Of course, no one says you can’t have such an experience while still retaining the fantasy veneer, as Fatekeeper has done. The problem is that despite an admittedly stunning world and impressive use of lighting, the core combat execution leaves much to be desired, especially when it’s all that’s really there. For now, at least, but we’ll get to that.

Plot-wise, a lot isn’t explained, and you’re thrown in with little more than a loading screen narration to explain the set-up. From what I can understand, you’re on an island that’s witness to sudden slaughter, and en route to Haven, you have a Spirit Guide – a talking rat – who helps guide you. Upon reaching there, it’s essential to enter this ancient portal for training, which is a physically rending experience, and then return. Why didn’t we just hit some wooden dummies instead? Unclear.

"Though I brought up The Elder Scrolls and Kingdom Come with regards to combat, don’t let that fool you into thinking that Fatekeeper adopts their approach to world design. It’s as linear of an action-adventure as you can get, funnelling you down a very fixed path with very little deviation."

Anyway, it’s off to Mar Guran and its city, braving hostile creatures like the Vrog to access something called the Moon Gate while learning more about the Underdwellers – and the factions they split into.

There’s…something to the world-building, but it’s not in the dull exposition meted out in the loading screens or the banter between your character and the rat. It’s through the environments, which consist of ruined structures, some overgrown and now occupied by the Vrog as they attempt to stop your advance. Discovering massive statues of ancient figures that still stand guard or descending into the Waterways, finding piles of skulls and corpses before encountering what made them, is far more enthralling than simply being told what’s going on and why you should care, especially since your character’s motivation and the necessity of a Spirit Guide are both so excruciatingly vague.

Though I brought up The Elder Scrolls and Kingdom Come with regards to combat, don’t let that fool you into thinking that Fatekeeper adopts their approach to world design. It’s as linear of an action-adventure as you can get, funnelling you down a very fixed path with very little deviation. Which is repetitive in the early going since it feels like the standard rollercoaster protocol – keep all hands and feet inside the ride, barring the peaks and valleys that you’d expect. Things do open up past the first hour when nearing Mar Guran, especially in the larger rooms where you need to dodge arrows and do some platforming to access the two levers necessary to open the way forward.

However, at other points, it’s simply about slaying the Vrog on the ground while archers pelt you from above, as reinforcements occasionally arrive. Otherwise, prepare for stretches where you’re gathering materials, opening chests and coffers, and occasionally happening upon campsites to save and alchemy pots for mixing potions (which actually feels neat since items and ingredients can have different effects depending on whether they’re brewed or used as is).

And because of how the game tracks progress, dying before reaching the next campsite can often set you back by quite a bit. At least it’s nice enough to autosave at stage transitions.

"For some reason, however, investing in any one of these branches locks you off from the rest. I went with melee damage upgrades at first, with an alternate path that could boost attack speed, but couldn’t invest any points in improving my survivability, much less buffing magic."

Since there’s really no other way around it, let’s talk about the combat. It’s weighty and slow at first, which takes some getting used to, but it’s even clunkier when transitioning from a dash to a light attack or dodging into a counter. Your character can guard attacks and perfect parry with the right timing, but it’s almost as difficult to nail as a perfect dodge (and failure to land either of these will very quickly decimate you during the first real boss fight).

Attack speed upgrades do little to offset the overall clunky animations and feel, not to mention the pain of feeling like your weapons have more reach than they actually do. Magic adds an intriguing dimension to all this, especially if you leverage the environment. For instance, telekinesis, which can also manipulate switches to open gates, can pull enemies into pits. The gust spell also does the same…sometimes, when it feels like it, while the ice and fire spells feel woefully underpowered.

While some enemies are dumb enough to handle alone at times, Fatekeeper eventually ups the challenge by throwing multiple at you in later sections. The result is having to adopt a hit-and-run playstyle since attempting to stand your ground, blocking all attacks and counterattacking, isn’t always the best approach given your stamina. I could sometimes find appeal in this, especially when kicking Vrog into pits or pulling a rock thrower from afar and lining up for a homerun with a dual-hander.

But the combat still feels so slow and awkward, and I can’t for the life of me understand the logic behind the enemy archer’s design. Magic does nothing to stagger them, much less move them, and they deal extensive damage at a regular clip. It feels like they’re overcompensating to an annoying degree, given how much easier it is to deal with regular foes.

