Phantom Blade Zero ships with two full voice tracks, English and Mandarin, and you pick one before you swing a sword. S-GAME sent the press the same build twice, once in each language, so I went through both cuts line by line. Here’s what each version gives you, what the English changes, the seams in the press build, the Donnie Yen twist, and which one I’d pick.
Every claim on screen says who made it. The Chinese lines are S-GAME’s own subtitles, the glosses are ours and say so, and every seam is labelled press build, so launch may fix some of it. I speak both languages, so the Chinese words in the narration are read in Mandarin and the captions spell them in pinyin.
More on Phantom Blade Zero
Why you take your weapons from bosses https://youtu.be/Vj1wTGAD4Xw
The launch trailer’s hidden message https://youtu.be/GCbx9Tlcbso
The Chinese words the English version keeps https://youtu.be/yJo0_Ky_iLQ
The real places hidden inside it https://youtu.be/_Euc8NytEcQ
How the fights were made https://youtu.be/cvOtyGDLJHo
The films and books behind it https://youtu.be/YZ1MVkYAPbY
What China really thinks of it https://youtu.be/yETSYtdDHLo
How it compares with its closest rivals https://youtu.be/QqVnModZFP0
How its combat actually works https://youtu.be/BJT8RY5O-O0
The lore, the 18-year story behind Soul https://youtu.be/td8_J0qXPzs
The previews are in https://youtu.be/tLIQbQi_LRc
Everything we know before launch https://youtu.be/NTlEp3r-dvI
Chapters
0:00 Same scene, two languages
1:18 Two full performances
3:01 Liang’s Silksong lesson
5:25 What the English changes
7:59 The voices
10:46 The seams in the press build
12:06 Donnie Yen’s voice
13:33 My answer
Phantom Blade Zero launches 29 October 2026 on PS5 and PC (28 October in North America).
English or Mandarin? Tell me which one you’re picking, and why, in the comments.
Sources
S-GAME’s two press cuts of the same October 2026 build, the English one as Geek Culture posted it and the Chinese one as UCG posted it. S-GAME’s trailers in both languages (the 2023 reveal, the TGA 2025 trailer and the pre-order trailer, the Mandarin versions from S-GAME’s Bilibili channel) and the State of Play deep dive. S-GAME on X (April 2026) and the Steam store page (read 23 October 2026). Soulframe Liang to Inverse (December 2025) and in his post of 17 August 2026 (via GCORES). GamerSky on Chen Hao, reported. Previews from PC Gamer (August 2025), Game8 and RPGFan (October 2026), reported. Bilibili viewers’ comments, quoted as viewers. Hollow Knight Silksong’s Steam review scores, read 23 October 2026. Our glosses and measurements are marked as ours on screen.
Footage
Official S-GAME and PlayStation footage, S-GAME’s English press footage as Geek Culture posted it and its Chinese press footage as UCG posted it (the Chinese cut appears in split screen only), S-GAME’s Mandarin trailers from its Bilibili channel, and screenshots of the source pages (Steam, Inverse, GCORES, Bilibili).
#PhantomBladeZero #影之刃零 #PS5
source
it might be a bit much, yet i hope the game will have two versions of english subtitles based on the dub you choose, so they fit and everyone can experience the amazing writing, Maybe a mod will come out if not
兄弟是英语专业的吗？太厉害了。你的视频非常棒，更多人应该看到，已subscribed
Might play it in Chinese, assume there can be English subtitles ?
English dub aint hitting the same. Gonna play with subs on
so the translation is just ass and they just went full on western translation and not keep their own culture in it and playing it safe. Shame
Well made vid
Lol gonna play in English, get that old poorly dubbed kung-fu film feel.
It would be cool if they would add a literal English translation for the English subtitles.
I've watched all but I think 2 of your videos and am SO THANKFUL for this series (I checked 2 days ago & didn't watch "Everything we know Before Launch" & "The Previews are in" but I will watch them and give you a like b/c I want to help your channel).
