The Relic: First Guardian Hits Switch 2 Today: 80 Brutal Bosses and Freeform Soulslike Combat at $34.99
The Nintendo Switch 2 library gains a formidable dark fantasy challenger today, October 9, 2026. Action RPG The Relic: First Guardian officially makes its handheld debut following its previous releases on PC and PS5 in July, and Xbox Series X|S late last month.
Developed by South Korean indie team Project Cloud Games and published by Perp Games, this ambitious project represents six years of dedicated production from a core squad of just a dozen developers. The pricing holds steady across all storefronts at $34.99 with no next-gen platform tax.
Surviving the Ruins of Arsilthus Across 80 Brutal Encounters
The campaign immerses players in Arsilthus, a shattered realm consumed by chaos following the destruction of the Great Relic. Stepping into the shoes of the realm's last Guardian, your mission is to seal the cataclysmic Rift and banish the darkness creeping through every territory.
Project Cloud Games packed the semi-open world with ruthless opposition. Explorers must confront more than 80 distinct major encounters and elite monsters known as "Brutals," each featuring individualized attack cadences and punishing counterattacks.
Offense Without Stamina Constraints: A Distinct Combat Flow
The most striking gameplay twist in The Relic lies in how it handles the stamina bar. Departing from traditional soulslike dogma, offensive swings do not deplete stamina.
Instead, your stamina pool is reserved strictly for defensive maneuvers like high-stakes dodges and precision parries. This architecture pushes players toward relentless aggression while maintaining razor-sharp tension when defensive reactions are required.
Build customization eschews rigid class boundaries in favor of five versatile weapon categories: dual daggers, longswords, colossal greatswords, sword and shield, and battle staves. Combined with rune sockets and over 70 passive traits, players who enjoy deep action RPG mechanics have plenty of buildcrafting depth to explore.
A Portable Soulslike Gauntlet on Switch 2
Taking the brutal dark fantasy battles of Arsilthus on the go fits the handheld profile of the Switch 2 remarkably well.
At an accessible $34.99 permanent price point, Project Cloud Games proves once again that passionate independent studios can craft gripping, high-stakes combat experiences. The real question is whether your parry timing is sharp enough to conquer all 80 Brutals.
SEO consultant for over 20 years and digital entrepreneur, Charles 'Grimtag' Ronchain is the founder of Pro-Gamer.gg, Retrocharting.com, and Gamescharting.com. A competitive gamer, streamer, and retro game collector, he has worked in the video game industry for over 15 years, notably as a consultant for leading game price comparison platforms. Passionate about real-time performance data and gaming technology, he analyzes competitive esports, gaming hardware benchmarks, and creator workflows on Pro-Gamer.gg with an authentic player perspective.
