Phantom Blade Zero is an astounding achievement for the action genre. So astounding that I feel pulled to experience everything it has to offer… and that means instead of rolling credits, I’ve been busy completing story-critical side quests and more to get the most complete ending. That’s another way of saying I am enjoying this game very, very much but still need more time to render a final verdict, which is why you’re reading a review-in-progress of Phantom Blade Zero rather than a scored piece. 

Though I’m not interested in guesstimating a score right now, I know it will be high because Phantom Blade Zero impresses and then some. It is one of the best action games I’ve ever played, and I’m shocked to be writing that. This is a debut of sorts for developer S-Game, which has dabbled in mobile games and smaller-scale titles; it’s the team’s first triple-A release, and its first game of this kind. This studio is so clearly a dedicated student of the genre, analyzing what works here and what works there in other action greats to create something of its own. It looks forward at what action games can do, can play like, can look like, while looking back at the games before it and understanding why those games – games like Devil May Cry, Elden Ring, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Bayonetta, and just about every other quality action game you can think of – continue to be ones we hold so highly. Should it stick the landing, Phantom Blade Zero will join that echelon of action pedigree.

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