Phantom Blade Zero Gameplay, Difficulty and PC Requirements: How Combat, the Four Modes and Settings Work

By Kimi · October 30, 2026 · 19 min read

Key takeaways

Combat runs on one meter, Sha-Chi. The PlayStation Blog says blocking drains it and an empty meter leaves you staggered. Game Informer and PC Gamer say basic attacks cost nothing and the heavier Sha-Chi attacks do, and Game Informer adds that sprinting is free. Swapping to your other main weapon refills the meter, on a cooldown.
Attacks that flash blue can be parried and attacks that flash red can only be dodged, according to GamesRadar+, PC Gamer and Eurogamer. GamesRadar+ and PC Gamer also describe a third, black-tinged attack that drains Sha-Chi and should be dodged, and GamingBolt calls these black-flash attacks.
The four difficulty modes are Wayfarer, Pathbreaker (the default), Hellwalker and Sixty-Six Days. GameSpot, which played after launch, says a first boot offers only the first three, and that Sixty-Six Days plays at Hellwalker’s difficulty, locks you into it and gives you 66 lives.
Sixty-Six Days is a New Game+ mode with its own save file and autosaves only at bells, according to a pre-launch Wccftech report of director Soulframe Liang’s comments. GameSpot says you keep your gear, upgrades and builds but not quest items. ⚠️ No source we read states which difficulty you must finish to unlock it.
S-GAME’s four PC tiers start at a GTX 1660 or RX 5500 XT for 1080p at 30 fps and top out at an RTX 5080 for 2160p at 60 fps with path tracing, all with upscaling. Steam and S-GAME say it needs an SSD and about 145 GB. It is also on GeForce NOW, and as of 06:25 UTC on Oct. 30 Valve had not rated it for Steam Deck.
⚠️ S-GAME tells NVIDIA users to roll back to driver 617.42, while NVIDIA names 621.01 as the game’s Game Ready driver. Neither had changed its advice as of 06:25 UTC on Oct. 30, and we recommend neither.

Phantom Blade Zero’s combat revolves around one meter, Sha-Chi, which drains as you block and use heavy attacks and refills when you swap weapons. Of its four difficulty modes, Sixty-Six Days opens only after a first run, in New Game+, and S-GAME’s PC minimum is a GeForce GTX 1660 or Radeon RX 5500 XT for 1080p at 30 fps with upscaling. S-GAME’s wuxia action RPG has been out on PS5 and on PC through Steam and the Epic Games Store since Oct. 29, 2026. We have not played Phantom Blade Zero. This guide is built from S-GAME’s own statements, the PlayStation Blog and launch-week guides, reviews and hands-on reports, and every judgment about how the game feels or how hard it is belongs to the outlet named beside it. Status details such as drivers and Steam Deck support are as of 06:25 UTC on Friday, Oct. 30 (2:25 a.m. EDT). For launch timing, review scores, the story, price and whether it’s worth buying, see our Phantom Blade Zero review round-up .

How does combat work in Phantom Blade Zero?

Combat is a back-and-forth between attacking and defending, built around a meter called Sha-Chi that drains as you block or use heavy attacks and refills when you swap between your two main weapons. These are the PS5 default inputs as the PlayStation Blog lists them:

Square: basic attack.
Triangle: a more powerful attack. Game Informer and PC Gamer call these Sha-Chi attacks.
R1: dodge.
L1: tap to parry, hold to block.
L2: Power Surge, once your Sha-Chi Essence is full.
D-pad Left: swap between your two equipped main weapons.

We found no published list of default keyboard bindings for the PC version, so none appears here.

