China’s video game industry has really ramped up over the past few years, with developers releasing everything from ambitious free-to-play titles like Where Winds Meet to unique Soulslike experiences found in Wuchang: Fallen Feathers. Then there’s Black Myth: Wukong, which famously won Best Action Game at the 2024 Game Awards.
Beating Black Myth: Wukong was never going to be easy, but Phantom Blade Zero’s breathtakingly cool combat, stunning environments, and adrenaline-fueled boss fights surpass its Monkey King rival.
It’s a martial arts game that combines Soulslike boss fights with stylish combat choreography inspired by movie greats like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. While it wears its influences proudly on its sleeve, Phantom Blade Zero forges its own identity to stand out from the crowd.
Phantom Blade Zero screenshots
What’s Phantom Blade Zero about?
You play as Soul, a talented member of The Order, a shadowy group renowned throughout the lands of Wulin for their exceptional fighting skills. Unfortunately, the legendary swordsman’s life is thrown into turmoil when he’s framed for killing his own master, leading its members to turn against him.
Soul finds himself crossing blades with his childhood friend, Zhou Shang, who stabs him through the heart, leaving him for dead. But just before our ill-fated protagonist bleeds out, a shadowy healer known as the Flesh Sculptor gives Soul a cursed heart.
With only 66 days to live, Soul seeks revenge for his fallen master and aims to uncover the truth behind the zombie-like Maskwalkers that now roam the land.
Despite Phantom Blade Zero’s abundance of hefty lore explainers, cutscenes, and audio-based memories, its narrative isn’t its strongest feature. Soul’s story and the mysteries surrounding Wulin’s apocalyptic world never reach the same heights as its excellent combat.
Masterful martial arts combat
The best part of Phantom Blade Zero is its fluid fights, which combine Sekiro’s satisfying parries with Where Winds Meet’s weapon-switching combos, and flashy animations that give Stellar Blade a run for its money.
Soul and his feisty foes have a posture gauge known as Sha-Chi, which must be balanced during attacking and defending. Whenever you hold down the block button, use heavy attacks, or mistime a parry, a portion of the bar will be depleted. If an enemy hits you when Soul’s energy is completely drained, you’ll be in for a world of hurt.
Fortunately, you can switch between two primary weapons, instantly resetting the Sha-Chi meter to unleash an all-out attack or swipe away fatal blows. While it can be tempting to cower behind your sword, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike, Phantom Blade Zero rewards aggression.
By constantly weaving in light and heavy attacks, you’ll build up your weapon’s unique Power Surge ability, a special melee move that delivers high amounts of posture damage. From giant two-handed spears that spin like oversized Beyblades to dual blades with attack-boosting abilities reminiscent of Monster Hunter’s Demon Mode, each weapon had me risking it all to keep my deadly dopamine rush going.
Soul also has access to Phantom Edges, powerful secondary weapons that add even more thrills to fights. These game-changing tools cost points to use, but pump out serious damage that can tear through the beefiest opponents. Take the Fire Meteor, a spiked ball and chain that ignites enemies and burns the surrounding area with green phosphorus flames. Then there’s the Puppeteer’s Bell, which summons NPCs to fight alongside Soul, akin to Black Myth: Wukong’s clones.
S-Game (Dexerto)Pulling off a perfectly timed attack with them is satisfying, especially when combined with a barrage of combos that look every bit as stylish as they are cathartic. Do enough damage, and you’ll be rewarded with brutal takedowns that match Ninja Gaiden 4’s bloody Obliteration Techniques.
Whether you’re ripping an enemy’s arm off and using it as a makeshift baseball bat, or decapitating an opponent and kicking their head into another fighter for a Shaolin Soccer-inspired finisher, Phantom Blade Zero’s fights deliver enough over-the-top action to satisfy the biggest kung fu movie fan.
