from Chinese cinema and boast a wondrous sense of awe and scale that only the best in the genre typically offer. There are a ton of bosses, too, with very few repeats (repeats do happen in segmented challenge trials), and it\u2019s impressive to think back on just how many I defeated, and just how many of them delivered a unique fight. I appreciate the checkpoints between boss phases as well. There are so many bosses \u2013 nearing 100 or more if I had to guess \u2013 and having my progression saved through phases removes some of the repetition I often feel when, say, phase two of a boss continues to kill me and I have to blitz through phase one again and again before taking another stab at it.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/article>\n That scale and on-screen excitement carry through almost every fight in the game, down to even the simplest mob fights, though these are starting to feel a touch repetitive as I\u2019m barreling toward the game\u2019s end. Soul moves like the world\u2019s greatest martial artist, but your controller inputs make it happen. If you mash the attack button, it looks nice\u2026 but if you use each weapon\u2019s prescribed inputs and abilities, Phantom Blade Zero delivers a level of detailed action I\u2019ve seen in few other games. You direct the game\u2019s action, and this lets you turn what might otherwise be just another group of fodder enemies into an electric bout of spectacle.<\/p>\n To say I greatly enjoy this game greatly undersells my feelings \u2013 writing this review-in-progress is frustrating because I want to get back to Phantom Blade Zero. I expect to reach credits in the coming days, so please be on the lookout for my final verdict this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Phantom](\"https:\/\/gameinformer.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/body_default\/public\/2026\/10\/06\/78a8a2ed\/ss_51675168a60e5309793179a9f1cb044fb0e49206.1920x1080.jpg.webp\")
<\/p>\nPhantom Blade Zero In-Game Screenshots:<\/h4>\n
![\"Phantom](\"https:\/\/gameinformer.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/body_default\/public\/2026\/10\/25\/b6c36725\/pbz8.jpg.webp\")
<\/p>\n