Sha-Chi shows up as a yellowish bar under your health, according to Game Informer, and these are the rules sources give for it:

What drains it: blocking, per the PlayStation Blog, and Sha-Chi attacks, per Game Informer and PC Gamer. Both outlets say basic attacks don’t cost any, and Game Informer says sprinting doesn’t either.
What happens when it runs out: you can be staggered and left open to attack, the PlayStation Blog says.
How to refill it: swap weapons. The PlayStation Blog, IGN, Game Informer and GamesRadar+ all describe the swap refilling Sha-Chi, and the three outlets add that it runs on a cooldown that abilities can shorten. GamesRadar+ says the cooldown is very short after one swap and much longer if you swap again straight away.
Turning it against enemies: enemies have Sha-Chi too. The PlayStation Blog says perfect parries, dodges and landed blows wear down an opponent’s Sha-Chi so you can cut through their defenses. PC Gamer adds that basic attacks chip at a boss’s meter.

What do the blue, red and black attack flashes mean?

Attacks that flash blue can be parried and attacks that flash red can only be dodged, according to GamesRadar+, PC Gamer and Eurogamer, and a third, black-tinged kind drains your Sha-Chi. Eurogamer calls dodging red attacks and parrying blue ones the single most effective way to break a boss’s guard. PC Gamer’s controller shorthand is red for the right bumper, which dodges, and blue for the left bumper, which parries. On PS5 those are R1 and L1.

Blue: GamesRadar+ says a perfect parry against a blue-flash attack deals heavy Guard Break damage, draining a lot of the enemy’s Sha-Chi so it staggers sooner.
Red: GamesRadar+ says not to try parrying these, because they can only be dodged.
Black: outlets describe this third telegraph differently. PC Gamer says the boss Peng Meng gives off a smoky black aura before these attacks, GamesRadar+ says the screen briefly turns black and white, and GamingBolt calls them black-flash attacks. PC Gamer and GamesRadar+ say to dodge rather than block, and GamesRadar+ says these attacks can drain all your Sha-Chi at once and leave you open to follow-ups. GamingBolt says swapping weapons, which restores all your Sha-Chi, is the best way to recover from them.

Once an enemy’s guard breaks, PC Gamer suggests following up with Sha-Chi combos, and GamesRadar+ points to Power Surge.

How do Power Surge, Phantom Edges, finishers and stealth work?

Power Surge is a heavy attack fueled by Sha-Chi Essence, Phantom Edges are limited-use secondary weapons, and finishers and stealth kills can chain to a second enemy, outlets say.

Power Surge: the PlayStation Blog says you build Sha-Chi Essence by landing attacks. Once it is full, L2 unleashes a Power Surge that overpowers your opponent, interrupts their attacks and deals massive damage.
Phantom Edges: these secondary weapons have specific but limited uses, according to the PlayStation Blog. PC Gamer says they spend sparks, and that you get a fixed number of sparks back every time you rest at a bell, along with your healing medicines. IGN gives the example of a Dread Axe ability that costs two sparks.
Phantom Edges as tools: some open the map up as well. The PlayStation Blog says certain paths are blocked until you have a specific Phantom Edge that lets you smash through a barrier or grapple up to a distant spot. Game Informer adds Phantom Edges that break floors and unlock hidden staircases.
Finishers: Eurogamer says hitting a quick-time prompt at the right moment during an execution can take out two enemies at once.
Stealth: PC Gamer and GamesRadar+, which share an owner, both say you can sneak up on enemies for a high-damage assassination and often chain it to a second enemy nearby. GamesRadar+ calls the stealth system not especially deep but still worth using.

How do weapons, upgrades and builds work?

Most weapons come from bosses you defeat, there are more than 30 main weapons, each has its own combos and effects, and you can reforge an upgraded weapon to get your materials back.

