Phantom Blade Zero, the visually striking wuxia action game from S-Game Studio, runs acceptably on the Steam Machine, though it presents significant challenges on the Steam Deck. Initial reports suggested potential performance issues, with one comment noting heavy glitching on Linux systems, a concern echoed by performance tests on the Steam Deck OLED.
Even with the lowest graphics preset and aggressive upscaling on the Steam Deck, the game frequently dropped into the teens during its flashy combat and cinematic camera movements. This indicates that the handheld's hardware struggles to maintain a stable framerate for Phantom Blade Zero's demanding visual effects.
Steam Machine Performance
In contrast, the Steam Machine fares much better. The Medium graphics preset, combined with Quality-level FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution), allows for a playable experience in the 45-60fps range for most of the content tested. The High preset is also viable, though it can lead to dips below 40fps in certain sequences, it remains free of major bugs or stuttering. The game is generally recommended to be played at 1080p on the Steam Machine.
Controller Quirks
Players might encounter a peculiar issue with the Steam Controller. Despite the game recognizing an official configuration, the map-opening button can become unresponsive, particularly during tutorial prompts. This problem appears to be specific to the Steam Controller and can be resolved by remapping the Select button within SteamOS's controller settings to emulate a touchpad click, a common workaround in PC gaming.
Recommended Settings
While the Medium preset with FSR on Quality offers a solid baseline, fine-tuning individual settings can further enhance the visual fidelity with minimal performance impact. The following adjustments are suggested for an optimal experience:
- Motion Blur: Off
- Super Resolution Method: FSR
- Super Resolution Quality: Quality
- Dynamic Resolution Quality: Off
- Super Resolution Output Scale: 100%
- Frame Generation: Off
- Super Resolution Sharpness: 10
- Ray Tracing Quality: Off
- Shadow Quality: Medium
- Reflection Quality: Medium
- Post-Processing Quality: Ultra
- Lighting Quality: Medium
- Effects Quality: Medium
- Material Quality: High
- Ambient Occlusion Quality: Very High
- Depth of Field Quality: Ultra
- View Distance: Medium
- Character Texture Quality: High
- Character Model Quality: High
- High-Quality Hair: Off
- Environment Texture Quality: High
- Environment Model Quality: High
- Environment Detail Quality: High
It is important to disable Dynamic Resolution Quality and ensure the Super Resolution Output Scale is set to 100% to avoid unnecessary visual degradation. While FSR upscaling can introduce some edge roughness at 1080p, its performance benefits generally outweigh this minor drawback. The game's cutscenes and high-drama sequences can still exhibit framerate drops, but the core gameplay remains enjoyable with these settings.