I've watched literally hundreds of videos about this game from that first State of Play trailer in 2023 to the launch trailer. I have a private YouTube playlist titled "Phantom Blade Zero" and know I have watched those close to if not more than 100 times. I've read so much about this game from Soulframe's early years through now. However, what I was learning about was more about the game, Soulframe's story from the Rainblood series until now but nothing that I learned from your videos over the past 10 days about culture, translation, etc. Then, I still remember about 10 days ago your first video showed up in my feed and it was the "70/30 Rule" video (sorry I forgot the title). That reeled me in and I've watched every video since and I appreciate you sharing your gift of understanding Mandarin & Chinese culture. It sounds like your last video in THIS series (what you know from trailers, interviews, articles, etc.) but wanted to ask if you will start another series after the game releases? If you won't have time I completely understand but if you do, I will be watching.
This video was excellent (just like the others) and I understand your recommendation. However, for my 1st playthrough I'm going to be playing it in English and will explain (this is just an explanation, it's not to counter anything you said and honestly, I just want people to play this game no matter what they choose). I've said for years that I've never been more excited for a game in my life than I am for Phantom Blade Zero and I've been gaming for 40 years at 48 years old. Watching all of the videos (trailers, people playing at the Beijing even last summer, etc.) the language wasn't on my mind and instead I was blown away by the combat, learning that EVERY MOVEMENT BY ALL CHARACTERS was motion captured and then watching people play it at the event, seeing with my own eyes that what we watched in all the previous trailers was indeed how the game felt with the controller in your hands. That was confirmation that this game's combat was indeed going to be something special. I praised S-Game for the story appealed to everyone in the world. We didn't have a lot of the details but at the time just knew Soul had been framed and had 66 days to figure out the truth (back then it was assumed that it was possible to save him but we didn't know).
Then late spring 2026 I read and confirmed that S-Game had motion captured lip-syncing in both Mandarin and English, I hadn't heard of any game at least a worldwide AAA doing this showed they wanted to appeal to both the west and the east. I still wanted to see how that looked but the time & cost to do this confirmed 100% they wanted to appeal to a much larger audience.
Then some time after Summer Games Fest it came out that everything we had seen so far was side quests (you mean this looks amazing and we haven't seen the main part of the game? The part where developers put the MOST time and money into and we're still waiting for that? I was speechless, okay I could only think "Holy ****!").
August came, I sat down to watch the preorder trailer, preorders opened a few minutes before that started and I preordered it both on Steam and PS5 since I have a Pro b/c even then I knew this was going to special. Watched the trailer with more story, game is more polished but also there was more emotion than I had felt up to this point. Also, my answer about the lip-syncing was answered because when Mu Xiaokui talked in the trailer the lips were SPOT ON!!!! Then, when I though it was over it cut to "that scene" where the mask disappears, I hear the voice and literally yelled – "THAT'S DONNIE YEN!!!! OMG!!!!" The trailer said "Creative Consultant – Facial & Motion Capture Actor of Mó Yuan." I couldn't believe they had got Donnie Yen to "consult" and be in the game but it's what I found out the next day took my excitement to another level (I didn't think I had another level, LOL). He and his team had been working with S-Game for 3-years and it had been kept under "lock and key" without any leaks. I never thought we would have another "Luke! I Am Your Father" moment b/c that was 1980 and the only reason that wasn't leaked is they used a false page and only a few people knew about it before it released. We know a bunch of people knew about this inside S-Game b/c look at how many people were in the room when they show the video of Donnie being motion captured. I know in the west we leak like crazy but something THIS BIG stayed a secret until that moment and that showed how much EVERYONE at S-Game was on the same page. Also, I wish more people understood how BIG that moment was b/c nobody saw it coming!!!!! Then the State of Play was amazing because we finally got to learn SO MUCH more with my favorite being the reforging talisman where we can respec at any time. With 30 main weapons and 25 Phantom Edges, that meant S-Game WANTS everyone to try out all the weapons we get b/c they designed every enemy different and if it's a struggle, respecing into a different weapon is encouraged. I say encouraged since they said you could beat the game with his childhood wooden sword but I'm not going to bang my head against the wall to try that, LOL (I look at that statement as another "mode" b/c 66 days mode is ONLY in Hellwalker but as hard as that is maybe beating the game in Pathbreaker only using a wooden sword at least isn't permadeath!)