As you slay enemies, you’ll earn XP to level up and gain skill points. These can be invested in a massive skill tree with paths towards improving your alchemy skill, magic, health or melee damage. For some reason, however, investing in any one of these branches locks you off from the rest. I went with melee damage upgrades at first, with an alternate path that could boost attack speed, but couldn’t invest any points in improving my survivability, much less buffing magic. Worst of all, the game never explains why. So you’re stuck taking minimal buffs to attack speed, even when having more stamina and health would be beneficial.

"Fatekeeper certainly has potential, and despite how utterly railroaded the traversal can be, the environmental aesthetics really do stand out for their atmosphere and fidelity."

Otherwise, from a systems perspective, everything that’s here feels very foundational at best. Developer Paraglacial, a fairly small development team, can certainly build on all this and offer more expansive options beyond the simple blades and sorcery that everyone must adopt. But it first needs to make the actual mechanics of combat feel better, besides fixing bugs and other issues – like some enemies simply standing in place if there are multiple corpses at their feet simply because they don’t know how to go around. I also wouldn’t mind seeing more polish for the performance – even in the opening with DLSS set to Balanced and other settings on High, there would be various micro-stutters throughout, even when otherwise sticking to 60 FPS.

Fatekeeper certainly has potential, and despite how utterly railroaded the traversal can be, the environmental aesthetics really do stand out for their atmosphere and fidelity. For $10, with a 20 percent discount currently available for two weeks, the barrier to entry is certainly very low, and the team seems open to changing its plans for the sake of whatever players enjoy most. But even if you’re seeking a dungeon crawler with more grounded, methodical combat, it’s probably best to wait a while before diving into everything Fatekeeper currently has to offer.

This game was reviewed on PC.

Developed by Paraglacial, a small team with only 13 people, Fatekeeper is a fantasy action adventure where players traverse a ruined world. Wielding weapons and magic, you’ll discover old ruins, forests, and many other notable locations, all rendered in exquisite detail. Poking around can also unearth some interesting discoveries, from lore to relics, which can help the scales in battle.

Of course, the real question is: How much of this will be available in early access, which is planned to run for 18 months? For starters, you shouldn’t expect the full progression system or story. There’s about two hours of gameplay available, with plans for the full version to last about 15 hours.

And while the price hasn’t been revealed, Fatekeeper will launch for a “significant” discount and increase later. It may even happen earlier than 1.0, depending on the updates. Paraglacial says it will provide “more details” on the same “soon,” but players can otherwise expect improvements based on feedback.

Stay tuned in the meantime for updates, and check out our feature on Fatekeeper to see why you should be excited.

But what makes it so good? What has us so interested in it when all you can find on it is an announcement trailer and a gameplay reveal? Why should you be on the lookout for it when it hits early access sometime next year?

We’re here to answer all that and more as we dive into what makes Fatekeeper tick, and why we think it’s one of the experiences to watch out for in 2026.

From the very first minute of the gameplay reveal to its last, there’s one element that really pops out about Fatekeeper. Its first-person point of view is helped along by some incredible visuals and level design. Let’s start with the visuals, which bring an astounding level of detail to your character and the world around him.

The castles and underground areas you explore are suitably dark and desolate, the very air around you feeling oppressive as a result. However, their designs boast of a grandeur once at its peak, making you wonder what befell these lands, and your role in the events that are now taking place among their ruins.

Of course, that level of detail has managed to weave itself into the gameplay, with brutal finishers on enemies and numerous breakable blockades stuck on obscure corners of exploreable areas that you can smash through to get to collectibles or pick-ups in the semi-linear world.

With dark corners being quite common across the game’s levels, it’s easy to see the developers set up some enemy traps and ambushes that could have you jumping out of your shoes as you explore its many dungeons and crypts. Combined with the visuals, this is an experience that could have you forgetting about the real world for quite a while.

Picking up an ornate container early on in the gameplay revealed that the game switches to an examination screen, where a rather prominent handle revealed that it could be opened, with a reward waiting for the player inside it. If these visuals are sustained throughout the game, such puzzles could very well ramp up the challenge, requiring you to keep a sharp eye out for exceptions in increasingly ornate pieces.

