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Empyreal

Empyreal is an interesting take on its genre with a unique focus on everyone’s favorite part of an RPG, dungeons. However, the simplistic combat is poorly balanced, with a difficulty curve that becomes very difficult as early as the game’s second level.
Empyreal Game Cover
75%Game Brain Score
story, gameplay
optimization, grinding
76% User Score Based on 105 reviews
Critic Score 70%Based on 1 reviews

Platforms

Xbox Series X|SPCPlaystation 5XboxSteam DeckWindowsPlayStation
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Empyreal Game Cover

About

Empyreal is a single player role playing game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Silent Games and was released on May 8, 2025. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

Empyreal is a complex, challenging, feature-rich action RPG. In a far-flung corner of the galaxy an Expedition arrives on a hitherto unexplored planet to find a colossal Monolith built by a lost civilisation.

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Empyreal screenshot
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Empyreal screenshot
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Empyreal screenshot
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Empyreal screenshot
Empyreal screenshot
Empyreal screenshot
+6
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76%
Audience ScoreBased on 105 reviews
story8 positive mentions
grinding5 negative mentions
  • Engaging and satisfying combat system with distinct weapon playstyles (mace and shield, glaive, cannon) that offers meaningful build options and tactical depth.
  • Beautiful and immersive world design with rewarding exploration, including large maps with numerous secrets and a unique sci-fi atmosphere.
  • Strong post-launch support from developers, active community engagement, and good replayability driven by loot collection and map trading features.
  • Steep difficulty curve combined with occasional frustrating enemy mechanics like long stuns and unfair boss fights, which can hinder enjoyment.
  • Lack of clear guidance and confusing quest system leading to player frustration, compounded by a lifeless hub environment and poor quest direction.
  • Technical issues such as performance optimization problems, crashes, limited controller support, and some janky animations and gameplay moments.
  • story
    37 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story is intriguing and well-written with multiple endings, interesting NPCs, and compelling lore, enhanced by decent voice acting. However, it is often hindered by a confusing, poorly guided quest system lacking clear markers, making progression feel repetitive and unclear, which diminishes overall flow and engagement. Players appreciate the narrative potential but frequently find the execution frustrating due to vague objectives and broken questlines.

    • “Interesting story with more than one ending.”
    • “You get a couple of quests to accomplish in these maps which move the story forward and develop your relationship with NPCs in the hub.”
    • “The story's mystery is intriguing and getting new dialogues in the hub between missions is always nice with well-written text and some interesting lore.”
    • “My problem is that the runs don't feel very interesting and you don't really have a good sense for if you're making progress or not. Sometimes you get rewarded with more story, but other times you feel like you're running through the same zones and not sure how to advance. There are interesting voice acting and story elements that get teased, but getting to them feels like a vague chore.”
    • “Eventually you start to know the name of the NPCs, but until then it's just a quest of 'go talk to person name' and you have no indicator at all of what that person does or where they are on the map.”
    • “The story unlocks via completing quests that have very little guidance, and often leave you with a tease that more is coming.”
  • gameplay
    26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay is generally praised for its polished mechanics, engaging combat with diverse weapon playstyles, and unique systems like the trading post and pseudo-multiplayer features. However, some players find flaws such as jankiness, occasional unfair or unpolished mechanics like stunlocking, and a need for better targeting systems, which can hinder the overall experience. Despite these issues, the gameplay loop remains fun, rewarding, and shows strong potential for improvement.

    • “Gameplay is polished with very little jank.”
    • “After getting a feel for the mechanics, it was really satisfying to quickly move through groups of enemies alternating between dodges, finishers, and abilities.”
    • “Each weapon has its own mechanics that make the game feel completely different, especially when using the cannon.”
    • “Ok, so I played for about 12 hours and gave this game a lot of chances despite so many flaws and unfair mechanics, yet thought if I can get stronger later in the game I may counter a lot of 'unfair' mechanics.”
    • “However, not everything is negative: the game has cool armors and weapons, graphics are okay, story is meh, gameplay has potential, but unfortunately, yet again, stunlock is killing all the fun.”
    • “There were a lot of things that could have been done to make this better, and as a core part of gameplay I think it really hampers the experience.”
  • graphics
    10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics receive generally positive remarks for their appealing aesthetic and art style, reminiscent of titles like Xenoblade and Phantasy Star, with fitting armor visuals and a unique modern palette. While not groundbreaking or pushing high-end visuals, the graphics are considered good and enjoyable, though some users note performance issues and crashes that detract from the experience.

