The Relic: First Guardian is a game I first saw about a month or so before it released, and Perp Games was nice enough to send me a copy to check out. Now I am going to let you guys in on a little secret here. 95% of the time, when someone gets a review copy of a game, they ask for it. Yes, I do get offered some here and there, but probably 9/10 games I review it is because I saw it, thought it looked interesting, and it was something you guys might want to read about, and I sent an email.
As someone who prides himself on being upfront with you guys, The Relic: First Guardian is not a game I got at release. They passed over me, which happens quite often, and when they decided to send out more codes to how case around 12 updates of work, I got one from that batch. I am well aware this game did not get off to a good start, so is Perp Games. Remember this review reflects a lot of hard work, and I did not play the released version; I played the version released 12 updates later.
The game starts off quite suddenly, much like any souls-like. You get a cutscene and off you go to learn the game by walking down a trail, with the game explaining how to play. I won’t lie, probably could have figured this out without this section. For the most part, combat is very minimalist. I don’t mean this as a criticism; I rather enjoy the less-is-more setup. Something I loved that many people seemed to dislike was the stamina system. Unlike most games in this genre, you don’t lose stamina from attacking, only from running and dodging. So feel free to swing away and get hammered like I did. It is still very much a souls-like in many ways. You will still need to dodge and block. Once you figure that out, it is more forgiving than most.
Now, after playing for a few hours, I did go and read some early reviews and check out some early gameplay videos because I wanted to see what many of the issues were. Early versions suffered from some severe issues with lag, frame rate drops, and many of the visuals were kind of hard to look at. I think the visuals thing was from poor optimization because, 12 updates later, I ran into very little, if any, frame rate drops, and the early videos I watched and the game I played did not really match. I am not saying this is the most beautiful game ever, but if I woke up next to her Sunday morning, I wouldn’t deny it to my friends.
Now, the game still has some issues; for example, there is no traditional leveling system. You just sort of collect an in-game currency to buy upgrades like new magic or upgrades for your weapon of choice that give you more power or hit points, or even new moves. There are enough weapon choices to be interesting, but gaining enough of this currency to buy anything is a huge slog that kills a lot of the enjoyment. I am not saying I should be running around like a god at 3 hours in, but I should be at least 2 or 3 upgrades in.
All in all, the game is now playable, and with a dark story that I just instantly found myself invested in, it was a 6/10 experience, one that, when the game is on sale, is worth experiencing, but I can’t really justify spending $50 on. Credit where credit is due, however, The Relic: First Guardian has made substantial improvements, and Perp Games deserves a ton of credit for that. If you already own it and gave up on it, it is time to give it another go.
