Phantom Blade Zero Day-One Update Brings Performance Improvements, Nvidia Driver Warning

Phantom Blade Zero has made its debut on Steam, swiftly climbing to the top of the most-played chart. A day one patch is highly recommended for both PC and console players prior to gameplay. The update, approximately 5GB in size for PC and 2GB for PS5, addresses a host of bugs and delivers performance enhancements. Specifically, it boosts ray tracing and path tracing, thereby enhancing real-time lighting, shadows, and rasterization, ensuring the game's artistic style remains intact, even with ray tracing disabled.

This improvement ensures the game remains visually captivating on mid-range PCs and portable devices like the Steam Deck, despite not being officially supported by Valve yet. The developer, S-Game, has confirmed that handheld devices have undergone extensive testing, making a Steam Deck verification imminent.

Interestingly, PC users have reported performance issues with the latest Nvidia driver version 621.01. In response, S-Game advises rolling back to driver 617.42 for optimal gameplay. However, given Nvidia's likely upcoming driver rollout, this may not be necessary for long. The day-one patch details, shared by LIANG, creative director and CEO of S-Game, emphasize the substantial performance improvements, particularly in ray tracing and path tracing.

Additionally, several bugs have been rectified. S-Game emphasizes the importance of downloading and installing the patch before launch or ensuring the automatic inclusion of the latest version should pre-loading be skipped. They also note that they have meticulously refined the game's rasterized visuals, ensuring every environment adheres to their artistic vision even when ray tracing is turned off.

Extensive testing on mid-range and lower-end PCs, as well as handhelds, has been conducted, encouraging players to give the game a try. Furthermore, a notable change in the game's protagonist actor has been disclosed. The original Phantom Blade Zero protagonist actor has been replaced by Sonic the Hedgehog's voice actor, Roger Craig Smith, for the full game launch.

IGN's Phantom Blade Zero review awarded the game a high score of 9/10, praising its smooth action gameplay, memorable boss fights, compelling combat, and limitless swagger. Before embarking on the Phantom World, a comprehensive guide titled "Things Phantom Blade Zero Doesn't Tell You" has been provided, alongside a step-by-step walkthrough and guides for weapons, accessories, and Phantom Edges.