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The Lantern of the Laughless Saint Game Cover

About The Lantern of the Laughless Saint

The Lantern of the Laughless Saint is a single player and multiplayer open world role playing game with fantasy and dark fantasy themes. It was developed by NerveLabs and was released on August 17, 2026. It received positive reviews from players.

A solo or co-op RPG inspired by Morrowind. Drawn by a shared dream, you awaken on an isolated island crowned by a silent Tower. Unravel the mystery of the Laughless Saint, confront the weight of human desire, and decide what deserves to be saved when the light beneath the world finally stirs.

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Games Like The Lantern of the Laughless Saint

Looking for games like The Lantern of the Laughless Saint? Here are top open world role playing recommendations with a fantasy and dark fantasy focus, selected from player-similarity data — start with Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, The Bloodline or Of Ash and Steel.

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Reviews

89%Audience ScoreBased on 1,209 reviews
story69 positive mentions
stability100 negative mentions

  • Adds a fresh and compelling take on classic Elder Scrolls/Morrowind style RPGs with strong world-building, lore, and atmosphere.
  • Gameplay is addictive with satisfying progression, fun combat, spell crafting, and multiple build options.
  • Supports both single-player and multiplayer co-op modes, with active developer support and frequent updates and patches.
  • Currently suffers from numerous bugs, clipping issues, quest glitches, and occasional crashes due to early access state.
  • Optimization is problematic on some systems, with performance drops, stuttering, and UI navigation difficulties.
  • Lack of quest markers and vague directions can lead to player confusion and frustration; some combat and AI behavior feel repetitive or unbalanced.
  • story

    325 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    21% positive mentions, 75% neutral mentions, 4% negative mentions

    The story is praised for its intriguing, Morrowind-inspired world and engaging narrative that rewards exploration and player discovery without hand-holding. However, the lack of quest markers and vague quest directions often lead to frustration, with some quests being buggy or unfinishable, making progression difficult and requiring note-taking or external help. Despite these issues, the storytelling, character writing, and atmosphere show strong potential, with many players eagerly anticipating improvements and expansions.

    • “Gameplay is clean, exploring is amply rewarding, and the quests and story are interesting.”
    • “Characters feel fleshed out and memorable, the story is mysterious and intriguing, and all of the beloved mechanics are there.”
    • “Writing is solid, story beats are intriguing enough to keep me moving forward, and voice acting for important characters is impeccable.”
    • “Without exaggeration, half of the quests I've taken on have ended up being unfinishable due to an NPC falling through the world, a quest item not counting as the real quest item, etc., which hampers quest completion despite exploration enjoyment.”
    • “The game doesn't give you quest markers, but also doesn't provide good navigation instructions, leading to frustrating gameplay where you have to rely on vague directions and trial and error.”
    • “While most quests reward you for following directions and using intuition, some quests lack elaboration, such as 'find the book somewhere in the world' or 'go to my favorite spot with no further details,' making navigation tedious and every wrong turn a huge time waste.”
  • gameplay

    114 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    37% positive mentions, 60% neutral mentions, 3% negative mentions

    The gameplay is widely praised for its addictive, fun mechanics inspired by classic Elder Scrolls titles like Morrowind and Oblivion, featuring solid combat, rewarding exploration, and a rich leveling system. While it offers a nostalgic yet modernized RPG experience with enjoyable co-op play, users note it is currently rough around the edges with bugs, some unpolished systems, and limited enemy variety. Overall, the core gameplay is engaging and promising, though it still requires polish and additional content to fully realize its potential.

    • “Pros: fun to play, solid mechanics, interesting map, interesting storyline - on that alone it's infinitely better than most games you see in the discovery queue - 10/10 would recommend... and 100% will continue playing this :)”
    • “+: combat is solid, movement feels great, and leveling up skills does provide a noticeable difference in gameplay.”
    • “Quite possibly the most fun I've had playing a game in years, amazing gameplay, great community, and a blast with friends.”
    • “The environment doesn't really support ranged and stealth gameplay.”
    • “I basically bulldozed my way through 25 levels of gameplay with a lot of armor and a two-handed weapon, rarely needing to swap out either.”
    • “Lots of the mechanics are slower than they should be (alchemy my beloved) and the perks are completely unbalanced, with many of them being downright bad or simply not telling you what they do (nudist perk doesn't list by how much your stats increase, and doesn't say when it's active so I can't tell if having a lantern, spell, or weapon equipped counts against it).”
  • stability

    107 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    7% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 93% negative mentions

    The game is notably buggy and unstable in its early access state, with frequent glitches, crashes, performance issues, and multiplayer desyncs reported. However, the developers are actively providing rapid updates and hotfixes, showing strong commitment to improving stability over time. Despite the rough edges, many players find the experience enjoyable and promising, especially with continued support and patches.

