By Ari Notis Published Oct 25, 2026, 8:56 PM EDT Ari Notis is deputy editor of games at Polygon, where he oversees the gaming section. Previously, he was Polygon’s guides editor. Prior to joining Polygon, he was a reporter at Kotaku, the popular gaming site, and a senior editor at the lifestyle publication Best Life. He also served in various editorial capacities at various Hearst publications, including Esquire, Veranda, and Metropolitan Home. Ari is one of the people who still play Halo Infinite on a weekly basis. There are dozens of them! Analysis The people love a good parry
Image: S-Game Add Polygon.com on Google Add as Preferred Source Follow on Google Discover Phantom Blade Zero Sign in to your Polygon.com account Like Like follow Follow followed Followed Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap 2026 officially has a new highest-rated game of the year. Reviews are in for Phantom Blade Zero , the Wuxia-inspired action game from S-Game, and they've solidified it as one of the best-reviewed games of 2026 — a feat that could help its chances at scoring a nomination for the 2026 Game Awards in December.
As of this writing, Phantom Blade Zero is currently sitting at an 88 on Metacritic , which puts it ahead of other glossy action games from 2026 (basically: GOTY bait), like Control Resonant , 007 First Light , and Saros . Though it's still trailing the year's high-octane racing games, Star Wars Galactic Racer (tied at 88) and Forza Horizon 6 (solidly at an impressive 90). Here's what the critics have to say about Phantom Blade Zero .
In a 9/10 review for IGN, Travis Northup was glowing about Phantom Blade Zero 's combat, though was less sold on the narrative. "Phantom Blade Zero is one of the best action games I’ve played in a long time, with standout combat that never came even close to feeling old across 50 hours," Northup wrote. "Its tale of betrayal and revenge mostly plays it extremely safe, and some unfortunate invisible barriers and technical hiccups can cause minor frustrations – but the overwhelming majority of my time with this stunning, incredibly well tuned adventure was downright awesome."
Over at GameSpot, in an 8/10 review , Richard Wakeling was of a similar mind. Review headline: "Phantom Blade Zero’s Combat Is So Good, You Won’t Care The Story Makes No Sense." Though Wakeling acknowledged "some cool storytelling moments here and there" and loved the kungfupunk aesthetic, he noted that "the story is tough to follow and difficult to care about." But the action, for Wakeling, is enough: "Every moment feels like you’re in the middle of a Chinese martial-arts movie, pulling off moves that shouldn’t be feasible–moves that go against what we expect from third-person action games."
Image: S-Game At VGC, in a four-star review , Dave Aubrey also praised Phantom Blade Zero 's kungfupunk setting and dizzying martial arts action, explicitly saying that it's "undoubtedly stronger than genre stablemates like Black Myth: Wukong ." ( Black Myth: Wukong was nominated for Game of the Year at the 2024 Game Awards and won Best Action Game that same year.) Aubrey was yet another critic for whom Phantom Blade Zero 's story didn't click, calling both the narrative and characters "bland."
For a three-star review at Eurogamer, Emma Kent found the pacing of the combat to be a bit uneven, citing whiplash between frenetic ca…