Phantom Blade Zero, an action RPG from China’s S-GAME, launched on PS5 and PC on October 29. Reports say it sold 4 million copies in just three days. So what are players saying about the game?
Using HashScraper Social Listening, we collected posts mentioning the game across 12 channels, including blogs, news sites, online cafes, communities, Reddit, YouTube, TikTok, X, Instagram, and Threads, from October 20 through the morning of November 3. There were 1,949 posts in total: 1,159 found using the Korean title “Phantom Blade Zero” and 790 using the English title “Phantom Blade Zero.” AI read 1,736 of them individually and classified each as positive, neutral, or negative.
Definition. Social listening collects posts from blogs, communities, social media, and news sites to analyze how often a product or brand is mentioned (mention volume), what words appear alongside it (associated terms), and the sentiment expressed about it (positive or negative).
Definition. Sentiment by topic is an analysis in which AI reads a sample of posts, identifies topics, then classifies each assessed post by the topics it covers and the sentiment expressed toward them. For this report, we used eight topics.
[Phantom Blade Zero social listening summary — 1.9K total mentions, communities were the most active channel, November 2 had the most mentions at 390](images/043/01_언급량_요약.png)
TL;DR
- The response was decidedly positive. Of the 1,736 posts assessed by AI, 44.3% were positive and 12.7% were negative. That is the opposite of the 51.5% negative sentiment found using the same method for the iPhone Duo’s first week after launch.
- Praise and complaints fell into distinct areas. The “combat system” was discussed most, with 209 positive posts versus 49 negative ones. By contrast, “storytelling” had 7 positive posts versus 41 negative ones, and “early-game tutorial and map design” had 5 versus 34.
- Mentions spiked three times. The spikes came when reviews were released on October 26 (114 posts), on launch day, October 29 (221 posts), and when news of “4 million copies sold” spread on November 2 (390 posts).
1. Mention volume — Three spikes: reviews, launch, and sales news
During the week before launch (October 20–25), there were around 10–30 posts a day, or 98 over the six days. Mentions then rose sharply on three occasions.
[Phantom Blade Zero mentions by channel over time — spikes on October 26, October 29, and November 2](images/043/02_언급량_추이.png)
▲ This chart stacks the daily number of posts by channel. November 3 includes posts collected through the morning only.
| Event | Date | Posts that day | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|
| Review embargo lifted | October 26 | 114 | Reviews from international outlets and YouTubers were published at once. News of a Metacritic score of 88 also circulated. |
| Launch | October 29 | 221 | The game launched simultaneously on PS5 and PC. Reports followed that its first-day peak concurrent player count on Steam exceeded 700,000. |
| Sales news | November 2 | 390 | The developer announced “4 million copies in 72 hours after launch.” A congratulatory message from the head of a Korean game company also drew attention. |
Of the 390 posts on November 2, AI classified 170 as positive—the most positive posts on any single day. One “4 million copies sold” post on a Korean community site received approximately 100,000 views and 286 comments.
[Top 5 posts by engagement — including 1.55 million views for a YouTube “Before You Buy” video](images/043/03_반응상위글.png)
▲ These are the posts with the most views, likes, and comments. International YouTube reviews and short TikTok videos took the top spots.
2. Associated terms — “game,” “action,” “combat,” and “wuxia”
The following words appeared most often alongside Phantom Blade Zero. Each word is counted once per post, even if it appears multiple times.
| Rank | Associated term | Posts containing it | Rank | Associated term | Posts containing it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | game | 492 | 9 | wuxia | 172 |
| 2 | action | 306 | 10 | weapons | 165 |
| 3 | PC | 256 | 11 | reviews | 165 |
| 4 | time | 250 | 12 | RPG | 164 |
| 5 | PS5 | 247 | 13 | price | 134 |
| 6 | launch | 238 | 14 | boss | 117 |
| 7 | Steam | 215 | 15 | story | 115 |
| 8 | combat | 181 | 16 | Korean | 111 |
The English word “game” (330 posts) was excluded from the table because it means the same as the Korean word for “game.”
“Action,” “combat,” “weapons,” and “boss” clustered near the top. It is clear what the game is remembered for. “Wuxia” (172 posts) also ranked high: its wuxia setting, rather than Western fantasy, was discussed as a distinguishing feature. “Korean” (111 posts) and “price” (134 posts) are terms Korean players check before buying.
