Phantom Blade Zero Review In Progress: S-Game's Debut Could Redefine Action RPGs

Phantom Blade Zero arrives as a revelation from S-Game, a studio previously known for mobile and smaller-scale titles attempting its first triple-A action RPG on PS5 and PC. The reviewer calls it an astounding achievement for the action genre, placing it alongside Devil May Cry, Elden Ring, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and Bayonetta as a potential new standard-bearer. After forty-plus hours played and nearing 100 bosses defeated, the verdict remains in progress — not because the game falters, but because the reviewer wants to experience every story-critical side quest and ending before rendering a final score. For action game veterans, this is the rare debut that demands attention immediately.

The significance here extends beyond a single strong release. S-Game has clearly studied the genre's history, synthesizing lessons from FromSoftware's architectural design, PlatinumGames' combat fluidity, and Team Ninja's build depth into something that feels both familiar and distinctly its own. The game's Wuxia setting — the blood-soaked Chinese martial underground known as Wulin — provides a fresh backdrop. The game unfolds across open-area biomes. Phantom Bell checkpoints serve as this game's bonfire equivalent, but with a important twist: enemies stay dead permanently once killed, creating tangible progression that narratively reinforces Soul's cleansing of Wulin. Multiple difficulty options and accessibility accessories ease parry and dodge timing for players who want them, making the challenge more surmountable than genre expectations might suggest. The package targets players who value combat depth, build experimentation, and exploration rewards over narrative innovation — a clear audience signal from a studio that knows exactly what it wants to deliver.

What Is Phantom Blade Zero?

Phantom Blade Zero is an action RPG developed by S-Game for PlayStation 5 and PC, marking the studio's first triple-A release after a history of mobile and smaller-scale projects. Protagonist Soul is a stoic martial arts master betrayed by The Order he served, thrust into a conspiracy to seize control of Wulin — a dark fantasy version of China's martial arts underground populated by puppets, secret sects, god-like creatures, and monstrous beasts. The game unfolds across open-area biomes. Phantom Bell checkpoints serve as this game's bonfire equivalent, but with a important twist: enemies stay dead permanently once killed, creating tangible progression that narratively reinforces Soul's cleansing of Wulin. Multiple difficulty options and accessibility accessories ease parry and dodge timing for players who want them, making the challenge more surmountable than genre expectations might suggest. The package targets players who value combat depth, build experimentation, and exploration rewards over narrative innovation — a clear audience signal from a studio that knows exactly what it wants to deliver.

Combat Systems and Build Variety

Combat is the core of Phantom Blade Zero’s charm, and the reviewer says it offers a level of detail that few other titles match. Every weapon feels like a fresh character in a fighting game, each with its own moves and powers. Upgrades open up extra tricks, while Soul Tempering adds a single, decisive advantage. When fully upgraded, a weapon can make use of most controller buttons. The same depth exists with Phantom Edges—special tide‑turning weapons that have limited uses and recharge over time. Combined with a wide range of accessories and medicine types, the game lets you build hundreds, perhaps thousands, of combat setups. That breadth is what keeps the action fresh and the challenge exhausting.

This variety translates to genuinely distinct playstyles. The reviewer highlights a drunken fighter build that switches between sober, tipsy, and drunken states with shifting range and damage output; a bleed build that spends Soul's own HP for charged attacks that heal back through bleed damage; and elemental builds wielding lightning, wind, fire, and ice — including a sword that switches elemental states on command. The Phantom Edge fists proved so satisfying the reviewer struggled to stop using them. S-Game encourages experimentation by doling out generous upgrade materials, pushing players to try new weapons and builds as they acquire them — the next weapon might become a new favorite.

Exploration and World Design

Phantom Blade Zero's open-area biomes are described as a genuine joy to explore, with buildings, alleys, caves, and cliffsides weaving together to create shortcut "aha!" moments that evoke FromSoftware's architectural mastery. Taking optional paths always yields worthwhile rewards — upgrade materials, new weapons, or bosses with unique drops. The permanent death of enemies transforms exploration into tangible progress; clearing an area feels meaningful because those traces of evil don't respawn at checkpoints, a design choice that reinforces the narrative of Soul's journey through Wulin.

Countless reading materials — memories, scrolls, book entries — flesh out the intertwining Wuxia stories for players who want the full picture. But the reviewer notes that tracking these down rewards narrative curiosity rather than mechanical necessity. The world design succeeds in making exploration feel rewarding without mandating it, a balance many open-world games struggle to achieve. For players who enjoy environmental storytelling and the satisfaction of mastering a space through repeated traversal, the biomes deliver consistently.

Boss Design and Encounter Variety

Boss fights draw clear inspiration from Chinese cinema, boasting a sense of awe and scale that only the genre's best typically offer. The reviewer estimates nearing 100 bosses with very few repeats — repeats only appear in segmented challenge trials — and expresses genuine impress at how many delivered unique encounters. Checkpoints between boss phases remove the frustration of replaying early phases repeatedly, a quality-of-life feature that respects player time. This design philosophy extends to the combat itself: Soul moves like the world's greatest martial artist, but player inputs make it happen. Mashing produces pretty but ineffective results; using each weapon's prescribed inputs and abilities transforms even simple mob fights into electric spectacles.

The sheer volume of boss encounters — a massive number by any standard — suggests S-Game prioritized encounter design as the game's backbone. Few action games offer this density of unique, memorable fights, and the phase checkpoint system ensures the challenge remains engaging rather than exhausting. For players who measure action games by their boss roster quality, Phantom Blade Zero appears to set a new benchmark.

What Doesn't Work

The story is identified as the weakest element, though only by comparison to the exceptional combat and exploration. It doesn't break new ground narratively, and character interactions mostly consist of static dialogue between two people standing across from each other. Cutscenes pick up the slack with dramatic villains, heartfelt revelations, and raw tension, but the core narrative delivery remains conventional. English voice acting has standouts, but Soul's performance is described as boring — the reviewer highly recommends Chinese vocals for the authentic experience, noting the excellent cast brings lifelike facial animations to life.

Late-game mob fights are starting to feel repetitive as the reviewer barrels toward the ending. While individual encounters remain mechanically satisfying, the volume of standard enemies begins to wear thin over a 40-plus-hour campaign. This is a common issue in action games of this length, but it stands out precisely because the boss variety remains so high — the contrast highlights where development focus landed. Players should expect the final stretch to test their enthusiasm for clearing trash mobs between the game's true highlights.

Phantom Blade Zero represents a remarkable debut for S-Game, delivering combat depth and encounter design that rival established genre leaders while carving its own identity through Wuxia aesthetics and permanent enemy death. The reviewer's frustration at writing this review-in-progress instead of playing more speaks volumes — this is a game that commands attention through mechanical excellence. Whether it sticks the landing in its final hours will determine if it joins the action genre's highest echelon, but the foundation is undeniably strong. The final verdict arrives this week.