Empyreal: A Soulslike That Respects Your Time, But Should You Play It Twice?
Empyreal, the new Soulslike action RPG from Silent Games, has entered the arena, challenging players to explore a colossal Monolith on an uncharted planet. But with a crowded genre, does Empyreal offer enough to stand out? And more importantly, is it worth your time?
Soulslike fans are continuously fed with new content as numerous developers are eager to try their hand at a game from the genre. Can Silent Games’ Empyreal manage to capture the essence of fierce battles and exploration?
According to initial impressions, Empyreal offers a focused experience that can be completed in around 15-20 hours, including exploration, sidequests, and boss battles. 
While its engaging combat and extensive loot system are clear strengths, reviews suggest a mixed experience. RPGFan notes that Empyreal feels like a blend of Destiny and Soulslike elements, but can also be quite different from others. While players praised the depth of the combat system, with three distinct weapon types reminiscent of Monster Hunter, the story and world design received criticism. There is much focus on weapon mastery throughout the gameplay, with Empyreal mainly focusing on combat and loot.
Wccftech echoes these sentiments, pointing out the game's forgettable story and uninspired characters. They also highlight the lack of essential features like a lock-on system, and clunky controls that contribute to frustration. However, they praise the gear customization options and the diversity of weapon types. The game emphasizes on strategizing against enemies, where players have to focus down certain enemies before handling the rest.
Empyreal places the player for the story inside the Ziggurat where the goal is to learn more along the way, and discover what is at the core of the Ziggurat. Exploration is not fully open, instead of areas being similar to old school platformers in design and structure. Players also have a list of sidequests to accomplish, but the game do not show the right path to the objectives. It feels similar to typical Ubisoft games but takes an opposite approach to making the same mistakes.
Visually, Empyreal appears to be a mixed bag. While some biomes are visually appealing, the overall presentation is considered generic. Performance on PC also seems to be inconsistent, with one review noting that it struggled to maintain high frame rates even on powerful systems.
Ultimately, Empyreal seems to be a game of tradeoffs. It offers a focused and challenging combat experience with a satisfying sense of progression, but at the cost of a compelling story and polished presentation.
Is Empyreal's unique take on the Soulslike genre enough to warrant a purchase? Are you willing to overlook its narrative shortcomings for its engaging gameplay loop? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!