    • “I enjoy the aesthetic; it reminds me of a Xenoblade/Phantasy Star single-player MMO with a hub world and venturing out to do runs in a giant ruin complex.”
    • “I also enjoy the graphics and the art style.”
    • “The modern aesthetic is an interesting palette to take in.”
    • “I had more crashes than I liked, and performance should be better given the graphics.”
  • optimization
    9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Optimization reviews are mixed, with many users reporting performance issues such as frequent crashes, freezes, and inconsistent frame rates even on mid-range PCs. However, some players experience smooth gameplay without stuttering or crashes. Overall, the game's optimization requires improvement to better match its graphics and ensure stable performance across devices.

    • “I have a mid-range PC and performance has been great, not one crash in my almost 19 hours of gameplay.”
    • “The game runs surprisingly well with no stuttering at all for me.”
    • “Works on Ally X and Steam Deck decently but needs more optimization.”
    • “Optimization is still horrible, freezes every so often.”
    • “Performance: optimization isn't the best, even at the lowest settings, I couldn't consistently get 60 fps on my 3060 at 1080p.”
    • “The game has massive performance optimization issues that need to be solved.”
  • grinding
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Grinding is a core part of the game, offering rewarding loot acquisition and set unlocks that provide a satisfying dopamine boost. While the game is grind-heavy, its streamlined mechanics and map familiarity make targeted farming efficient and enjoyable for fans of dungeon-crawling loot games.

    • “The game is a bit on the grindy side, requiring repetitive tasks to progress.”
    • “This is another grindy game, similar to Anthem, Warframe, and Outriders.”
    • “Grinding involves dungeon crawling and loot collection, which might feel repetitive for some players.”
  • atmosphere
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The atmosphere is widely praised for its depth, immersive world design, and a bleak, mysterious tone that enhances the overall experience. Players find it engaging and well-crafted, complementing the challenging gameplay and environments effectively.

    • “I've only scratched the surface in Empyreal, but I'm impressed by its atmosphere and depth.”
    • “It nails the atmosphere — bleak, mysterious, and immersive — and backs it up with tight, responsive combat and satisfying progression.”
    • “✔ Deep atmosphere and strong world design.”
  • music
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music receives mixed feedback, with some finding it uninspiring or too loud, while others praise it alongside sound effects for enhancing the game's atmosphere. However, there is a noted lack of ambient sounds or immersive audio elements to make the environment feel more alive.

    • “Considering this game was produced by only a small team of devs, they have done an amazing job of making this game both fun to explore, visually stimulating and supported by great sound effects and music.”
    • “Music is uninspiring to even keep playing.”
    • “No ambient sounds or music that make it feel more alive.”
    • “I have the volume down to 30 with the music at 100 and they are still a bit loud.”
  • stability
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game is generally stable with few major glitches or bugs, though optimization issues cause occasional freezes. Some gameplay mechanics can feel clunky and buggy, but overall it remains playable and enjoyable once familiar.

    • “Optimization is still horrible, freezes every so often.”
    • “A little clunky and at times kind of buggy (pretty often shield charge myself and my target through the world), but once you get the feel for it and hear some of the bass thumps, it gets pretty addicting.”
  • replayability
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers high replayability with engaging gameplay and appealing art direction, though some users wish for more tile and quadrant variety to enhance long-term engagement.

    • “It is well-designed with engaging gameplay, a cool art direction, and high replayability.”
  • humor
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is subtle and not a primary focus, with the experience leaning more toward a sci-fi adventure and exploration rather than comedic elements.

  • emotional
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Users express frustration and anger when engaging with the game's emotional aspects, feeling challenged to the point of self-doubt.

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70%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews
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19h Median play time
19h Average play time
19-19h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Empyreal is a role playing game with science fiction theme.

Empyreal is available on Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5, Steam Deck and others.

On average players spend around 19 hours playing Empyreal.

Empyreal was released on May 8, 2025.

Empyreal was developed by Silent Games.

Empyreal has received mostly positive reviews from both players and critics. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its optimization.

Empyreal is a single player game.

Similar games include Sands of Aura, Alaloth: Champions of The Four Kingdoms, Achilles: Legends Untold, Ashen, The Surge and others.