The Relic: First Guardian

Story and setting

Arsilthus was once prosperous, but the destruction of the Great Relic has turned it into an apocalyptic wasteland. As the First Guardian, you must recover the relic’s scattered pieces and seal the void before the land is lost completely. The story is framed around the memories of people who lived and died in Arsilthus, with their final wishes and emotions surviving as powerful Relics.

The setting draws on Korean folklore rather than conventional medieval fantasy. Environmental details, ruined settlements and abandoned objects are intended to reveal what happened to ordinary people, while the game’s bosses are presented as tragic figures with their own stories. The world is semi-open rather than a single uninterrupted sandbox, with interconnected regions, hidden dungeons, puzzles, secret encounters and optional lore to uncover.

How it plays

Combat is built around fast attacks and careful defence. Attacks do not consume stamina, leaving the stamina gauge for dodging and blocking. Skills operate on cooldowns, while more powerful magic uses its own meter. The intention is to let players maintain an aggressive rhythm without removing the need to manage defensive openings and enemy patterns.

There are five weapon styles: Sword and Shield, Battle Staff, Daggers, Two-Handed Weapons and Longsword. Each has its own abilities and skill trees, with 12 skill trees advertised across the weapon system. The game does not use traditional character levels. Instead, progression comes from equipment, Runes and Relics, which provide more than 70 passive effects that can change skill behaviour, attack tempo and weapon specialisation. The stores advertise up to 80 major boss encounters, known as Brutals, each designed as a distinct challenge.

The game is third-person and entirely solo. Steam, PlayStation and Xbox listings all describe it as a one-player experience, with no co-op, PvP or online multiplayer mode.

Trailers and showcases

The Future Games Show Summer Showcase trailer on 8 June 2024 introduced the game’s action combat, varied biomes and large enemies. At the PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct on 28 September 2025, a further gameplay trailer highlighted the broad weapon selection, stamina-free attacks, parries, runes, crafting and the promise of more than 80 bosses.

The PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted trailer on 4 December 2025 shifted towards the game’s narrative, showing a fallen soldier’s story, war-damaged villages, demonic enemies and a sorrowful boss encounter. Perp Games’ release-date trailer on 15 June 2026 confirmed the PC and PS5 launch, while the exploration and world trailer published on 26 June focused on environmental storytelling, ruins, dungeons and the traces left by Arsilthus’s former inhabitants. A combat deep-dive trailer on 23 July then concentrated on weapon skills, progression and boss fights. The Xbox launch trailer arrived with the Series X|S release on 25 September.

Platforms, editions and UK price

In the UK, the PC and PS5 versions appeared on 30 July 2026 on their respective storefronts, although Perp Games’ wider launch announcement used 31 July. The Xbox Series X|S version launched on 25 September and supports Xbox Play Anywhere, cloud saves, achievements, Quick Resume and 4K Ultra HD. The Switch 2 version is scheduled for 9 October 2026. A PS5 physical edition followed on 4 September.

Perp Games lists the standard Xbox digital version at £29.99. The UK PlayStation Store currently displays £44.99, while GAME lists the physical PS5 edition at £44.99 against a £49.99 RRP. The Night of the Unextinguished Flame is separate DLC, priced at £8.99 on the UK PlayStation Store and including an additional dungeon, a Brutal, a Relic, and an exclusive weapon and armour set. The Switch 2 price has not been published in the sources checked. No Game Pass or PlayStation Plus inclusion has been announced.

What remains unconfirmed

Perp Games has acknowledged continuing technical work and has released multiple patches for the PC and PS5 versions, with further balance changes, events and boss encounters planned. The publisher has not provided a complete roadmap or dates for that additional content, and it has not confirmed whether the Switch 2 version will launch with every post-launch feature already available on the other platforms.

The exact UK launch time for Switch 2 has not been announced, so there is no confirmed BST or GMT release hour. The UK price, physical availability and edition structure for Switch 2 also remain unclear. Unreal Engine 5 is widely listed by third-party databases, but no official engine statement was found from Project Cloud Games or Perp Games, so it is not treated as confirmed here.