Where weapons come from: the PlayStation Blog says you claim most weapons from defeated bosses rather than from chests or shops. Its example is the Scarlet Wraithblade, from the boss Hua, Deadly Betrothed, whose combos summon spider lilies that slow enemies down.
How many there are: exact counts differ. S-GAME’s Steam page promises more than 30 primary weapons and more than 20 Phantom Edges. Liang’s Aug. 17 PlayStation Blog post says more than 30 main weapons and 25 Phantom Edges, Game Informer counts 30 and 25, and Liang told Wccftech in October that S-GAME designed 30 different weapons.
What weapons do: the PlayStation Blog says each weapon has its own fighting style, special combos and status effects, such as bleeding or draining an enemy’s life. GamesRadar+ says puppets and some other foes are immune to bleed. Game Informer says bleed weapons are less effective in the Village of Lu, where most enemies are puppets with no flesh or blood.
Upgrades: PC Gamer and Game Informer say many weapon types use their own upgrade materials. PC Gamer says a weapon or Phantom Edge gains a new active or passive ability every five upgrade levels, and IGN lists level-5 examples.
Reforging: S-GAME, in Liang’s Aug. 17 post, says you can always reforge a weapon and get its materials back to spend on another. PC Gamer and IGN say this is free up to level 10 and costs a reforge consumable after that, and IGN adds a second threshold at level 20 and separate consumables for weapons and Phantom Edges. GamesRadar+ simply says any weapon can be reverted to level 1 at any time. Game Informer and IGN both say the consumables are plentiful.
Accessories and abilities: PC Gamer calls accessories the main source of a build besides weapons. Both it and GamesRadar+ say you unlock more accessory slots, and GamesRadar+ says the Boundless Capacity abilities take you up to six. GamesRadar+ says abilities are bought with Remnant Dust, the main currency, which PC Gamer and GamesRadar+ say you also earn by examining notes and objects.
Health and stats: PC Gamer says attack, Sha-Chi and health rise through three collectibles: Blackstone, Sha-Chi Amber and Memory Flowers. Game Informer says completing sets of Memory Flowers is the only way to gain health, from 3% for small sets to 10% for the largest. PC Gamer and Game Informer both say some ability-tree nodes need Banyan Hearts, which come from combat trials at special banyan trees.

What happens when you die in Phantom Blade Zero?

Outlets describe death as costing far less than in a typical Soulslike: you keep your currency, cleared enemies stay dead, and on multi-phase bosses a cleared phase stays cleared.

No lost currency: PC Gamer says you don’t lose Remnant Echoes when you die.
No respawning enemies: PC Gamer and IGN both say resting at a bell does not bring enemies back.
Boss phases stick: Game Informer says many bosses have a single phase, but on those with more than one, dying in the second phase leaves the first complete, so you return to start the second. PC Gamer describes the same restart at the later phase, and IGN praises the game’s boss checkpoints for not making failure cost you momentum.
Bells: these work as checkpoints. GamesRadar+ says you can also use them to travel freely between regions, and PC Gamer says resting at one restores your medicines and Phantom Edge sparks.

On every setting except Sixty-Six Days, the 66 days Soul has left are a story device rather than a timer. GamesRadar+ says in-game time passes only at specific story beats, and GamingBolt says side quests and exploration don’t eat into his lifespan on the three settings it could choose from.

How do exploration and side quests work?

The world is built for backtracking: the PlayStation Blog says some paths open only with a specific Phantom Edge, and outlets say some side quests can be failed or missed.

Gated areas: the PlayStation Blog says you will often find places you can’t reach yet and come back to them later. GamesRadar+ says many are marked on the map with a red icon that turns green once you have what you need. Game Informer says the map shows which tool is required.
Missable quests: PC Gamer says some quests can fail. GamesRadar+ names A Healer’s Mercy in the Crimson Forest as one you can lose by leaving it too long.
Purple quests: Game Informer quotes S-GAME as saying that skipping the purple-marked side quests means missing roughly a third of the game’s content and getting its most basic ending. Game Informer also says the game warns you before the finale that this is your last chance to finish side content.
No rush: PC Gamer says the game has few points of no return, so a tough optional boss can wait until you are stronger.

What are Phantom Blade Zero’s four difficulty modes?

The four modes are Wayfarer, Pathbreaker, Hellwalker and Sixty-Six Days, but GameSpot says a first boot offers only the first three.