It works wonders for immersion as well, with the game immediately drawing you in with the world and some darkly humorous conversations with your unlikely travel companion. It’s also brilliant when your own sword has very intricate carvings along the blade and hilt, a sort of showcase of the blade’s history and potency. It was a lovely touch to see our character wipe down their blade once a battle was done, although the blood on it stayed put weirdly enough. It was the only noticeable glitch in an otherwise visually flawless presentation.

But it’s 2025, and we all know that excellent visuals alone don’t really make a game great (MindsEye, anyone?). Fortunately, Fatekeeper is more than just a pretty face.

Encountering an enemy in Fatekeeper immediately feels like a deadly encounter, with your character and their opponent drawing their blades and squaring off against each other. Your character can weave in and out of combat, landing carefully calculated blows to whittle away at enemies.

You could also take a more aggressive approach, diving right into the fray and parrying enemy attacks to throw them off balance. The gameplay showcased telekinetic abilities as well, with one very unfortunate grunt enemy being flung into a wall of spikes that was probably meant to be a trap for us. The game’s promotional materials promise magic and a lot of build potential, along with meaningful upgrades to your character that can make the most of this title’s RPG trappings.

The enemy designs are largely great from the sliver of the game we’ve seen, and the bosses could get far deadlier than the rather large warrior who took on our character at the end of the showcase. Although the combat in Fatekeeper might be at a slower pace than other action-RPGs, it’s that pace that seems to make it as immersive as it is.

That’s because it’s about carefully managing space and choosing the best moment to unleash your deadliest attacks, maximizing the damage you can cause without exposing your character to the enemy’s attacks. There’s a rhythmic push and pull to Fatekeeper’s bladework that calls to us, and we can’t wait to take on more enemies than the simpletons we saw in the game’s early moments.

So that’s solid visuals and a great combat system already in the bag. But wait, Fatekeeper has more!

Before getting on his way to the next point of interest along their journey, your character and his companion stop to have a chat about whatever predicament has them on the road. Your companion quickly scoots out of your backpack and onto your forearm to admonish you and offer smart yet snarky advice on your next course of action.

Yeah, you heard us right. Your companion lives in your backpack, and that’s because they are a talking rat, complete with an attitude that could make them delightful company. Your character and the rat seem to have an uneasy alliance, their journey being mutually beneficial to both of you.

But what could have drawn them together? Where are they on the road to, and why? What has happened to cause so much decay in a land that has obviously thrived at some point in its past?

All of these questions are sure to be answered in a setting that seems to be split between cutscenes and expository descriptions on items you find as you explore the world, meaning that Fatekeeper could be an RPG that rewards you the more you try to get out of the experience.

With the game’s setting confirmed to be linear with a lot of side routes to interesting gear, loot, and extra content to discover along the way, this one could be an RPG that brings a community together to earn a fan following that withstands the test of time. Your character and their companion certainly pass the vibe check you need for two individuals on an adventure that could test their skills and their friendship.

We’re definitely curious to see if your rat companion can help you navigate the world and perhaps even pop out of your bag for a quick bite at your enemies in battle as the game progresses, but for now, we’re going to have to dream of the many ways we’re taking on enemies in Fatekeeper.

But it isn’t all roses and butterflies. Let’s take a look at a few things we believe could be improved in the game ahead of its release into early access.

Aside from the blood remaining static on your character’s weapon despite cleaning it off, the game could use a few more enemies along the way lest its world feel too empty and desolate. While that could be an issue restricted to the game’s current build or perhaps just something during its early hours to allow its players a bit of time to settle in, we believe it was worth mentioning.

Aside from that, having no indication of how much health an enemy has left is a bit of a bummer in a game that requires you to be quite tactical in the heat of battle. That could be a design choice, but perhaps having an option to toggle it on or off based on our preferences could be a suitable compromise? That could be us just nitpicking, though. Fatekeeper really looks like it could be a treat!

When it’s this hard to find things to complain about when a game hasn’t fully revealed all it can do yet, you know that things could turn out very well indeed. Fatekeeper looks and plays like a game that could have its players coming back for more at every turn, while its world gives them reasons to stop and ponder its themes if the setting manages to land as well as it seems primed to.

This is a game we’re going to have an eye on in 2026, and is one we hope delivers on all it promises, thanks to how awesome the end result would be. If nothing else, it would be worth taking on a dark fantasy adventure in which your closest companion is a talking rat whose sassy demeanor is a delight all on its own.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.