Although the number of soulslike games has slightly decreased in the past few months, development studios across the world are still attempting to capture the formula created by FromSoftware with its Souls series. Among these studios is South Korean developer Project Cloud Games, which is gearing up to release The Relic: First Guardian on July 31, following a two-month delay.
I have to admit I wasn't aware of the game until earlier this month, when the release date announcement trailer was shared online. The short showcase, however, didn't do much for me. While I appreciated the main character's mobility, the overall setting didn't seem particularly inspired. With a significant visibility problem on show as well, featuring aggressive usage of vignette (one of the most despised effects by gamers, which is often turned off on PC as soon as possible) and camera shake, the experience didn't look particularly promising. As first impressions can be very deceiving, I set out on my journey through the apocalyptic landscape of Arsiltus with an open mind.
Unfortunately, in the case of The Relic: First Guardian, the first impression was not deceiving at all. While I can appreciate some of what Project Cloud Games is attempting to do, the execution is all over the place, resulting in an experience that is, at best, forgettable and, at worst, frustrating.
In some ways, The Relic: First Guardian's playtest version I had the chance to try out feels like a project in its prototype state that hasn't received any actual playtesting yet. For example, although this could be a limitation of this early build, there's no way to turn off the aggressive vignette effect or camera shake. Not only do both cause a massive visibility problem in an experience where positioning is key, but they also make the entire experience uncomfortable. With the camera shaking so much for every little thing an enemy does, and a weird angle that doesn't provide the proper view during combat, playing the game gets really unpleasant fast. Any player would have pointed this out immediately.
While toggles in the final version of the game can address this issue, no toggle can address the many other issues The Relic: First Guardian shows already in its first hour—issues that are crippling for a soulslike. On paper, the game has a lot to offer, such as the Relics granting unique passive effects that shape the main character, a flexible combat system which uses Stamina only for defense and dodging, and not for attacks, multiple flashy skills on a cooldown, and a gear system that lets players blend abilities to create their own playstyles. However, it takes an incredible amount of effort to get to experience these features.
The combat system leaves a lot to be desired, completely missing the mark of what makes a soulslike a compelling experience. For starters, weapons only have a single combo string, which is overly long and generally difficult to complete due to high enemy aggression. Attack controls are also somewhat unresponsive, forcing the player to mash the attack button to keep the combo going. Attacks also come out with a slight delay, but at least it's possible to cancel attack animations by dodging—a maneuver that feels really off in the game because it covers way too much distance.
There's a reason why soulslikes generally moderate how much distance a roll covers: it's to allow for both damage negation and quick retaliation. In The Relic: First Guardian, the dodge completely resets the combat pace, generally returning everything to a "neutral" state, to use fighting games terminology, in a way that damages the experience. It definitely feels like the developers want the player to use blocking and parry more, but this really feels antithetical to the proclaimed flexibility the combat should have. With enemies having some weird, unnatural timings for their attacks and somewhat disjointed hitboxes, parrying consistently is also difficult, so it's definitely not the superior option. These issues are even more evident during boss battles.
Making the combat feel even more stiff is how skill execution is handled. I did not have the chance to try out every skill, but some of the ones I did unlock for the sword and shield combination are very difficult to weave into the basic combo string, as you need to time the button combination (block+face button) perfectly to do so. With some long wind-up animations that leave the player completely exposed, many of these skills lack real versatility and are just a fancier way to deal damage when the enemies are exposed, although I have to admit combat feels slightly better with some other weapons, like the Staff.
Not that fighting all enemies is a requirement to proceed. The Relic: First Guardian does away with the traditional experience points system of the genre, with progression entirely focused on obtaining items via exploration or gold, and spending Relic Energy acquired by finding Relics to unlock skills in the dedicated skill trees. While this sounds good on paper, it really isn't for a few reasons. Not only does this make fighting mobs almost pointless, as they only drop gold or materials to upgrade weapons, but it also removes the tension that is such a core element of a soulslike experience. With no experience to lose on defeat and later recover, every defeat is only a frustrating roadblock in an already frustrating experience.
With visuals that feel closer to the PS3 generation, a dark fantasy setting that doesn't attempt to do anything different, and an average sort of open-world design consisting mostly of interconnected pathways and multiple small locations with very simple layouts, the game's flaws diminish much of its unique features—such as voicing the many memories scattered across the world (although with some of the worst voice acting in recent memory), the Asian folklore inspiration, and having elemental magic as a core ability that is always available, regardless of character customization.
While some of the issues can definitely be improved in the launch version, and location design potentially being better in later parts of the experience, I feel many of The Relic: First Guardian's shortcomings are deeply rooted in its core design and would require a major reworking to address—a feat that is simply impossible in one month from launch. As such, I believe The Relic: First Guardian will struggle quite a bit to carve its own audience amidst other heavy hitters that do everything the game does and much, much better when it launches on PC and PlayStation 5 on July 31.
Still, things could be turned around after launch. I don't think the game will ever be "The Witcher Meets Dark Souls" that some touted, but I'll be happy to be proven wrong.
Playtest access provided by the publisher
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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