The Relic: First Guardian isn’t shy about showing its Soulslike influence, but underneath the familiar grim-fantasy setting lies a surprising number of ideas to tell its story diegetically. Likewise, an aggression-first combat system shows another significant deviation, with progression driven around discoverables rather than traditional leveling up. Developer Project Cloud Games is aiming to carve a unique identity for their action RPG. Here’s everything you need to know before you buy The Relic: First Guardian.
Aggression-First Combat
The most significant of The Relic: First Guardian’s attempts to do things differently is in how the game approaches combat. Whereas in other titles of the genre you’ll consume stamina to maintain the offensive, here your stamina gauge is reserved exclusively for defensive manoeuvres like dodging and blocking. So, in essence, you’ve a freedom in attack, where your stoic energy allows you to fight with aggression, creativity, and consistency.
High-Power Magic Operates on a Cooldown
And, supporting your offensive endeavours are magical powers, appearing here in place of a heavy attack. Executing a magic attack doesn’t consume resources either but depletes a meter, with this meter operating on a cooldown. So whilst you can’t spam your spellcasting, magic will always be available going into a fight; you won’t need to spend time scurrying for the right pickups or crafting individual items, but simply learn how to tactically manage magic’s cooldown.
Character Growth is Primarily Gear Based
In The Relic: First Guardian, there is no character leveling nor attributes to upgrade. Instead, your growth is dictated primarily by the gear you collect. Through exploration, defeating enemies, and overcoming bosses you’ll acquire Relics, described by the developer as “fragments imbued with the emotions and wishes of those who lived before.” It’s all about gathering memories, you see; collecting and equipping Relics is as much about augmenting your character as it is uncovering the world’s past.
Discoverable Relics Shape Your Build
But, in terms of strengthening your character, Relics will contribute to this by unlocking new skills, passive effects, and combat enhancements when equipped, with the potential to fundamentally alter how you approach battles. That said, rather than just increasing your strength, First Guardian’s Relic system encourages you to experiment, allowing you to tailor your build around different offensive, defensive, or utility-focused playstyles.
Relics’ Passive Bonuses Offer Meaningful Customisation
Some Relics boost your core attributes and improve survivability, while others reduce magic cooldowns, alter attack tempo, or enhance your chosen weapon. What’s more, they’re freely interchangeable, letting you swap them in and out to suit different enemies, bosses, or to support specific strategies without locking you into a certain build. You can only equip a handful at a time, so you’ll need to think tactically about whether you should outfit yourself for a particular strategy or choose your Relics based on your preferred playstyle. With over seventy Relics to discover, there’s broad enough scope for long-term buildcrafting.
Five Weapon Categories
In First Guardian, you can outfit your character with one of five weapon types – a sword and shield, battle staff, dagger, two-handed weapon, or longsword. So far, so familiar, but there is another significant deviation from the typical RPG loot structure here. See, weapons exist in-world as one-of-a-kind items. You won’t find the same sword with slightly better attributes or armour with stronger defense. Each weapon, like the Relics themselves, tells a story: a sword passed down through familial generations, the blade of a bloodthirsty knight, or the greatsword of a revered soldier who never returned home. It’s another interesting way The Relic injects narrative notes without relying on heavy exposition or cutscenes.
Each Weapon Category Has Unique Skill Trees
And, beyond equipping Relics or your choice of weapon itself, each weapon has its own specific upgrade tree for you to pursue deeper character customisations while building affinity with a particular armoury. Powered by Ancient Relic Energy which you’ll find throughout exploration, each skill node focuses on character buffs and awestriking new abilities, some of which promise to be as visually spectacular as much as they are powerful.
Weapon Upgrading Available Via The Blacksmith
As The Relic revolves around unique, one-of-a-kind weapons and armour, you’ll likely want to keep hold of your favourite items. So, for your weapons to keep pace with the world’s escalating threat, you can pay a visit to the blacksmith to forge upgrades, in exchange for collectible coins and materials that are typically found in the world or received as rewards.
The World is Semi-Open
The Relic: First Guardian takes place in a semi-open world, where linear design is hidden by natural obstacles such as mountain ranges or chasms. While hands-on previewers note you’ll rarely feel lost, the game still encourages you to follow your instincts as you explore by offering very little in the way of signposting. It’s a gloomy looking world, all in all, but perhaps you’ll restore some light the more you collect fragmented memories and piece them together.
There Are Plenty of Side Quests
One of the main reasons for deviating from the well-trodden path is the bounty of side quests which await. Dubbed ‘Events’, and given to you primarily by NPCs, though some are discovered by interacting with environmental cues, these side quests typically involve you traversing the map in search of items or to defend a base from invaders before returning for a reward. Now, these side quests don’t sound the most imaginative by design, but as previewers note the loot you acquire on completion makes them worth your time.
Each Boss is a Standalone Folktale
If it wasn’t clear by now, The Relic: First Guardian never misses an opportunity to insert some narrative lore, and the game’s bosses, of which there are over seventy, are one such encounter that’ll deliver the most poignant narrative beats. According to the developer, each boss functions as a standalone folktale; a story that can only be resolved by defeating them. Of the examples given: a father who starved, or a soul consumed by a curse, it’s clear there’s a tragic backstory for you to uncover alongside figuring out how to best your opponent.
Bosses Demand Particular Skills
And yes, when one approach succeeds against a particularly tricky boss there’s no guarantee the same strategy will work on the next one you encounter. For example, some bosses unleash unblockable attacks, meaning you need to rely heavily on dodging, while others need to be repeatedly parried to break their guard. As we’ve just said: fighting bosses is a case of figuring out their weakness, and how they attack is usually the best place to start.
Soulslike Comparisons
The Relic: First Guardian is unmistakably Soulslike, both in structure and atmosphere. That said, earlier titles in FromSoftware’s catalogue have drawn the strongest comparisons – Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls, in particular, are being echoed in First Guardian’s combat loop, where attack animation timing is more crucial than well-timed dodges and parries.
Early Preview Concerns
Some hands-on previewers have also highlighted a handful of concerns, although how extensively these will impact your experience will vary. Awkward camerawork is an oft-cited issue, as is the overly aggressive, sometimes unpredictable nature of certain enemies. Slow windup animations for heavy weaponry, whilst powerful if they land, can feel clunky if mis-timed. All in all, there doesn’t appear to be any dealbreakers here, but collectively these concerns suggest a level of polish not quite up to FromSoft’s standard.
Platforms, Release Date, Price, and Pre-Order Bonuses
The Relic: First Guardian is scheduled to release on July 31st, with PlayStation 5 and PC via Steam the confirmed platforms. It’s retailing at $49.99 on PlayStation, though a Steam price has yet to be confirmed. However, pre-orders on PS5 will net you the ‘Night of the Unextinguished Flame’ bonus pack, with a unique relic, exclusive armour and weapons, and a new dungeon included. The game will reportedly release to Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2 later in the summer.
