ARPG Empyreal Looms Into View Like a Giant Monolith as it Launches on Major Platforms
Silent Games Studio and publisher Secret Mode have released action RPG Empyreal onto PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5. PC gamers with modern Intel GPUs also get access to that company’s Xe Super Sampling for low latency and AI-assisted frame generation.
Empyreal is set on an unexplored planet after an expedition’s initial run discovers a huge Monolith. As an adventurer that can pick between different skillsets, it’s up to the player to uncover its meaning, and how it relates to the ruins around the planet.
“Venture inside the Monolith and face the automatons that yet remain, remnants of the impossibly ancient civilisation that built this unknowable structure,” the developer said on the game’s official site. “Survive and uncover revelations that transform our understanding of humanity itself.”
An RPG Not Afraid to Ask Big Questions
In a previous reveal trailer, Joseph Rogers, Co-Founder and Creative Director of Silent Games, highlighted how he intends for Empyreal to ask more of the player than typical role playing games.
“You are immediately presented with these grand questions. Why is it here? Who built it? What was its original purpose? And perhaps, what power might it still contain?”
Empryeal also looks to mix and match a few genres, adding some Soulslike DNA to its ARPG frame. Players can use a blend of skill-based combat and RPG systems, such as choosing from between a glaive, mace or shield and cannon, then employing deflects, parries and special abilities.
A robust character creator also asks players to choose a background, which in turns affects starting equipment, and dialogue options throughout the game. This specificity also extends to the NPCs, who all have their own quests which can be completed in different ways.
Asynchronous Altruism
Empyreal is a single player game but incorporates asynchronous multiplayer, not dissimilar to FromSoftware games. The most interesting part of this is the ability to gift items to other players, with no reward for doing so other than the knowledge a complete stranger has just received a substantial helping hand (items sent this way get a stat boost).
As Rogers said in a previous video: “There’s no immediate, direct reward for you doing this, which means it’s really up to the players, in fact the community as a whole, to make it work. And I’m quite curious to see how, or even if, players engage with this feature.”
Player reviews have already started coming in, with gamers noting both the positive and negative aspects of Empryeal’s unusual features.
“Great start for a small team of developers. Imagine the combat of God of War combined with loot systems of Diablo. Lots of build potential.”
“If Remnant, Hellgate: London and Firefall were mashed together. Combat feels good, dodging feels visceral.”
“This is another grindy game, like Anthem/Warframe/Outriders. could be fun for some people but I think friends are a good Idea for some of these bosses.”
