IGN's review of The Relic: First Guardian describes a FromSoftware-inspired dark fantasy action game that falls well short of its ambitions, undermined by shoddy execution across nearly every element aside from its combat. Reviewer Jarrett Green argues the title looks superficially appealing from a distance but collapses under scrutiny, making it hard to recommend despite occasional moments of atmospheric intrigue during exploration.

The review highlights bland, low-detail character models, oppressive and repetitive colour-filtered environments, and technical issues including characters getting stuck on geometry, checkpoints loading players into the ground, and fast-travel points becoming inaccessible inside walls. It also criticises the game's overreliance on environmental storytelling and conveniently placed notes to convey side-quest narratives, calling the technique overused to an unusual degree. Overall, the combat is presented as the game's main redeeming feature, propping up an otherwise broken and underwhelming experience.