Screenshots & trailers
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 63 | 45 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 69% | 67 | 80 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | – | 0 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 74% | 70 | 64 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: since the last significant patch (Aug 7, 2025) · 64 reviews sampled · 53 total reviews in window · weighted 26 up / 9.1 down · computed 58m ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (24)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 70
“Empyreal offers a deep dive into a mysterious world with challenging gameplay and rich features. Dive in for a rewarding action RPG experience!”
read full review ↗ - 43
“Empyreal is a decent ARPG, but really misses all its marks. It may have an interesting-looking world for an indie, but it clearly misses having a good story, engaging combat, or exploration. The game tries to be challenging, but only ends up being a bland fighting experience loop that just progresses to be even more frustrating. Overall, if you’re a die-hard ARPG fan, you can still find a good time, but there are many better titles to play this year.”
read full review ↗ - 55
“I love the fact they hand-designed the levels, but the overall graphics might have suffered as the game certainly is nothing to write home about in that area.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“Emperyal offers intriguing ideas and a solid artistic direction, but its story feels shallow and the combat falls short of expectations. Despite its innovative gameplay concept, repetition and simplicity take a toll on the experience. It’s worth a try for indie fans, but it doesn’t go much further than that.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Empyreal has a great combat system with lots of opportunities to try something new. Hunting for better equipment is exciting, and developing your character is a rewarding feeling. But there's not much else to do, and the shine wears off quickly. This is also a game that demands a good PC, or you might run into problems. It's a great game for fans of varied combat and boss rushes, but not much else.”
read full review ↗ - 30
“Empyreal offers a fun combat if you can understand and manage the progression and gear systems, but other than that, the story, world and character design, and atmosphere feels empty and disconnected from the player and their avatar's perspective and experience.”
read full review ↗ - 64
“Empyreal is an ambitious game that struggles to turn its promise into a captivating experience. Its mysterious Monolith holds potential, but weak storytelling, repetitive combat, bland visuals, and frustrating exploration hinder the adventure. While creative character backgrounds and the apparition mechanic offer glimpses of originality, they can’t outshine the game’s flaws. Some may enjoy its setting, but Empyreal struggles to stay engaging beyond its initial intrigue.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“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.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“Empyreal offers a rich action-RPG experience with rewarding exploration and progression, but its weak story, lifeless NPCs, and clunky, chaotic combat mechanics make it less enjoyable than it could have been.”
read full review ↗ - 75
- 60
“Overall, Empyreal has endless potential to be a great game, and it can go quite far. The story does come off as a bit messy at first, but there is a solid plot. The rest of the gameplay could use a bit more work, but a little extra flair can go a long way and would definitely put it out there in a much nicer way.”
read full review ↗ - 100
“Empyreal is a solid dungeon crawler with a complex and engaging core gameplay loop. It allows the player to build a character that suits their playstyle and a familiar, visible path for progression. Anyone that enjoys 3rd person ARPGs should really pick this one up. It would be a shame to award it anything less than the Thumb Culture Platinum Award.”
read full review ↗
TheBigBois
Gameffine
ZTGD
Just Play it
Checkpoint Gaming
GameLuster
Game8
Try Hard Guides
Gameliner
PS3Blog.net
NoobFeed
Thumb Culture…and 12 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- Empyreal Free Content Update Now Live - Plus 67% Discount!Aug 7, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Free Empyreal Content Update Coming August 7thJul 31, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Empyreal's Next Update Is Coming Soon!Jul 24, 2025
- Minor Empyreal Update Now Live - Patch NotesJun 30, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- New Empyreal Update Out Now: Full Patch NotesJun 19, 2025significant · resets scoring window