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. These are no mere ruins: the Monolith is filled with danger, and the Expedition is ill-equipped to unearth the secrets within. All eyes turn towards an elite mercenary who may succeed where all others have failed. Venture inside the Monolith and face the automatons that yet remain, remnants of the impossibly ancient civilisation that built this unknowable structure. Survive and uncover revelations that transform our understanding of humanity itself. Is this Monolith worth exploring?

Empyreal is a bit of a roguelike RPG, set in dungeon-type rooms that are different each time. It focuses on the loot and building your character to be as strong as possible. There’s no multiplayer other than gifting items to players and sometimes you can be revived/revive others, but it does feel like a missed opportunity. Looting dungeons with others would have been a great way of extending the game and stop it from becoming repetitive.

The combat itself is a bit janky. It’s not the worst, but it does become brutally difficult as you progress. So, the learning curve is quite high. It feels like a game that is best played in short bursts. It took me roughly 30+ hours to beat the game, which did feel like a bit of a grind if I’m being honest. The story itself felt weak and more of an afterthought to the gameplay.

The visuals are decent though and the music is impressive. Framerate is consistent and apart from the janky nature of the game, I didn’t come across any noticeable glitches during my playthrough.

The Verdict

Empyreal is a fairly decent looting ARPG with roguelike qualities. It’s problems are its janky controls and combat, weak story, steep learning curve and a lack of multiplayer which feels like a missed opportunity.

Score: 7.0