Wayfarer: for players who simply want to enjoy the story, according to Liang’s Aug. 17 PlayStation Blog post.
Pathbreaker: the default, according to Hardcore Gamer, which says it gives a decent challenge. GamingBolt calls it normal difficulty. Liang’s Aug. 17 post does not name this mode.
Hellwalker: more advanced and adaptive enemy AI, Liang wrote. In a group interview Wccftech published on Oct. 8, he said the higher difficulties change enemy AI and behavior trees, not just stats, so enemies are more active and have more skills, including more dangerous ones. His example was the Flower Bride, whose single white flower becomes three attacking from different directions on Hellwalker.
Sixty-Six Days: each death costs Soul one of his 66 days, and the run ends when they run out, as Hardcore Gamer and Liang describe it. GameSpot says the mode is the same difficulty as Hellwalker, with 66 lives, and Liang told Wccftech it is very hard.

When can you play Sixty-Six Days mode?

Not on your first run: GameSpot reached it only after finishing the game, and a pre-launch Wccftech report says S-GAME made it an exclusive New Game+ mode, though no source we read says which difficulty you must finish first.

GameSpot’s hands-on, published Oct. 29, says:

A first boot offers Wayfarer, Pathbreaker and Hellwalker, but not Sixty-Six Days.
Its writer reached the mode after beating the game on Hellwalker in about 40 hours. GameSpot does not say whether a lower setting also unlocks it.
Sixty-Six Days matches Hellwalker’s difficulty and locks you into it, with 66 lives. If you die 66 times, you have to start over.
You keep all your gear, upgrades and builds, but not quest items.
The biggest complaint it expects is that players must invest 30 to 40 hours just to reach the mode.

Before launch, Wccftech reported on Sept. 10 that S-GAME had made Sixty-Six Days an exclusive New Game+ mode. It quoted a Bilibili post by Liang, relayed on the game’s subreddit, which Wccftech says he wrote on the game’s original Sept. 9 release date. As quoted there, Liang said:

The mode’s save file is separate from the other difficulties.
Touching a bell autosaves the game, and there is no manual save, so you cannot reload to before a mistake.
Using up all your days triggers an ending of regret with a short animation. After it plays, that run’s data is gone for good, and the game asks whether you want to start over.

GamingBolt’s review also says only three difficulties were available to it, and Hardcore Gamer says players can move up to Hellwalker and “eventually” 66 Days. S-GAME has not posted these rules in patch notes or on Steam.

Can you change difficulty, and does it affect trophies?

Hardcore Gamer and GameSpot say you can switch difficulty whenever you like on a normal run, but GameSpot says Sixty-Six Days locks you into that setting. Hardcore Gamer’s review says the modes can be adjusted on the fly, GameSpot’s hands-on says the same of its Hellwalker run, and Eurogamer describes lowering the setting to Wayfarer.

On trophies and New Game+, Liang has said:

In his Bilibili post, as quoted by Wccftech on Sept. 10, that every achievement can be earned on the first three difficulties, even playing entirely on Wayfarer in a single run, and Wccftech says none is tied to Sixty-Six Days.
In the Oct. 8 Wccftech interview, that most players can get the platinum trophy in one run on any difficulty, as long as they spend enough time exploring, fighting and learning the mechanics.
In the same interview, that “We don’t lock new content behind New Game Plus”. He said at least the last 10 weapons, which you get late in the game, are meant to give New Game+ and Sixty-Six Days a different feel.

How hard is Phantom Blade Zero, according to reviewers?