3. Sentiment — 44.3% positive, 12.7% negative
[Phantom Blade Zero sentiment breakdown — 769 positive, 746 neutral, 221 negative](images/043/04_긍부정_비율.png)
▲ Based on the 1,736 posts assessed by AI.
| Sentiment | Posts | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Positive | 769 | 44.3% |
| Neutral | 746 | 43.0% |
| Negative | 221 | 12.7% |
Positive posts outnumbered negative posts by 3.5 to 1. The neutral share was high at 43% because many posts conveyed information without sentiment, such as launch news, sales articles, and gameplay guides.
[Phantom Blade Zero sentiment by date — positive bars remain consistently high after launch](images/043/06_긍부정_추이.png)
▲ Sentiment by date. Negative posts also increased each day after launch, but positive posts were consistently far more numerous.
The difference between Korean- and English-language posts. Broken down by search term, posts found using the Korean title were 40.9% positive and 13.5% negative (1,053 assessed), while those found using the English title were 49.5% positive and 11.6% negative (683 assessed). International reactions were slightly more favorable than Korean reactions.
4. What drew praise and what disappointed players — Eight topics
AI read a sample of posts and selected eight topics. Each assessed post was categorized by the topics it covered. If a post discussed multiple topics, it was counted under each one.
[Phantom Blade Zero sentiment by topic — most of the 376 posts about the combat system were positive, while story and the early game drew more negative reactions](images/043/05_주제별_긍부정.png)
▲ Sentiment by topic. Green is positive; red is negative.
| Topic | Posts | Positive | Negative | In brief |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combat system quality | 376 | 209 | 49 | The most discussed and most praised topic. |
| Sales scale and market response | 195 | 128 | 6 | “4 million copies” and “concurrent player records” created a celebratory mood. |
| Technical optimization and graphics performance | 152 | 31 | 46 | Negative posts outnumbered positive ones. Players noted performance differences across graphics cards and sound issues. |
| Experience by platform (storage, specifications, and price) | 130 | 3 | 17 | Mostly neutral (110 posts). Posts checked installation size, SSD requirements, lack of Korean voice acting, and price. |
| Game world and aesthetic originality | 121 | 54 | 10 | The wuxia atmosphere and presentation were well received. |
| Storytelling and comprehensibility | 90 | 7 | 41 | The most criticized topic. Many said “the story is hard to understand.” |
| Difficulty adjustment and accessibility options | 88 | 47 | 9 | The ability to change difficulty was received positively. |
| Clarity of early-game tutorial and map design | 48 | 5 | 34 | Many said the first one or two hours were the least enjoyable. |
In short: “The combat is excellent, but the story and first impression are disappointing.” This matches the assessment of international critics, who praised the combat most highly while citing the story and some performance issues as drawbacks (The Loadout).
5. What people actually said on social media
Praise — “It gets more fun the longer you play”
- “GAME OF THE F***ING YEAR.. (I played Phantom Blade Zero)” — gameplay video from a popular international streamer, approximately 1.09 million YouTube views
- “GTA 6 might be the favorite for GOTY, but Phantom Blade Zero is looking like some serious competition.” — TikTok, approximately 480,000 views
- “I’ve been playing for 10 hours, and it gets more fun the longer I play. … If you find normal difficulty hard, I recommend switching to easy.” — review on a Korean online cafe
- “It gets more fun the longer you play. … The latter part of the third map is just epic.” — review on a Korean online cafe
Complaints — The early game, story, and performance
- “It’s just an average game” — Korean YouTube review, approximately 60,000 views
- “So the beginning really was the least enjoyable part” — Korean YouTube video title
- “It’s not that the hits feel bad or anything; I think the sound is bugged” — Korean community
- Complaints about performance on specific graphics cards, such as “Damn graphics card…” — Korean communities and YouTube
Difficulty — “Too easy” abroad, “hard” in Korea
Internationally, videos such as “Phantom Blade Zero Turns Out To Be Very Easy…” (YouTube, approximately 180,000 views) circulated. On Korean online cafes, reviews calling the difficulty “brutal” appeared alongside advice to “switch to easy if it’s too hard.” Players’ experiences of the same game’s difficulty varied widely. The availability of difficulty options helped bridge that gap, and the “difficulty adjustment” topic had 47 positive posts versus 9 negative ones.
6. Reactions differed by channel
We recounted only posts that actually contained the game’s name and broke them down by channel (see “Limitations of the analysis” below for the reason).
| Channel | Assessed posts | Positive | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Communities | 404 | 42.8% | 15.8% |
| Naver and Daum cafes | 163 | 52.8% | 7.4% |
| YouTube | 161 | 52.8% | 8.7% |
| Naver Blog | 154 | 31.2% | 1.9% |
| X (Twitter) | 138 | 47.8% | 10.1% |
| TikTok | 137 | 54.0% | 17.5% |
| Threads | 128 | 53.1% | 19.5% |
| 83 | 55.4% | 1.2% | |
| 66 | 45.5% | 10.6% | |
| Naver News | 55 | 34.5% | 0.0% |
- Communities had the most posts and some of the sharpest criticism. They ranked first with 404 posts and had a high negative share of 15.8%. Complaints about performance and the early game appeared there soon after launch.
