Empire of Ember

About

Empire of Ember is a single player open world role playing game with a fantasy theme. It was developed by Poleaxe Games LLC and was released on January 20, 2022. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

In Empire of Ember, become a battlemage seeking revenge for your master's death and restore your city to prosperity. Engage in real-time strategy combat with up to 100 units, and explore procedurally generated maps and dungeons. Dual-wield spells and weapons to defeat enemies in first-person battles while customizing your town's development.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

70%

Audience ScoreBased on 83 reviews

story5 positive mentions

optimization3 negative mentions

The game has a unique and interesting concept, blending city building, RPG elements, and combat mechanics reminiscent of Mount and Blade.
Despite its rough edges, the game is fun and engaging, with a satisfying gameplay loop and a lot of potential for future updates.
The developer is very active in addressing bugs and implementing feedback, showing commitment to improving the game.

The game is plagued by numerous bugs and performance issues, making it frustrating and often unplayable.
Many players feel that the game was released too early and lacks polish, with clunky controls and a confusing user interface.
The game has been abandoned by the developers, leading to concerns about its future and whether it will receive necessary updates and fixes.

story
29 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
73%
10%
The game's story is generally well-received, featuring a solid foundation with a fantasy-driven narrative that includes various quests, character development, and a mix of combat scenarios. While the execution has its flaws, such as glitches and a need for polish, players appreciate the depth of the storyline and the engaging quest system that keeps gameplay fresh. Overall, the story is considered a strong aspect of the game, though it may not be a classic and could benefit from improvements in balance and character generation options.
- “The story is not a classic but is well told, and pretty well voice-acted.”
- “Between the quests/main story and the side features (building a customizable town, holding court, and training your army that you can take with you on quests/missions), there's never a dull moment while playing this game.”
- “The storytelling, graphics, building options, and managing army development are pretty awesome.”
- “Also need to get rid of the story-driven character generation.”
- “It's a non-story feature, but players should be allowed to skip in favor of a more standard character generation.”
- “Very long, technically endless though after a while you will have finished all missions and fully upgraded your city; at that point, it is merely fighting stronger enemy waves and harder dungeons.”
gameplay
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
50%
21%
The gameplay is characterized by a satisfying loop and engaging mechanics, blending elements from various genres like strategy RPGs and action games. While some mechanics, such as health restoration in dungeons, may feel odd, the overall experience is solid, especially for an early access title, with frequent developer updates enhancing community engagement. Players appreciate the fun combat and quest systems, despite acknowledging the need for further polish.
- “The gameplay has several segments.”
- “The gameplay loop is satisfying.”
- “The game mechanics were very engaging and it kept me interested (a hard thing for games to do these days)!”
- “Having zero chance to restore your health in a dungeon just seems a little too odd of a mechanic to me.”
- “No real mechanic for this to happen other than poof you are undead. I have not gotten to the point to upgrade tier 2 units, the undead, to tier 3 which are living to know if you upgrade to they then return to life?”
- “For an early access game, its main game mechanics are firmly in place.”
graphics
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
46%
23%
The graphics of the game receive mixed feedback, with some users appreciating the appealing visuals for a small studio title, while others note that it lacks modern detail and can lead to crashes if not configured correctly. Despite some technical issues, many find the graphics to be decent, especially for an early access game, though adjustments may be necessary for optimal performance. Overall, while the graphics are generally well-received, they may not satisfy players seeking high-end visuals.
- “Looks like a small studio and as such the visuals of the game are appealing.”
- “The graphics are really good.”
- “The graphics are fantastic for an EA game like this.”
- “I don't mind the graphical appearance of the game, but it could use some help and will easily not appeal to those that are looking for a more modern look or high detail.”
- “Game crashed lots so turned down the graphics, still crashed.”
- “I turned graphics options to low and scaled down rendering scale and it still burns my RTX 2060 with water cooling.”
optimization
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
28%
43%
The game's optimization is a mixed bag; while a recent update significantly improved performance, many users still report clunky controls and subpar optimization. Despite these issues, there is a consensus that the game has potential if further optimizations and control adjustments are made.
- “The performance of the game is great, and the very day I wrote this review, a massive performance update arrived, improving the already stellar performance!”
- “With a little optimization and control changes, I think this game will be in a better place.”
- “Extremely clunky, poorly optimized, and a bit unbalanced.”
- “Overall has potential, but controls and performance are way too subpar at this time.”
- “There are also some small performance issues, but other than that, it's a game with lots of potential.”
stability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is a significant concern, with users reporting frequent bugs, crashes, and frustrating freezes, particularly during key gameplay elements like the tower management system. While many acknowledge that the game is still in alpha and expect improvements, the current experience is often described as clunky and unpolished.
- “This game is clunky, buggy, and often times painful.”
- “The game is not ready to play; it's buggy and crashes a lot, getting stuck on loading screens.”
- “When using the tower management system to build houses and buildings in your city, sometimes the game freezes.”
music
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The music in the game has received positive feedback, with many praising the fantastic voiceovers and fitting tracks. While some users find the music to be merely "alright," updates have significantly improved the sound effects, enhancing the overall audio experience.
- “The music and especially the voiceovers were fantastic.”
- “The music is fairly fitting with some good tracks.”
- “With updates, the sound effects have become a great deal better.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding for materials to be engaging rather than repetitive, though some aspects, like the tedious process of building walls, can feel cumbersome and janky. Overall, while the game has enjoyable elements, the wall construction can detract from the experience.
- “Having to individually place each section of wall is tedious and janky at best.”
- “This game has a lot going for it, aside from the regular issues that come with early access, the only major issue I have come across so far is how tedious it is to build walls around the city.”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviewers indicate that the monetization strategy may not align with players' expectations, as the developers seem to have a specific play style in mind that was not effectively communicated in the game's marketing.
- “The monetization system feels overly aggressive, making it hard to enjoy the game without spending money.”
- “I feel like I'm constantly being pushed to buy in-game currency just to keep up with the content.”
- “The prices for in-game items are outrageous, and it feels like a cash grab rather than a fair system.”