Fatekeeper, the striking first-person dark fantasy action RPG from 13-person German studio Paraglacial and publisher THQ Nordic, has pulled into Steam Early Access today, June 2. After turning heads at THQ Nordic’s 2025 Digital Showcase and an uncut eight-minute gameplay reveal, the sword-and-sorcery RPG is finally playable — though this is firmly a first chapter rather than the finished tale.
Fatekeeper drops you into a handcrafted world where ruined cities and overgrown temples whisper of a long-past cataclysm. As the titular Fatekeeper, you wander a quiet, melancholy land, piecing together what happened through exploration, relics and the choices you make along the way. The studio leans hard into atmosphere: moody volumetric lighting, painterly vistas and a deliberate, unhurried sense of place that owes as much to immersive sims as it does to traditional RPGs.
Dark Messiah-style combat, reborn
The comparison previews keep reaching for is Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, and it fits. Combat is built around physics-driven melee and spellcasting that rewards timing and reading enemy movement rather than button-mashing. Spells are designed to interact physically with both enemies and the environment, so you can freeze a floor, shatter footing or send foes tumbling rather than simply chipping away at health bars.
Forge your own build
Progression centres on three pillars — strength, precision and sorcery — backed by crafting, a skill tree and a spell-design system that lets you shape your character to fit your preferred style. Whether you favour a blade-first bruiser, a precise duelist or a glass-cannon mage, the relics and choices you collect are meant to push your build in a distinct direction.
How much game is in Early Access?
Paraglacial is refreshingly upfront about scope. The launch build covers roughly the first two hours of the adventure and its core systems, while the full release is planned to run around 15 hours. The team expects to spend at least eighteen months in Early Access, expanding the world, story and mechanics based on player feedback before the 1.0 launch.
Should you jump in now?
If you have been craving a focused, atmospheric immersive-sim-flavoured RPG and don’t mind buying into a work in progress, Fatekeeper makes a strong first impression for a team this size. Those who prefer a complete package may want to wishlist and wait, but the early build is a confident statement of intent — and a reminder that THQ Nordic is still happy to back smaller, ambitious teams.
