The reviews are in, and 2026 has a new best-rated action game. Phantom Blade Zero, the Wuxia-inspired action game from S-Game, is sitting at 88 on Metacritic after its review embargo lifted this weekend — which Polygon calls enough to make it officially the best-rated action game of the year so far, and a feat that could help its chances at a Game Awards nomination in December.
What the Critics Are Saying
The praise centers almost entirely on the combat. IGN’s Travis Northup scored it 9/10 and called it “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” — even as he noted its tale of betrayal and revenge “mostly plays it extremely safe,” with “some unfortunate invisible barriers and technical hiccups” causing minor frustrations. GameSpot’s Richard Wakeling gave it an 8/10 under a headline that says most of it — “Phantom Blade Zero’s Combat Is So Good, You Won’t Care The Story Makes No Sense” — writing that “every moment feels like you’re in the middle of a Chinese martial-arts movie, pulling off moves that shouldn’t be feasible.”
DualShockers went higher than anyone: 9.5/10, with a verdict of “one of the best games you’ll play this year,” praising the way curiosity is rewarded — including two optional regions the review describes as “massive and fully realized,” easy to miss entirely if you only follow the main quest’s waypoint.
Where It Lands in 2026’s Rankings
That Metacritic 88 puts Phantom Blade Zero ahead of the year’s other glossy action releases — Polygon names Control Resonant, 007 First Light, and Saros as the competition it now beats — though it trails 2026’s racing heavyweights, Star Wars Galactic Racer (tied at 88) and Forza Horizon 6 (at 90). VGC’s four-star review even argues it’s “undoubtedly stronger than genre stablemates like Black Myth: Wukong,” which won Best Action Game at the 2024 Game Awards.
The Caveats: Story and Bosses
If there’s a pattern in the softer takes, it’s the narrative. VGC called both the story and characters “bland.” Eurogamer’s three-star review from Emma Kent loved the street fights — “This game is exceptional in so many areas — the animations, the beautiful environments — and when the combat works, the sense of flow is incredible,” with multi-opponent brawls “so cinematic and so satisfying” — but found the boss battles deflate it, leaving you feeling “like you’re waiting your turn to get hits in with a wooden sword.” Polygon’s own review crowned it “the perfect martial arts game, for better and worse”: Paulo Kawanishi wrote that “there are few joys like watching a good Wuxia movie play out on screen — an experience that S-Game recreated in Phantom Blade Zero,” while concluding the game ultimately “lacks putting trust in the player” to act out its dazzling abilities. GamesRadar’s bottom line calls it “a GOTY contender with combat that looks as good as it feels,” with a couple of boss-fight bugs it expects to be patched “on or shortly after launch.”
Phantom Blade Zero launches October 29 on PC and PS5. The preview wave already called it a “playable kung fu movie” — we rounded that up here — and now the review wave has turned the hype into 2026’s critical benchmark for the action genre.
Sources
- Polygon — Phantom Blade Zero is officially the best-rated action game of 2026 (so far)
- Eurogamer — Phantom Blade Zero review
- DualShockers — Phantom Blade Zero Review: One of the Best Games You’ll Play This Year
- GamesRadar — Phantom Blade Zero review: “A GOTY contender with combat that looks as good as it feels”