The First Templar Special Edition

The First Templar Special Edition is a third-person historical action-adventure for PC built around medieval melee combat, character switching, environmental puzzles, and cooperative play. Current storefronts keep the Special Edition branding: Steam lists it as The First Templar - Steam Special Edition, while GOG uses The First Templar - Special Edition. No verified rebrand or replacement edition currently supersedes those names.

Developed by Haemimont Games and published by Kalypso Media Digital, the game follows the Templar knight Celian d’Arestide and his companions through a conspiracy involving the Templar Order, the Inquisition, King Philip IV of France, Saracen forces, and the Holy Grail.

Third-Person Combat And Character Switching

The core loop combines guided exploration with close-quarters fighting. You move through castles, settlements, wilderness areas, ruins, and desert environments, follow chapter objectives, investigate optional routes, and enter arena-like encounters against groups of enemies.

Combat uses a deliberately direct action system. Each hero has a basic attack chain, alternative attacks, blocking, evasive movement, counterattacks, and unlockable special abilities. Successful hits build zeal, a resource used for stronger attacks and other special actions.

Defensive timing matters more than button mashing on tougher encounters. Blocking protects against attacks from the front, while evasion helps reposition around enemies. Knocked-down opponents can be finished with a Coup de Grace, giving the combat loop a clear rhythm of attack, defense, stagger, and execution.

The game also tracks a hit chain. Maintaining consecutive attacks increases the chain multiplier and improves the amount of zeal gained, but taking a hit or pausing too long resets the chain. This creates a modest incentive to stay aggressive without turning the game into a high-speed character-action title.

Solo players can switch between the active heroes at any time, leaving the second character under AI control. The companion is not merely a story prop: some puzzles, combat abilities, revival situations, and traversal sequences rely on having both heroes present.

Celian, Marie, And Roland

Celian is the central French Templar and the most traditional melee fighter of the group. His role is built around dependable close-range attacks, defensive tools, and abilities suited to confronting heavily armed opponents.

Marie d’Ibelin brings a different perspective to the campaign as a noble woman declared a heretic. Her background connects Western and Eastern cultures, and her combat identity favors faster, more mobile attacks that complement Celian’s heavier presence.

Roland is another Templar companion with an aggressive personality and a combat-focused background. The campaign alternates between companions, allowing the story and playable roster to explore different relationships within the order.

Every hero has a separate pool of experience and an individual skill tree. New abilities are purchased through connected skill layouts, so progression is not just a linear list of automatic upgrades. Players can develop more powerful attacks, improved versions of existing skills, defensive options, and abilities that strengthen cooperation.

The result is a lightweight action-RPG structure rather than a loot-driven role-playing game. Character growth is mainly about unlocking moves and improving combat options, while equipment and outfit pieces provide additional rewards for exploration and bonus objectives.

Puzzles, Stealth, And Chapter Exploration

The First Templar is not a pure hack-and-slash campaign. Between battles, chapters include trap courses, lever mechanisms, hidden chests, environmental interactions, and light stealth sections. These diversions keep the campaign moving between different types of play instead of presenting uninterrupted enemy waves.

Some areas contain pressure plates, bear traps, concealed mechanisms, or hazards that must be identified before crossing. The game’s look-around function and radar help reveal points of interest, treasure, enemies, healing items, and optional objectives.

Each chapter has a main objective alongside additional goals. Completing bonus objectives can provide experience, equipment components, or other rewards, while hidden chests may contain outfit pieces and temporary power-ups.

Several puzzles are designed around teamwork. In solo play, the AI companion can be ordered to follow, remain in place, or interact with nearby objects. In cooperative play, two human players can coordinate character positioning and actions directly.

This structure gives the game a stronger mechanical identity than its basic combat description suggests. It is a linear chapter-based adventure with optional exploration, not a fully open-ended medieval sandbox.

Special Edition Content And Ownership Details

The Special Edition includes the main campaign and the bonus mission The Arena. Steam describes this as a Steam-exclusive edition feature, while the GOG product is also listed under Special Edition branding and includes the additional content associated with that edition.

The Arena adds a separate combat-focused challenge built around enemy waves and bonus objectives. It is useful for players who want an extra test of the melee system after progressing through the story chapters, although it does not transform the game into a persistent service or endless seasonal platform.

