What was tested, and how
S-Game has given the game a large set of graphics options, including quality controls for lighting, materials, shadows and reflections. It supports NVIDIA DLSS, AMD FSR and Intel XeSS, plus both ray tracing and path tracing on PC.
DSOGaming's test rig was a Ryzen 9 7950X3D with 32GB of DDR5-6000. It ran 64-bit Windows 10 with GeForce 617.14 and Radeon Adrenalin 26.9.2 drivers. The GPUs were:
- AMD: Radeon RX 6900 XT, RX 7900 XTX and RX 9070 XT.
- NVIDIA: GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, RTX 3080, RTX 4090, RTX 5080 and RTX 5090.
The reviewer says the game uses Unreal Engine 5.7.4 and Denuvo. Steam's listing confirms Denuvo and Unreal Engine 5, but not the specific 5.7.4 version.
The game has no built-in benchmark. DSOGaming used the starting area, which it judged to be one of the most demanding spots in the first two chapters. NVIDIA supplied the review code. That is worth knowing, but nothing in the report shows it affected the results.
Path tracing: gorgeous and expensive
The reviewer says path tracing makes Phantom Blade Zero one of the best-looking games on PC. It also fixes many of the game's visual flaws, though the game still looks great without it. Those are qualitative judgments, not measured image-quality scores.
DSOGaming's path-tracing numbers on the RTX 5090, at native resolution with TSR:
| Resolution | Reported frame rate |
|---|---|
| 4K | 25–27 FPS |
| 1440p | 46–47 FPS |
| 1080p | Above 60 FPS |
The reviewer says the card couldn't hold a constant 60 FPS at native 1440p with path tracing.
The practical fix is upscaling plus frame generation:
- DLSS Quality at 4K: the RTX 5090 managed 54–60 FPS, which the reviewer calls a good base for frame generation.
- MFG X2: about 100 FPS, with no noticeable input-latency problems in the test.
- MFG X3 and X4: higher frame rates, but DSOGaming gave no figures.
Ray Reconstruction
Turning on DLSS with path tracing enables Ray Reconstruction by default. DSOGaming compared DLAA with Ray Reconstruction against native TSR. It found shadows noisier and more pixelated without Ray Reconstruction. It also found the DLAA and Ray Reconstruction setup ran 10 FPS faster than native TSR. That 10 FPS is one tested comparison, not a universal gain.
Turn off motion blur for frame generation
The reviewer first saw visible artifacts with DLSS 4.5 Frame Generation during very fast camera movement. He says these came mainly from the Motion Blur setting. With motion blur off, the major artifacts went away. If you use frame generation, turn motion blur off.
Ray tracing sits in the middle
The reviewer places ray tracing between rasterized and path-traced rendering. It looks better than rasterized and worse than path tracing. It runs slower than rasterized and faster than path tracing. If your GPU can't handle path tracing, ray tracing is the fallback.
Menu-only toggle
You can't switch ray tracing or path tracing on or off during play. You have to go back to the main menu. Because the game relies on checkpoints, comparing the modes means reaching the same spot more than once.
Rasterized performance (no ray tracing)
At Ultra settings with no ray tracing:
- 1080p: the reviewer says his "top five GPUs" stayed above 60 FPS at all times. He doesn't say which five cards that means.
- 1440p: only the RTX 4090 and RTX 5090 stayed above 60 FPS at all times. The RTX 5080 gave a smooth experience, though the reviewer suggests a G-Sync monitor.
- Native 4K: only the RTX 5090 reached 60 FPS, with dips to the mid-50s, so the reviewer again suggests G-Sync.
The settings scale well. Ultra and Very High differ very little in looks and performance. The RTX 5090 stayed above 65 FPS at native 4K on High. Medium added about 10 FPS, and Low reached 100 FPS. Exact numbers for the Ultra and Very High presets weren't given.
Stutter and first launch
The first launch includes a lengthy shader pre-compilation phase. The reviewer then reports no major shader-compilation or traversal stutter during play. He calls it one of the smoothest UE5 games he has tested. That is one reviewer's experience on a high-end rig. It doesn't prove every setup or later area will behave the same.
Other outlets' results are mixed
Other early coverage doesn't match DSOGaming's smooth experience:
- Wccftech reports around 100 FPS at 4K with High settings and DLSS Quality on an RTX 4080. Ray tracing dropped that to the high 50s, and path tracing to about 30 FPS. It saw only minor traversal stuttering.
- Glitched reported severe frame-pacing problems and camera stuttering on an RTX 5080, despite roughly 60 FPS with maximum settings and path tracing. That is Notebookcheck's summary of Glitched's findings.
So the stutter-free result is encouraging but not settled. Check user reports after launch.
Official requirements
Steam lists these requirements:
| Tier | Hardware | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Core i7-8700K or Ryzen 5 3600, 16GB RAM, GTX 1660 6GB or RX 5500 XT 8GB | 1080p/30 FPS with upscaling |
| Recommended | Core i5-10600K or Ryzen 5 5600X, 16GB RAM, RTX 3060 Ti 8GB or RX 6700 XT 12GB | 1440p/60 FPS with upscaling |
Both tiers need Windows 10/11 64-bit and an SSD. These targets assume upscaling and don't cover ray tracing or path tracing. EnosTech reports that S-GAME's separate guidance recommends an RTX 5060 8GB for ray tracing at 1080p/60 with upscaling, and an RTX 5080 16GB for path tracing at 2160p/60 with upscaling. DSOGaming's RTX 5090 results fit that picture. Native 4K path tracing is far out of reach, and upscaling does most of the work.
Release date and practical advice
S-Game's site lists a release date of October 29, 2026, while Steam shows October 28, 2026. I haven't been able to reconcile the two, so check your own storefront.
If you plan to play:
- Expect a long shader compile on first launch, and don't kill it.
- Start with rasterized High or Very High. Use Ultra only if you have a high-end GPU.
- Use ray tracing if your card can't handle path tracing.
- If you use path tracing, pair DLSS (with Ray Reconstruction) with frame generation.
- If you use frame generation, turn off Motion Blur.
- Plan to choose ray tracing or path tracing at the main menu before you start.
- If your GPU is mid-range, use DLSS, FSR or XeSS and lower the preset instead of chasing native resolution.
Bottom line
On DSOGaming's evidence, Phantom Blade Zero looks excellent, scales well and avoids major stutter once shaders are compiled. Path tracing is a high-end option that needs upscaling and frame generation. The caveats are one test area, one reviewer's setup and mixed reports elsewhere, so re-check after launch.