- Online cafes had many positive, long-form reviews. Reviews that included playtime helped drive the 52.8% positive share.
- Blogs and news posts were mostly neutral. Many conveyed launch information, specifications, and sales figures.
- TikTok and Threads had strong praise and complaints alike. Sentiment came through clearly in short videos and one-line reactions.
7. At a glance — First-week launch report card
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Collection period | October 20–November 3, 2026, through the morning (9 days before launch + 6 days after launch) |
| Posts collected | 1,949 (12 channels) |
| Day with the most mentions | November 2, 390 posts (news of “4 million copies sold”) |
| Positive / negative | 44.3% / 12.7% |
| Most praised | Combat system (209 positive posts) |
| Biggest disappointments | Storytelling (41 negative posts · 7 positive), early-game design (34 negative · 5 positive) |
| What to watch for in the next patch | Technical optimization (46 negative posts > 31 positive) |
8. Implications — What can first-week social data tell us?
- It shows what to fix first. When praise and complaints fall into distinct topics, priorities for the next patch become clear. Based on this data, the order would be optimization, early-game design, and storytelling.
- Sales news also shapes public sentiment. The November 2 announcement of “4 million copies” produced the most positive posts in a single day. Choosing when to announce good numbers is also part of marketing.
- The same game gets different reactions across markets. Players abroad found it “easy,” while Korean players found it “hard.” The positive share of English-language posts was 8.6 percentage points higher than that of Korean-language posts. This provides grounds for tailoring localization and marketing messages by market.
- One channel is not enough. Looking only at communities makes the response appear more critical than it is; looking only at blogs makes it appear quieter.
How we made this report
- Enter keywords — We entered the Korean title “Phantom Blade Zero” into HashScraper Social Listening and added the English title “Phantom Blade Zero” as an equivalent keyword.
- Choose channels and dates — We selected 12 channels, October 20–November 3, 2026, and a maximum of 100 posts per search term for each channel (site).
- Collect — We gathered the posts with one click. This report uses the 1,949 posts collected through the morning of November 3.
- AI sentiment assessment — A representative selection of 1,736 posts was assessed by AI.
- AI topic analysis — AI proposed eight topics, then assessed the posts again using those topics.
All images in this article are direct screenshots of the analysis screens.
Limitations of the analysis
- Some unrelated posts were included. Common words such as “zero” caused posts unrelated to the game to be picked up from Threads, Blind/ArcaLive, and Reddit. Recounting only posts containing the game’s name (1,722 posts) yields 46.1% positive and 10.9% negative, leading to the same conclusion. The channel table in section 6 was calculated on this basis.
- A maximum of 100 posts was collected per channel. Some channels reached the cap, so the actual differences in mention volume may be larger.
- Sentiment percentages were calculated only from assessed posts. These account for 1,736 of the 1,949 posts (89%).
- Figures such as sales, concurrent players, and review scores were quoted from developer announcements and news reports. They were not counted directly by HashScraper.
Frequently asked questions
Q. How was Phantom Blade Zero received in its first week after launch?
A. Positively. Of the 1,949 posts collected across 12 channels from October 20 to November 3, AI assessed 1,736: 44.3% were positive and 12.7% were negative. The most praised topic was the combat system.
Q. What were the most commonly cited drawbacks of Phantom Blade Zero?
A. Storytelling (41 negative posts · 7 positive), the early-game tutorial and map design (34 negative · 5 positive), and technical optimization (46 negative · 31 positive) were frequently cited.
Q. Which day had the most mentions?
A. November 2 (390 posts). That was the day the “4 million copies in 72 hours after launch” announcement spread in Korea and abroad.
Q. Can our game or product be analyzed this way too?
A. Yes. Set the keywords and date range, and the same analysis screens can be generated. They can be used for new launches, reactions to updates and patches, competitor comparisons, and issue response.
Conclusion
Social reactions to Phantom Blade Zero in its first week after launch were clearly positive. Players cited combat as the reason to play the game. At the same time, disappointments with the story, early game, and optimization are mounting.
Data like this is most useful when reviewed before the first week after launch is over. Breaking down what players love and what they complain about by topic helps establish priorities for the next patch and marketing message.
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