    • “Thank you devs! Runs great on Mint Linux.”
    • “Game runs great, replay value is great, 17.6 hours in as someone who tries to do everything, I’m nowhere near beating it and constantly being rewarded for exploring and being curious.”
    • “Runs great and plays great.”
    • “This game is more buggy than Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim combined, unoptimized and unfinished, with empty locations lacking interesting content, especially the huge tower which only serves the main quest. Many side quests don't work or have cryptic descriptions making them impossible to complete without guides or a wiki. Quest rewards are underwhelming or absent, and enemy variety is nonexistent, mostly frogs, ooze, mycology wizards, and skeletons.”
    • “I tried for a couple of hours on a brand new PC and an older laptop, both fully updated and without previous issues. The game either freezes or crashes within 60 seconds of loading a save. The freezes and crashes occur regardless of what I do, so I assume there's no specific action triggering them. TL;DR: freezes/crashes constantly.”
    • “It's an incredibly buggy, janky mess. Sometimes quests fail for no reason or stop progressing. In multiplayer, the second player can phase through doors and walls and randomly becomes invincible.”
  • graphics

    104 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    29% positive mentions, 64% neutral mentions, 7% negative mentions

    The game's graphics feature a unique, retro-inspired art style reminiscent of classic RPGs like Morrowind, combining old-school aesthetics with modern lighting effects to create a charming and immersive world. While many praise the artistic direction and atmosphere, performance issues, graphical bugs, and occasional visual glitches detract from the experience, with some users noting the game is surprisingly demanding on hardware given its stylized visuals. Overall, the graphics contribute positively to the game’s vibe, but the presentation still requires optimization and polish.

    • “The art style is beautiful, colorful, and immersive.”
    • “The visuals are amazing, and the environment is very pretty - the art style stays consistent, and the look of the game is incredibly charming and quite unique.”
    • “Graphics are top notch nostalgia trip.”
    • “Tried to play it but unfortunately a game with graphics that look like they came from 40 years ago can't run on my PC with an RTX 3090 and a 12 core CPU... kind of pathetic to release a game in this state.”
    • “Game opens with poor performance and weird graphics: retro styled game with modern-ish lighting is not working well together imho, currently it looks like a default sloppy EU game with project light settings that weren't changed, navigating town in night is an eye strain due to insane contrast, and day looks like tasteless ENB for Skyrim, water in some places is literally invisible.”
    • “The graphics are obviously purposefully old school, but the systems displaying them are not and are (currently) demanding more resources than some modern AAA games.”
  • optimization

    98 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    10% positive mentions, 66% neutral mentions, 24% negative mentions

    Optimization is a major issue for the game, with widespread reports of poor performance, frequent frame drops, and heavy GPU usage even on high-end systems, resulting in a frustrating experience especially for lower-end hardware. While development is active with regular patches addressing some issues, many players still encounter crashes, stuttering, and buggy behavior linked to unfinished early access status. Overall, optimization improvements are urgently needed to realize the game's potential and ensure stable, smooth gameplay across different platforms.

    • “There is some stability and optimization still needed but even since early access launch over a week ago there have been nearly daily updates with fixes.”
    • “Performance-wise, the game works perfectly on both PC and Steam Deck, which is a big plus.”
    • “My performance has been north of 60fps almost the whole time on a 6700 XT.”
    • “The performance is abysmal; I could get only 25 fps on an RTX 3090.”
    • “I had to request a refund because even with a 2070 Super, the performance is horrible.”
    • “This game is more buggy than Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim combined, unoptimized and unfinished; performance isn't great, side quests often don't work, and many areas are empty and uninteresting.”
  • music

    51 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    35% positive mentions, 59% neutral mentions, 6% negative mentions

    The music and soundtrack are widely praised for their quality, atmosphere, and fitting variety, ranging from fantasy ambience to synth tracks that enhance immersion. Some users note occasional distracting or repetitive combat tracks and minor sound glitches, and a few express frustration over the inability to fully turn off the music. Overall, the music is a standout feature that significantly enriches the game's vibe and exploration experience.

    • “If I had to pick one thing that really stands out about this game that I absolutely love - it would be the soundtrack.”
    • “The vibes are immaculate, the music is tremendous, and the gameplay loop of leveling every skill is really addicting.”
    • “The art style is beautiful, colorful, and immersive, and the soundtrack alternates between fantasy ambience and synth tracks with a cool vibe.”
    • “If you set the music volume to zero, the music still plays just slightly lower; you cannot fully turn off the music, or at least I couldn't.”
    • “One of the battle music tracks sounds like it should be in a sci-fi game, which completely takes me out of the experience.”
    • “The music as I approach the mouth area is awful; it has this piercing D note that sounds like a glitch, and it keeps playing constantly with no change.”
  • humor

    41 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The humor in the game is widely praised for its intentional comedic writing, funny bugs, and quirky glitches that often enhance the experience rather than detract from it. Players enjoy the game's lighthearted moments, from amusing NPC behaviors to humorous weapon quirks and perk effects, making co-op play especially entertaining. While some bugs can be frustrating, many are embraced for their comedic charm, contributing to a nostalgic yet fresh Elder Scrolls-like vibe.

