The Relic: First Guardian Preview: A Promising Soulslike, but One Issue Holds It Back

There are plenty of Soulslikes to look forward to within the next year. We have Mortal Shell 2, Valor Mortis, and The Duskbloods slated for 2026, with The Lords of the Fallen 2 set to launch early 2027. The upcoming competition is fierce within the Soulslike genre, and to stand out among the crowd of a once-niche, but now overly saturated space, you have to bring something unique to the table.

This was my thought going into The Relic: First Guardian, quietly thinking to myself, “What do you do that other Soulslikes don’t?” After my 8-hour hands-on time with the game, this question of mine has been answered. What I experienced during my short playthrough was a confident Soulslike that doesn’t follow the genre's typical rules and isn’t afraid to put its own spin on them.

While I still need to see more of the game to see if it can stack up to well-known Soulslike titles out there, from what I have seen so far, I think it stands a chance. So, let’s discuss why The Relic: First Guardian is a Soulslike to keep on your radar and what concerns I may have.

Become a Powerful Guardian

My hands-on time with The Relic: First Guardian placed me at the very start of the game. You start out as a sword and board soldier with fire magic, but no weapon skills or valuable resources. As I progressed through the first level, I soon found a valuable item that heals me, unlocking the feature of what Soulslike veterans know as “flasks.” Similar to others in the genre, this flask has a limited amount of uses and is only refilled when resting at checkpoints.

Pressing further on into this level, I soon came across a unique-looking altar with a blue glow to it, hidden deep inside an optional cave. Interacting with these grants the player with Ancient Relic Energy, a resource that can be used to progress through the game’s many skill trees. This resource is essential to making a strong character in The Relic: First Guardian.

Each weapon has its own skill tree that you invest Ancient Relic Energy into, offering unique weapon skills and buffs to your character (such as increased health, stamina, etc.). You have to go with the former at first, since it’s necessary to unlock the top nodes in order to progress down the skill tree to the stronger skills and access any character buffs.

As I unlocked more weapon skills, the combat began to open up and actually show me the true pace of the combat encounters. Some skills are slow, but deal serious damage, while others can be used to dispose of groups of enemies. For example, the Cataclysm Thunder two-handed skill allowed me to launch myself into the air and slam down on four or five enemies, killing them all.

These skills, as well as Runes that add buffs to your character, are the bread and butter of any character build in The Relic: First Guardian, and since there are so many to unlock within the skill tree, the build diversity seems to be pretty great. Whether you want to go full strength build at the cost of speed or full dexterity at the cost of damage, the choice is up to you. I really appreciated this way of creating a build, rather than the typical stat system found in other games.

Speaking of stats, the game has them, but not in the typical “level up and invest a point” type of way. In fact, there is no leveling up in The Relic: First Guardian. Instead, you can raise your character’s stats through equipping better armor, upgrading your weapon, unlocking nodes in the skill tree, and even through some character interactions. For example, I met a priest on my journey who increased my maximum HP at the cost of some gold. Pretty cool.

A Rewarding Semi-Open World

The Relic: First Guardian is described as a semi-open world game, and I think that description suits it. While the one area I explored wasn’t as big as the biomes you’d experience in games like Elden Ring, it was a decent-sized map that offered many landmarks to visit.

As you explore the map of the game, you will meet many characters that offer side quests, otherwise known as “Events.” These events usually involve going to a specific location on the map and defeating a group of enemies or grabbing a specific item and then returning to the quest giver for a reward. Events aren’t the most in-depth side quests you’ll experience, but they are always worth it due to the goodies you earn for completing them.

Some side quests may reward you with materials to upgrade your weapon, consumables that are crucial for upcoming boss fights, or new side quests to follow. I really appreciated how The Relic: First Guardian showed respect for my time and effort to complete side quests, always rewarding me handsomely. Events aren’t only handed out by NPC characters either, as the game offers them through interacting with key locations in the environment.

For example, as you explore the map, you may stumble across an item that’s glowing blue. Interacting with these glowing blue items will activate an Event, where you have to follow a trail that consists of more glowing blue items, leading to a certain location. Each time you interact with a new piece of the trail, a message will appear that explains the backstory of the Event with full voice acting. It’s a unique way to drip-feed the lore of that specific Event to the player, and I found myself fully invested in learning the outcome.

The greatest part of these Event Trails is that they always lead to a hidden area that contains a valuable item. You may find materials to upgrade your character, an Event Item that opens a sealed doorway on the map, a boss fight, or a brand-new weapon that outshines your current one. Like I said, The Relic: First Guardian does a great job at rewarding the player.

Outside of Events and finding NPCs that offer services, exploration has other purposes. As mentioned earlier in this preview, I was able to find an Altar with Ancient Relic Energy to unlock skills by entering a hidden cave. If I hadn’t taken the time to explore, I would have missed this cave entirely and missed out on making my character stronger. This happened a few times on my journey, where one time I found a hidden cemetery with a new weapon, so I'm curious as to what else is out there to discover in the full game.

Bosses Need Some Work

A game wouldn’t be considered a great Soulslike without well-designed and challenging boss fights. While I think the bosses of The Relic: First Guardian are challenging, unfortunately, I don’t think they are the best designed. Not from a style standpoint, because they all look great, but just how the bosses play.

The bosses are my biggest concern and what left me worried after my hands-on time with the game. This concern stems from two reasons: the camera can be pretty awful during some boss encounters, and some bosses are too aggressive and unpredictable.

First, let’s discuss the camera. I know that The Relic: First Guardian doesn’t release until July 31st, so there is still plenty of time to fix it, but I found myself fighting with the camera more often than I would have liked. Too often I was pushed into a corner, with the wall blocking my view and covering the screen, unable to dodge away due to my lack of sight. This led to my death many times, and it was downright frustrating. Project Cloud Games needs to fix this by launch, or I can see tons of players dropping the game for good.

The bosses in The Relic: First Guardian so far have seemed lazy, to put it bluntly. Not only are some overly aggressive, but some of their attack patterns don’t show any clear cues as to when they’re coming, making the entire fight feel sporadic. Because of this, they don’t have that rhythm of learning the best time to attack, dodge, parry, etc. The only clear sign is a red indicator over the boss' head, which indicates a powerful attack that can't be countered.

However, not all bosses are bad, as there were a few that I encountered that did have that typical rhythm and were actually pretty great. This makes me confident that Project Cloud Games has the talent and understanding of how to make a good boss, so I’m hoping these poorly designed fights are only in the preview build and not a sign of what’s to come in the full release.

Despite some grievances with the game’s bosses, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with The Relic: First Guardian. It offers rewarding exploration, some solid character progression, and great build variety to accommodate different playstyles. My experience left me excited for the full release as I’m eager to continue refining my build and seeing just how powerful my character can become.