Reviewers split: IGN found the hardest setting well tuned, PC Gamer says it is tough only on max difficulty, GamingBolt found Hellwalker humbling, and Eurogamer found bosses spongy even on Wayfarer. Our review round-up covers scores and the wider verdicts. On difficulty specifically:

IGN says it played only on the hardest difficulty, beat just about every major boss in two or three tries, and found the tuning consistently right.
PC Gamer, after more than 50 hours, says it is not a particularly tough game unless you play on max difficulty, and that finishing all the side content left it steamrolling the late game.
GamingBolt played on Pathbreaker and dipped into Hellwalker, whose adaptability, fake-outs and new attack patterns it says can humble you fast.
GamesRadar+ says some secret bosses needed for the true ending are a huge jump in difficulty.
Eurogamer found a large share of bosses spongy, both on the default setting and after it lowered the difficulty to Wayfarer.
Hardcore Gamer says the default Pathbreaker setting gives a decent challenge.

S-GAME’s own framing is in Liang’s Oct. 28 Steam letter: the team wants as many people as possible to have fun and unwind, while giving players who want a challenge an extra rush of adrenaline.

What PC do you need for Phantom Blade Zero?

S-GAME’s minimum is a GeForce GTX 1660 or Radeon RX 5500 XT for 1080p at 30 fps with upscaling, and Steam and S-GAME say the game needs an SSD and about 145 GB of space. S-GAME publishes four tiers. The table lists the graphics cards each tier names and the resolution and frame rate it targets, all with upscaling on.

Tier	GPU	Target
Minimum	GTX 1660 / RX 5500 XT	1080p, 30 fps
Recommended	RTX 3060 Ti / RX 6700 XT	1440p, 60 fps
Ray tracing	RTX 5060	1080p, 60 fps
Path tracing	RTX 5080	2160p, 60 fps

The minimum tier pairs those cards with an Intel Core i7-8700K or AMD Ryzen 5 3600, and the recommended tier with a Core i5-10600K or Ryzen 5 5600X. Both call for 16 GB of RAM, 64-bit Windows 10 or 11, DirectX 12 and an SSD. The ray-tracing and path-tracing tiers list a graphics card only, with no CPU or memory. Steam’s listing and S-GAME’s Oct. 26 notice put the install at about 145 GB, and the notice says it must go on an SSD. S-GAME also says it spent a great deal of time on how the game looks with ray tracing off and tested it extensively on mid-range and lower-end PCs.

Which graphics and upscaling options does the PC version have?

The PC version supports DLSS, FSR, XeSS and Unreal Engine’s TSR upscaling, frame generation and optional ray tracing and path tracing, according to Wccftech’s tuning guide. NVIDIA separately confirms DLSS 4.5 with Dynamic Multi Frame Generation and Ray Reconstruction on GeForce RTX cards. Every other detail below comes from Wccftech alone, in a guide published Oct. 28. It tested one Core i7-14700K and RTX 4090 system with driver 621.01, using a pre-release build, apparently before S-GAME’s day-one patch of about 5 GB, which S-GAME says significantly improves ray-tracing and path-tracing performance. These are Wccftech’s findings, not settings advice from us.

Engine and upscalers: Unreal Engine 5.7.4, with DLSS Super Resolution, FSR Upscaling, XeSS Super Resolution and TSR.
Frame generation: DLSS (Multi) Frame Generation, plus FSR and XeSS Frame Generation. Wccftech says the latter two seem to appear only on matching AMD and Intel cards.
Reflex: NVIDIA Reflex can be turned on only together with DLSS Frame Generation.
Path tracing: requires DLSS Ray Reconstruction, which makes it exclusive to GeForce RTX cards.
Menu: five presets, from Low to Ultra, plus an automatically recommended preset. There is no handheld preset and no VRAM meter. Dynamic resolution can target only 30 or 60 fps.
First launch: a shader compilation step took about 8 minutes on Wccftech’s Core i7-14700K and removed most shader stutter.
Its measurements: Wccftech’s optimized settings averaged 39% more frames than the Ultra preset at 1440p with ray tracing off. Ray tracing added about 1.5 GB of VRAM use, and path tracing nearly 3 GB.

Does Phantom Blade Zero work on Steam Deck or GeForce NOW?

