SDCC 2017: Smashing Through ‘Rivals Of Aether’!

Out of all the games shown at Comic-Con this year, it wasn’t Super Mario Odyssey, Sonic Mania, or Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite that captured my attention, but Rivals of Aether that did.

Located at The Behemoth booth and Made by a group of 9 people, Rivals of Aether is Smash Bros if the entire roster was filled with killer animals, and it’s just as amazing as it sounds. There are currently 8 playable characters with 2 guest characters scheduled for release. One of them has already been announced as Ori and Sein from the Xbox One hit Ori and the Blind Forest, and the other to be announced at Super Smash Con, which runs from August 10th-13th. 

Going back to gameplay, it plays exactly how you’d expect a Smash Bros. like game to play. All characters have their own A and B moves that differ depending on where you tilt the left stick when you attack. You can charge up attacks by using the C stick and even dodge roll. The game doesn’t seem to have any sort of Ultimate or Smash Ball move, but that’s not a problem as all the characters are incredibly fun to play. Each character has a different feel and weight to them so no one feels like just a re-skin of another character. My favorite character had to be Ori, and while he isn’t officially out, this was his first public playable appearance. 

One area that I think Rivals of Aether excels at better than Smash Bros, is in the diverse and fun stages. Of course the stages in Smash are fun and diverse, but all too often a lot of them are created with annoying hazards that end up ruining the entire stage *COUGH Magicant COUGH*. Aether finds a great middle ground where all the stages can be enjoyed from both a competitive and casual perspective. It’s nice being able to play through a wide variety of stages knowing that a lot of these are still viable if you decide to pick up the game competitively.

Overall, Rivals of Aether is a highly addicting fighting game that both casual and competitive fans of the genre enjoy. The game is fully available on Steam for $15, and can also be purchase on Xbox One game preview for the same price. If you’re a fan of the Smash series and are looking for something new, this is defintley a game to RIVAL that.