Phantom Blade Zero reviews praise its combat and brilliant weapon design

[PolePosition88]

Phantom Blade Zero has arrived to strong reviews. Kotaku rounds up the critical reaction to S-Game's action RPG, which launches on 28 October on PS5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC

It is the Chinese studio's first big budget game, first shown at the PlayStation Showcase in May 2023. Described as kungfupunk, it is an action RPG that is not a Soulslike, and it sat at a Metacritic score of 88 when Kotaku's piece was written. Some critics are calling it the best action game of the year

The combat is getting the most praise. There are 30 weapons to collect, and players equip two at a time. Game Informer compared picking up a new weapon to choosing a new fighting game character, while IGN found the combat and difficulty well balanced on the hardest setting

Other outlets were a little more measured. Eurogamer noted clear FromSoftware influences such as bell checkpoints and multi stage bosses, GameSpot praised the style but said some issues keep it out of the top tier, and VGC called it strong but not genre changing. Common criticisms include a safe and forgettable story, some lenient bosses, and glitches and frame rate dips before a major launch patch

An 88 for a studio's first major game is a superb result. Chinese developers are clearly becoming major players in action games after Black Myth: Wukong. If the patch fixes the performance issues, this could be a big hit

Will you be playing Phantom Blade Zero? And does a weak story matter if the combat is this good?

Phantom Blade Zero Reviews Call Combat And Weapons Top Tierkotaku.com