This page answers common questions about The Relic: First Guardian. The game released on 31 July 2026 and is being patched every few days, so gameplay answers reflect the current build. Answers here were last checked on 23 September 2026, against the game as of Patch 18 on 18 September 2026.
General
Question | Answer |
|---|---|
Is it out? | Yes. It released on 31 July 2026 for PC and PlayStation 5, and a boxed PlayStation 5 edition followed in Europe on 4 September 2026 |
Who made it? | Project Cloud Games, a South Korean studio, published by Perp Games. It is the studio's first game, built over about six years by a core team of around a dozen people |
What genre is it? | A semi-open-world dark fantasy action RPG with soulslike combat, rooted in Korean folklore |
Single-player or multiplayer? | Single-player only |
What platforms? | PC and PlayStation 5 now. Xbox Series X|S follows on 25 September 2026 with Xbox Play Anywhere support, with pre-orders open since 8 September, and Nintendo Switch 2 on 9 October 2026 |
How much does it cost? | $34.99 (US) or £29.99 (GB) on PC and PlayStation 5. It launched at $49.99 (US) and the cut went live on 26 August 2026 as a permanent change rather than a sale. The Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2 versions were announced at $34.99 (US) for their own launches |
Does it support controllers? | Yes, full controller support, and a gamepad is recommended |
Is there DLC? | Yes. The Night of the Unextinguished Flame is a $9.99 (US) or £8.99 (GB) add-on that was free with pre-orders. A second pack, The Black Banquet, is included with the boxed PlayStation 5 edition. Its contents have not been published, and as of 23 September 2026 no storefront lists it as a separate add-on |
Is there a physical edition? | A boxed PlayStation 5 edition went on sale in Europe on 4 September 2026, with a Forgotten Stories collector's edition through select retailers. The publisher has set out the collector edition contents but not its price |
How many achievements? | 37 |
How is it reviewed? | Player reviews are mixed. On 23 September 2026 the PC storefront showed 223 reviews split 105 positive and 118 negative, and the PlayStation storefront showed an average of 2.49 out of 5 from 938 player ratings. Both are player scores rather than critic scores |
Did the price really drop? | Yes. On 17 August 2026 the publisher announced a permanent reduction from $49.99 to $34.99 (US) on PC and PlayStation 5, matching the launch price of the Xbox and Switch 2 versions. It went live on 26 August 2026, at $34.99 (US) and £29.99 (GB) |
What were the exclusive Sealing Stones? | A thank-you for anyone who bought on PC or PlayStation 5 at the full launch price. Two were given out, the Sealing Stone of Gratitude and the Sealing Stone of the First Oath, and together they permanently grant access to two new dungeons with their own boss fights and loot. Patch 13 added them on 19 August 2026 and Patch 14 made them appear automatically on starting or loading a game. The window closed with the price cut, at 11:59 PM UK time on 25 August on PC and at midnight local time on 26 August on PlayStation 5. Patch 15 stopped granting them at the start of a new game. As of 23 September 2026 neither dungeon had been released, and the publisher has said the reward will be sold at a later date to players who were not eligible. See Editions and Pre-Order Bonus |
Is it Nintendo Switch or Switch 2? | Switch 2. The publisher used both names across 2026; the 17 August announcement settled it by naming Nintendo Switch 2 with a date and a price |
Gameplay
Question | Answer |
|---|---|
How does progression work? | There are no levels or experience points. You grow through equipment, crafting, Relics, and Runes |
What are Relics? | Fragments imbued with the memories and emotions of those who lived before. Each carries one of more than 70 unique passive effects, and they can be swapped freely |
Are Relics and Runes the same thing? | No. They are separate layers the developers list individually. Runes are their own equippable modifiers; one added after launch increases consumable items |
What is Relic Energy? | The resource spent to equip skills onto a weapon. It appears in the world as Ancient Memories, and standard monster kills now award it. A one-off 2,000 stock at the second fast travel camp was added in Patch 8 and removed again in Patch 14 |
How does stamina work? | Stamina is only for defence, dodging and blocking. Attacking never drains it |
Do skills cost resources? | No. Skills run on cooldowns. High-power magic uses cooldowns plus a dedicated meter |
Can I parry? | Yes. Parrying sits alongside dodging, and its timing window was widened after launch |
What are the weapon types? | Five masteries: Sword & Shield, Battle Staff, Daggers, Two-Handed Weapons, and Longsword. See Weapons |
How many skill trees? | Twelve, blendable into a custom class rather than a fixed one |
How many bosses? | Up to 80, called brutals, each with its own tragic story. Fifteen have been named through the showcase series, and patch notes have named more since. See Bosses |
Is the loot randomised? | No. Every weapon and armour piece is unique and exists only once in the game world |
Performance and Support
Question | Answer |
|---|---|
Why did the game run badly at launch? | Some large dungeons failed to unload from memory after players left them. The accumulation caused framerate drops, texture-loading problems, and in some cases stopped events and boss triggers firing |
Has it been fixed? | Largely. Six patches shipped in the first week addressing the underlying issue, and eighteen had landed by 18 September 2026, with the next in development. See Updates and Patches |
Did anything change in the controls? | Yes, twice. Patch 14 moved the gamepad dodge from the bottom face button to the right face button and reworked internal input handling for attack, guard, dodge, movement and skills. Six days later Patch 15 reverted the gamepad and keyboard input settings to their previous stable state to resolve input issues. The note does not list the restored bindings, so check the in-game control guide. See Stamina and Dodging |
Is more content planned? | Yes. The developers have committed to additional content including new events and boss encounters |
What are the PC requirements? | A 64-bit system with an Intel Core i5-11400 or Ryzen 7 4800H and 16 GB RAM at minimum. See System Requirements |
Languages
Ten languages are listed for the PC version. English has full audio; French, German, Spanish (Spain), Korean, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese are text only. The PlayStation 5 listing names eleven screen languages, adding Italian and giving Spanish as Spanish (Mexico), with English again the only voice language.