Brilliant boss fights and stylish weapons
Phantom Blade Zero’s lack of respawning enemies and its use of boss checkpoints, which let you restart from the second or third phase after dying, make failure less punishing, but its inventive encounters kept me glued to the screen, even if they rarely reached the hard-as-nails heights of Black Myth: Wukong’s challenges.
During my 35+ hour playthrough, I crossed paths with a fire-breathing lion dancer that had me countering his flames with what can best be described as an ancient Super Soaker. The second phase of the fight opened up an opportunity where I could tear off one of the lion masks from his minions, using it to leap atop wooden beams and blast him with my own fireballs.
S-GAME (DEXERTO)Another memorable showdown pitted me against a lute player whose musical ability matched that of a child playing the violin with their teeth. Every shrill string pluck sent ranged slashes that cut through the air, forcing me to time my deflections to send them hurtling back at her.
There was even a humorous duel against a drunken martial arts master who swayed around a wooden bridge, drinking alcohol to recharge his shield, and even lay atop Soul for a quick drink whenever I failed to dodge a special attack.
S-GAME (DEXERTO)Sadly, that variety doesn’t extend to regular enemies, whose ranks mainly consist of sword-wielding soldiers and twin-daggered assassins, with the occasional bird or wild dog thrown into the mix. Even when playing on the highest starting difficulty, they felt like glorified punching bags that rarely posed a threat.
Fortunately, Phantom Blade Zero’s huge weapon roster gives you plenty of ways to dispatch them. You’ll find cursed blades that carpet the ground in explosive spider lilies, whip-like swords that let Soul effortlessly block attacks while walking, and huge two-handed polearms that can cleave through multiple enemies.
Phantom Blade Zero isn’t short on pointy, sharp things for you to master, and it encourages you to try them all. Upgrade materials invested in a weapon can be refunded as many times as you like, letting you switch up your playstyle without losing precious resources. It’s a welcome addition, especially when a new weapon could be the perfect counter to a troublesome boss.
Stunning environments packed with secrets
Whether you’re trekking along a picturesque mountain path littered with red maple leaves, leaping across rain-soaked rooftops in an ancient city, or gingerly making your way through a cursed village filled with shambling puppets, every inch of Phantom Blade Zero’s interconnected world is begging to be explored.
I played on a PC equipped with an RTX 5080 on a 4K OLED TV, with all graphical settings dialed up to the max. The result was a real treat for the eyes, with buttery-smooth frame rates and plenty of environmental eye candy. Phantom Blade Zero’s world isn’t just beautiful, though. It’s bursting with secret bosses, side quests, alternate paths, and hidden items.
S-GAME (DEXERTO)Because of this, I found myself methodically combing through each area and backtracking to older locations to hoover up juicy upgrades that bolster Soul’s abilities, enhance his weapons, or improve his offensive/defensive capabilities through new accessories.
While slogging through previously trodden territory isn’t something you usually look forward to, Phantom Edge gadgets provide exciting new opportunities to explore. For example, the Bashpole can smash through boarded-up craters that lead to underground labyrinths, while the Dread Axe cuts through colossal chains to open up new paths.
Although the lack of respawning enemies makes Phantom Blade Zero less punishing than some Souls rivals, it leaves cleared areas feeling eerily quiet, with only a handful of background characters and merchants for company. Not a bad thing when you’re leisurely hunting for secrets, but annoying when there’s no poor sap to try out your new badass weapon on.
Verdict
Phantom Blade Zero is a martial arts masterclass. It delivers over-the-top swordplay and fast, flashy, thrilling fights that make it the best action game of 2026.
The environments are absolutely stunning, rivaling Black Myth: Wukong’s visuals while surpassing it with more rewarding exploration and better combat. Its world is also brimming with secret bosses, hidden weapons, and new paths to uncover that make it hard to put down.
While Phantom Blade Zero’s story and regular enemies don’t always match the same highs of its addictive combat, if this is the kind of quality we can expect from S-Game going forward, then I can’t wait to see what’s next from the Beijing-based studio.
