The Lantern of the Laughless Saint Arrives in Steam Early Access With Morrowind-Inspired Open-World RPG Exploration
The Lantern of the Laughless Saint has officially entered Steam Early Access, bringing a dark fantasy role-playing adventure built for players who miss the mystery, danger, and freedom of classic open-world RPGs. Developed by NerveLabs, the game launched on August 17 and is already offering a sizeable experience, including a full open world, online co-op, spell-crafting, alchemy, and a main quest that can be completed from start to finish.
Rather than relying on modern quest markers or heavy hand-holding, The Lantern of the Laughless Saint leans into old-school discovery. Its design draws clear inspiration from The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, with exploration shaped by rumors, conversations, written clues, and player curiosity.
The story begins with a strange shared dream that pulls players toward an isolated island. After arriving, they awaken beneath a towering, silent structure with no memory of how they got there. From that moment on, the island becomes a puzzle to untangle piece by piece.
Players will learn about the world by speaking to unusual residents, following whispers, reading damaged journal pages, and making sense of conflicting stories. Everyone on the island seems to have their own theory about why the player has arrived, and not all of them can be trusted.
At the heart of the island lies a mysterious empty theater known as the Amphitheater. This location appears to reflect the consequences of the player’s decisions, with the final performance shaped by how they treat the people they meet along the way. It gives the game a strong narrative hook, where choices are not just background flavor but part of the world’s strange and unsettling structure.
Combat in The Lantern of the Laughless Saint supports multiple weapon types, giving players room to build their character around different playstyles. Magic also plays a major role, with working spell-crafting and alchemy systems already included in the Early Access release. NerveLabs plans to expand both systems as development continues, which could make character customization even deeper by the time the full version launches.
One of the game’s biggest features is co-op support. The Lantern of the Laughless Saint can be played solo, but it also allows full online cooperative play. Groups can explore the island together, face enemies as a party, and experience shared consequences based on their decisions. This gives the game a unique appeal for players who want an old-school fantasy RPG experience without giving up multiplayer adventure.
The game also includes shared-screen and split-screen options, along with support for Remote Play Together. That makes it more flexible than many modern RPGs, especially for players who prefer local-style co-op or want to bring friends into the experience without everyone needing the same setup.
Although it has just entered Early Access, the current version is already packed with content. Players can expect more than 50 quests, over 60 enemy types, and more than 100 equippable items. The main storyline is also fully playable, which is notable for an Early Access RPG.
NerveLabs has stated that it plans to keep The Lantern of the Laughless Saint in Early Access for less than a year. During that period, the studio aims to release updates every one to two weeks. Future updates are expected to add more areas, enemies, equipment, quests, and general polish. The developers also plan to improve and expand fishing, alchemy, and spell-crafting.
The Lantern of the Laughless Saint is available for Windows 10 and newer systems. The standard price is $19.99, with a launch discount lowering it to $17.99 until August 24.
Early player feedback has been positive so far, with the game earning a Mostly Positive rating from its first wave of Steam reviews. For fans of dark fantasy RPGs, open-world exploration, co-op role-playing games, and Morrowind-style discovery, The Lantern of the Laughless Saint is shaping up to be one of the more intriguing Early Access releases of the year.