It is on GeForce NOW, but Valve had not given it a Steam Deck rating as of 06:25 UTC on Oct. 30. NVIDIA’s GFN Thursday post on Oct. 29 says the Steam version launched on GeForce NOW that day, and that Ultimate members stream it with RTX 5080-class performance. That is an option if your PC falls short of the specs above.

Valve’s compatibility report for the game still showed no rating when we checked at 06:25 UTC on Oct. 30. S-GAME’s Oct. 28 letter says it tested extensively on handhelds and supports 16:10 screens. Wccftech notes there is no handheld graphics preset.

Which NVIDIA driver should you use for Phantom Blade Zero?

S-GAME and NVIDIA give opposite advice, and we recommend neither: S-GAME says to roll back to driver 617.42, while NVIDIA names 621.01 as the game’s Game Ready driver. Here is where each stood at 06:25 UTC on Oct. 30:

S-GAME: its Oct. 28 Steam letter, signed by Liang, says the team saw some performance instability with 621.01 and found that 617.42 currently gives the best experience. It recommends rolling back with a clean installation and staying on 617.42 until NVIDIA’s next driver, which it expects soon.
NVIDIA: its Oct. 20 driver announcement names 621.01 WHQL as the Game Ready driver for Phantom Blade Zero, and its Oct. 28 launch post again tells players to install that Game Ready driver for the best experience.
Wccftech: it used 621.01 throughout its testing and says it saw no driver-specific problems on its system, though it adds that results may differ on other PCs.

S-GAME’s newest post on Steam at that time was still the Oct. 28 letter. We found no NVIDIA WHQL driver newer than 621.01, only the optional 621.12 hotfix, which NVIDIA does not present as a Phantom Blade Zero fix.

What control and accessibility options are there?

S-GAME says PS5 players get three button layouts and PC players get more flexible remapping, and Eurogamer lists full key and button remapping among the accessibility options. S-GAME’s Oct. 28 letter also describes:

An audio setting that changes the tone of clashing blades.
Support for 16:9 screens, 16:10 laptops and handhelds, and ultrawide displays wider than 3:1.

Eurogamer’s accessibility list adds:

On/off settings for motion blur and camera shake.
Brightness adjustment and two font sizes.
Separate sliders for music, effects and dialogue.
Inverted axes, and adjustable vibration and sensitivity.

Steam’s listing adds adjustable text size, custom volume controls, subtitle options and full controller support. Wccftech notes that camera shake is a slider that defaults to 80, and that motion blur has its own intensity slider.

What hasn’t been confirmed yet?

Several points are still open: the Steam Deck rating, the driver dispute, the exact Sixty-Six Days unlock rule and any post-launch patches.

Unlocking Sixty-Six Days: GameSpot reached it after a Hellwalker run, and Wccftech’s pre-launch report calls it New Game+ only, but no source we read says which difficulty you must finish first. S-GAME has not published the mode’s rules on Steam.
Steam Deck: Valve had not rated the game as of 06:25 UTC on Oct. 30.
Drivers: S-GAME expects a new NVIDIA driver soon; until then its rollback advice and NVIDIA’s 621.01 recommendation still conflict.
Patches: S-GAME had published no patch notes after launch as of 06:25 UTC on Oct. 30, so Wccftech’s pre-release settings figures may already be out of date.

We have not played Phantom Blade Zero. Everything on this page about how it plays or how hard it is comes from S-GAME, the PlayStation Blog or the outlets named, and we will update it as S-GAME, Valve and NVIDIA post changes.

Sources

How we verified this

We have not played Phantom Blade Zero. This guide explains how the game works from S-GAME’s own materials, the PlayStation Blog and launch-week guides, reviews and hands-on reports. Every judgment about how the game feels or how hard it is belongs to the outlet named beside it. Mechanics on this page rest on S-GAME, the PlayStation Blog, or at least two outlets. Some of those outlets share an owner: PC Gamer and GamesRadar+ both belong to Future, and IGN and Eurogamer both belong to Ziff Davis. Where only one outlet, or only one owner’s outlets, support a point, the page says so.

