Chinese game development is experiencing a massive boom right now. Games like Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, and Marvel Rivals have captured the typical GaaS audience China is used to, but the country is also producing big, well-received single-player narrative adventures.
Two years ago, Black Myth Wukong exceeded all expectations, earning a Game of the Year nomination and becoming Steam's second-most-played game of all time. It scored 81 on Metacritic, and while that didn't make it the highest-rated Chinese game of all time, it was an impressive score. Genshin Impact instead held that record.
With the recent lifting of Phantom Blade Zero's review embargo, Genshin Impact's title as China's best-reviewed game has crumbled, with S-Game's upcoming adventure taking the crown.
Phantom Blade Zero has earned near-universal critical acclaim. Aside from one outlier, the majority of its reviews fell in the 8-10 range. This saw it land at an 88 on Metacritic, making it not only one of the best-reviewed games of the year, but the best to ever come out of China.
Controversially, Phantom Blade Zero earned a nomination for The Golden Joystick's Ultimate Game of the Year, despite only...