The commercial model is straightforward: this is a paid standalone PC game rather than a free-to-play product. There is no season-pass structure or large catalog of modern content packs attached to the current storefront listings.

Steam also lists 50 achievements, giving completion-minded players another reason to search for hidden chests, finish optional objectives, master higher difficulties, and revisit the Arena content.

Who Should Play The First Templar?

The game suits PC players who want a compact medieval action campaign with a strong cooperative foundation. It is particularly relevant if you enjoy switching between complementary heroes, fighting through structured chapters, and breaking up combat with simple puzzles and traps.

Players interested in historical fantasy settings will find a focused story built around the Templar Order, the Crusades-era world, the Inquisition, and the search for the Holy Grail. The setting is more important to the game’s identity than deep historical simulation or branching political strategy.

It is less suitable for players expecting a modern open-world RPG, elaborate character builds, complex stealth systems, or a large equipment economy. The skill trees add progression, but the game remains a direct action-adventure with a relatively contained design.

For another PC action-adventure built around sword combat, supernatural threats, and environmental exploration, classic third-person samurai action like Onimusha: Warlords offers a useful comparison, although its fixed-camera structure and single-player focus are very different.

PC Features, Co-Op, And Storefront Differences

Steam currently lists single-player, shared or split-screen co-op, Steam Achievements, Family Sharing, and Steam Remote Play Together. Remote Play Together is especially relevant for players who want to experience the cooperative format without treating the game as a modern matchmaking-driven multiplayer title.

The PC manual documents keyboard and mouse controls, remappable bindings, camera options, subtitles, vibration, resolution controls, refresh settings, VSync, texture detail, view distance, shadows, water, and post-processing. These options make the PC version more configurable than a fixed console presentation.

GOG lists the game as DRM-free and states that GOG Galaxy is optional. Its storefront identifies local co-op and split-screen support, so players choosing between PC editions should pay attention to the platform-specific multiplayer description rather than assuming every feature is identical.

Verified storefront language support covers English, French, and German interface or text options. English is also listed for audio on GOG. No broader localization should be assumed without checking the individual storefront build.

Players who prefer cooperative character switching and environmental puzzle solving in a lighter, family-oriented format can also compare the structure with third-person co-op adventures such as LEGO The Hobbit. The LEGO game is much more humorous and collectible-driven, while The First Templar emphasizes melee combat and historical drama.

Similar PC Games And Genre Position

The First Templar occupies a specific space between a traditional action-adventure and a cooperative beat-’em-up. Its closest common ground with other games is the combination of third-person movement, melee encounters, companion mechanics, and chapter-based exploration.

It differs from open-world historical games because its locations are organized around missions and objectives rather than unrestricted roaming. It also differs from deep action RPGs because character progression focuses on skill unlocks instead of large-scale loot replacement or extensive build crafting.

The cooperative design is central rather than optional decoration. One player can complete the campaign with AI support, but the two-hero puzzles, companion revival, and complementary abilities make the game more naturally suited to two-player sessions.

The First Templar Special Edition FAQ

What is the current PC name of The First Templar Special Edition?

Steam currently uses The First Templar - Steam Special Edition, while GOG uses The First Templar - Special Edition. No verified current storefront rebrand or definitive replacement name has been identified.

What does The First Templar Special Edition include?

It includes the main game and the bonus mission The Arena. Steam specifically identifies the Arena mission as part of its Steam Special Edition listing.

Is The First Templar cooperative on PC?

Yes. The game supports solo play with an AI companion and cooperative play in which a second player controls the partner character. Steam lists shared or split-screen co-op and Remote Play Together, while GOG emphasizes local co-op.

Can you switch characters while playing solo?

Yes. Solo players can switch between the available heroes, while the other character is controlled by the AI. Character switching is useful for combat variety and for puzzles requiring both companions.

Does the game have RPG progression?

Yes, but it is a streamlined action-RPG system. Each hero has an individual skill tree, experience pool, unlockable abilities, and improved versions of certain attacks.

Does The First Templar Special Edition require GOG Galaxy?

No. GOG lists the game as DRM-free and states that Galaxy is optional. The game can be installed through the available offline installer instead.

What kind of gameplay structure should players expect?

Expect a linear, chapter-based campaign combining third-person melee combat, light stealth, trap sections, environmental puzzles, optional objectives, hidden chests, skill progression, and a separate Arena challenge. It is not a modern open-world RPG or a procedurally generated game.