We read the controls and the Sha-Chi rules on the PlayStation Blog’s Oct. 28 post by contributor Phil Hornshaw, and the official difficulty descriptions in Soulframe Liang’s own Aug. 17 PlayStation Blog post. Liang’s post describes Wayfarer, Hellwalker and Sixty-Six Days but does not name Pathbreaker. The name Pathbreaker and its status as the default come from Hardcore Gamer and GamingBolt. The blue-parry and red-dodge rule rests on GamesRadar+, PC Gamer and Eurogamer, and the black-flash name on GamingBolt. Weapon counts differ by source. Steam’s store copy says more than 30 primary weapons and more than 20 Phantom Edges, Liang’s Aug. 17 post says more than 30 main weapons and 25 Phantom Edges, Game Informer says 30 and 25, and Liang told Wccftech on Oct. 8 that S-GAME designed 30 weapons. The reforge thresholds come from PC Gamer and IGN, and GamesRadar+ describes the system more loosely. The cap of six accessory slots and the red-to-green map marker come from GamesRadar+ alone. That bells refill your sparks comes from PC Gamer alone. Stealth chaining comes from PC Gamer and GamesRadar+, which share an owner.

The Sixty-Six Days rules rest on two sources. GameSpot’s hands-on by Max Blumenthal, published at 18:25 UTC on Oct. 29, 2026, says a first boot offers Wayfarer, Pathbreaker and Hellwalker, that it reached Sixty-Six Days after beating the game on Hellwalker, and that the mode matches Hellwalker’s difficulty, locks you in, gives 66 lives and carries over gear, upgrades and builds but not quest items. Wccftech reported on Sept. 10, 2026 that S-GAME made the mode an exclusive New Game+ mode, quoting a Bilibili post by Liang that it saw relayed on the game’s subreddit, which it says Liang wrote on the game’s original Sept. 9 release date. The separate save, the bell-only autosave, the regret ending and the achievement rules are Liang’s quoted words; the New Game+ description is Wccftech’s. We have not seen the original post. Neither source states which difficulty you must finish to unlock the mode. The platinum and New Game+ comments come from Wccftech’s group interview with Liang, published at 8:01 p.m. EDT on Oct. 8 (00:01 UTC Oct. 9). That you can change difficulty on a normal run comes from Hardcore Gamer and GameSpot.

The PC figures come from different sources. The four spec tiers come from S-GAME’s Aug. 12 requirements page, and the 145 GB install size from Steam’s listing and S-GAME’s Oct. 26 notice. The driver advice comes from S-GAME’s Oct. 28 Steam letter, signed by Liang, NVIDIA’s Oct. 20 driver announcement naming 621.01 WHQL, and NVIDIA’s Oct. 28 launch post, which again tells players to install the game’s Game Ready driver. GeForce NOW support comes from NVIDIA’s Oct. 29 GFN Thursday post. Every settings-menu detail and performance figure comes from Wccftech’s tuning guide alone, published at 8:28 p.m. EDT on Oct. 28. Wccftech tested on one Core i7-14700K and RTX 4090 system with driver 621.01, using a pre-release build whose last patch was 103 GB, apparently before the roughly 5 GB day-one patch that S-GAME says improves ray-tracing and path-tracing performance. Those findings are Wccftech’s and are not our settings advice.

We last re-checked the time-sensitive points at 06:25 UTC on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026 (2:25 a.m. EDT). At that time, Valve’s Steam Deck compatibility report for app 4115450 still returned an unrated status, S-GAME’s newest Steam post was still its Oct. 28 letter, and we found no NVIDIA WHQL driver newer than 621.01, only the optional 621.12 hotfix, which NVIDIA does not describe as a Phantom Blade Zero fix. The page leaves out PS5 graphics modes, because sources disagree on them, along with unofficial mods, Steam user-review figures and sales estimates.