Soulslike fans continue to eat well in recent years as every developer under the sun seems eager to take a swing at the genre. Developer Silent Games’ Empyreal is among the newest attempts to capture the all-important thrill of challenging combat and dangerous exploration, casting players as a mercenary exploring a colossal Monolith on an unexplored planet. If you’re itching to check it out, you may be curious how much time you’ll need to complete it, though.
How long is Empyreal?
As is common with Soulslike games, Empyreal offers a difficult expedition that requires careful positioning, intense strategy, and quick reflexes to overcome its many powerful foes. But with a bit of practice and patience, overcoming its trials is certainly doable—though how long that takes will largely depend on your skill level.
An average playthrough of Empyreal will take around 15-20 hours, which includes exploring for secrets, completing NPC side-quests, and tackling the game’s punishing boss encounters. However, the first playthrough is just the beginning of your adventure through the Monolith.
After beating Empyreal the first time, you can begin a New Game Plus run for some fresh experiences. These include an increased level cap for Cartograms, additional NPC duels, and even an epilogue to reward those who want to absorb the game’s full story. Running through the game this second time means you can essentially double your playtime in this Soulslike journey.
Also, keep in mind that Empyreal features asynchronous multiplayer, which allows you to share items and more to assist other players in their instance of the game. If you’re the type who lives by the “sharing is caring” mantra, this should give you a reason to stick around and make yourself useful. If not, maybe therapy would be a more rewarding way to spend your money than grabbing a copy of Empyreal, you big meanie.
Empyreal is available now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows PCs.