    • “The developer's commercials are funny as hell, and it's nice to play a new game that feels familiar after playing Skyrim, Oblivion, and Morrowind and have it be a new game with new lore to learn.”
    • “The characters in the game are interesting and there are some very funny moments, especially with the few minor bugs.”
    • “Absolutely hilarious with friends; my friend keeps getting killed/attacked by the friendly NPCs when he joins and his pain brings me joy!”
  • atmosphere

    25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    56% positive mentions, 44% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its rich, immersive, and exotic world that captures the spirit of classic RPGs like Morrowind. Reviewers highlight its cozy, lore-rich environment, engaging world-building, and an evocative soundtrack that deeply enhances exploration and storytelling. Overall, the unique and captivating atmosphere significantly draws players into the game's mysterious and vibrant setting.

    • “I found myself sucked into this world, jank and all, having a great time exploring, building out my character, and soaking up all of the lore and atmosphere.”
    • “From the dialogue and atmosphere to the sense of exploration, this game genuinely makes you feel like you're actually living in its world rather than just playing through it.”
    • “But... the beautiful atmosphere and the perfectly captured spirit of Morrowind make it a masterpiece, in a strange way.”
  • monetization

    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    Users feel the game's monetization comes across as a potential cash grab, with aggressive marketing and ongoing monetization practices that raise concerns about its long-term support and development. However, some appreciate the added features like online and splitscreen co-op included in the advertised content.

    • “It's like one of those cash grab games that aren't fully developed.”
    • “It's okay, I'd wait to see if the somewhat childish marketing tactics were intended to be a quick cash grab or if the game actually gets support and updates from the developers.”
    • “The initial advertisement hooked me, the first few quests reeled me in, and the continued and constant support and communication from the development team bagged me and fried me.”
  • grinding

    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    Grinding in the game can be tedious, especially at higher difficulty settings where it becomes overly grindy, making it better to keep the difficulty low. Early game farming areas with tanky, low-damage enemies allow for efficient leveling, but inventory management, like sorting through numerous potion ingredients, can feel cumbersome.

    • “The difficulty slider behaves like an ESO game as well, so it's honestly better to leave it low, or else the game will be too grindy.”
    • “Scrolling through tons of potion ingredients to find that one potion I picked up a couple minutes ago is a bit tedious.”
    • “Early game skill farming area with super tanky, relatively low damage turtles that allow you to get high levels relatively quickly.”
  • replayability

    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    25% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 75% negative mentions

    Replayability is generally strong, with rewarding exploration and curiosity keeping players engaged for extended periods. However, some users note limited replay value in its current state and express hope for future improvements, especially regarding optimization for handheld devices.

    • “Game runs great, replay value is great, 17.6 hours in as someone who tries to do everything, I’m nowhere near beating it and constantly being rewarded for exploring and being curious.”
    • “Limited replayability in its current state, so I will say 8 out of 10 for now, but I am excited for its future.”
    • “Bonus points if they make it more playable on the deck, or at least tell us that they will never optimize it for a handheld.”
    • “I understand this is early access but I hope this gets fixed to become more playable.”
  • emotional

    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    Users feel the game evokes mixed emotions, balancing a compelling main story with the freedom to explore extensively at their own pace. However, some express frustration with game mechanics and updates that limit certain playstyles, indicating tension between player choice and developer intentions.

  • character development

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 100% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    Character development is criticized for feeling outdated and poorly executed, blending modern designs with low-quality, retro aesthetics that detract from the overall experience.

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Play Times

6h Median play time
10h Average play time
2-20h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 6 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

The Lantern of the Laughless Saint is a open world role playing game with fantasy and dark fantasy themes. Common tags for The Lantern of the Laughless Saint include first-person, psychological, third person, early access, mythology and others.

The Lantern of the Laughless Saint is available on PC and Windows.

On average players spend around 10 hours playing The Lantern of the Laughless Saint.

The Lantern of the Laughless Saint was released on August 17, 2026.

The Lantern of the Laughless Saint was developed by NerveLabs.

The Lantern of the Laughless Saint has received positive reviews from players. Most players liked The Lantern of the Laughless Saint for its story but disliked it for its stability.

The Lantern of the Laughless Saint is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, The Bloodline, Of Ash and Steel, Devil Spire Falls, 9 Days and others.