Finally, I come to my conclusion (like my previous post, I'm sorry for the LONG BOOK but I'm passionate for this game and like you said in that response, you encourage this). Watching the launch trailer was so emotional for me. It revealed more about the story, looked AMAZING, the English voices were as good as any other game (even Soul saying "Not Too Late" was on a different level vs previous trailers) & most importantly, I FELT the music in that trailer and I had tears flowing throughout the trailer, especially that final section. That's when I came to my decision to play the game in English for my first playthrough. I want to get immersed in this game where I actually can FEEL what the characters feel. So, for me at least, if I have it in Mandarin with English subtitles, I have to focus on reading the subtitles that will take away the immersion I want to experience that first time. Lastly, I believe the music is going to be the better than any other music in 2026 (movies, games and even music albums) and for me maybe ever. That's why my first playthrough HAS to be in English but again, that's me and again, I just want people to play it no matter what they decide👍👍
Like my last post, I'm sorry for typing so much. I feel like I'm typing a high school essay, lol but I'm more passionate for Phantom Blade Zero than any game probably in my life. I really do hope you will have time to do these videos after the game releases and I will watch every second of every video. Have a great weekend and we're so close!!! (4 days, 7 hours, 32 minutes and I didn't look at the Playstation timer, LOL). Thanks again for everything.
English first because I would like to enjoy the battle voice lines as I'm right in the thick of it. But I would like to see little touches of Chinese within the text itself. For example there's a place marked on the map as, "first meeting with Yu'er", and knowing who I think Yu is, that is adorable and sad 😭.
It almost always just better with the original language so you don't get some cringe lines when translated to English lol.
Chinese is a very complicated language with lots of hidden meaning. English Fans wont be able to fully appreciate it.
The problem with this game is that character(s) speaks during battle and the problem is how do you read subtitles during combat?
I like those eng voices so ill go with it
great breakdown. seems we're in for a real treat
Original language always
This is the 1st foreign game where I'm gonna play it in English the dub sounds really good.
Al be playing in English , voice acting reminds me of Sekiro voices which I liked
I am bilingual, though I speak Cantonese instead. Regardless, I would be playing the game in Mandarin as opposed to English.
Also, I was surprised to hear Cantonese in that lion dance fight when I first saw that trailer.
I think this game might have too much fast-paced action to read subs mid-boss fight.
就像是合金装备系列英语配音和日语配音的区别，在中国仍然会有人讨论两种语言的选择，拿它们做对比。比如英语版有人觉得没有感情像在棒读，日语版有人觉得听起来太中二，欧美面孔的人说日语很出戏。有些人也因为一些知名的配音演员而选择日语版。而我选英语配音，因为相较于日语，英语我更熟悉一点，能听懂大部分内容。
Damn bro, appreciate the effort you've been putting into these videos. Loads of videos are all like "10 things you need to know before buying" so your videos are a breath of fresh air.
ALWAYS in chinese dub like i did for wukong & wuchang but mostly on english sub 1st then after played ALOT of times will switch to chinese sub with new save
I play majority of games in their native language with subtitles unless it's in english as it's more authentic and usually elevates my experience.
說真的這主題裡面有很多屬於翻譯文化壁壘的，你很難真的找到完美的英語去解決這問題。
The localization for PBZ (and most non-gacha Chinese games in general) is "serviceable" at best. Everything's understandable but devoid of practically every nuance, and this directly leads into the generic, uninspired English VO as well.
Heck, you might as well run the Chinese script through AI and it'll generate something on par if not better.
I don’t speak enough Mandarin to understand without English subtitles, but I’ll definitely be playing with Mandarin audio
Always English maybe second playthrough Chinese
As a bilingual of English and Chinese, this is a no-brainer, Chinese.
I know 0 mandarin so i wouldn't even be able to appreciate the voice acting, now i understand why some people play japanese games in english.
Unless it's a Gacha game, having a Japanese dub can't be justified, money-wise. I'd love to have one, because Japanese voice acting is in a different dimension, not even close.
Gonna play in Chinese like I did in wukong
Lost in translation is inevitable. There will be abominations, like "Master Roshi".
As a streamer I would play my first playthrough in English as i want my viewers to focus on the game instead of reading it. But i would go back to mandarin after that. I did the same for Wukong and sifu even though i do play it on Cantonese..
Could I enable Mandarin with English subtitles in the game, I don't think it's possible right. 😊
So what game are you playing till phantom blade zero comes out, I'm replaying Cyberpunk 2077, cause there's a new 2.5 update will play till phantom blade zero comes out 😊