I’m sure nearly everyone has a genre of gaming, or any form of entertainment that they just don’t get on with. In fact I’m sure most have multiple. I feel that I can get enjoyment out of most genres as long as there is something there I can engage in, but beat ‘em up games have never resonated with me. Bar maybe Super Smash Bros, but even that didn’t have me playing for very long. But here I am with Rivals of Aether – a new Game Preview game on the Xbox One. Having not really heard anything of it, I wasn’t exactly ecstatic when I turned it on to be greeted with a retro beat ‘em up game. As with any of our articles on Game Preview games, this shouldn’t be seen as a definitive opinion, rather an overlook of what is currently available on the game, and how it plays. And a look towards what it may develop into in the future.
One thing that Rivals of Aether has going for it, is its presentation of retro style visuals, with a modern day refresh. Colours are vibrant and stand out well on the characters and multiple environments, but t still has the feel of say, a Megadrive game. It’s strange to see this sort of style be so popular these days, but it’s nice that developers are able to throw back to a bygone era for fans of this visual style.
A massive negative for me as the game currently stands, is that there isn’t really anything beyond the tutorial to do if you’re a gamer that likes to play games on your own. There is an option for a campaign on the menu, but it is currently locked off. Obviously this is a mode that will be open in future, but what it will entail is yet to be seen. But take this into consideration if you’re considering investing in the game during the development phase. What it does have though is a multiplayer suite, of both local and online games. This features up to 4 players at a time, which could create good fun between friends in a local co-op environment.
The game currently features 8 different characters to choose from that take animal forms and use powers of the elements to fight. I personally found the fighting to be a little fiddly and limited. This may be down to my inexperience of fighting games, but there isn’t a whole host of different combos here. It’s about timing, parrying and attacking. During the tutorial phases I struggled with getting certain moved ‘just right’, and needing to do a certain amount in a row before getting to the next one. It’s a shame that there is currently not an option to skip to I could have a look at what else you are able to do within the game, as most of the time I found myself button bashing and hoping for the best. This is not the best option for fighting against a character that fights back, and there is only a certain amount of enjoyment you can get out of hitting a non responsive training dummy character.
I think this will develop into something that will have a strong niche fanbase over time. Hell it may even do sooner rather than later for people that are happy with a multiplayer focused game. I suppose the competitive nature of fighting games leads to multiplayer on its own being ok, but I’m hoping to see what this will offer for its single player option. At the moment its £11.99, which I feel it quite a high price point for what is currently on offer. But check out the video above and if you like what you see, and want to directly support its development. Just be aware, that there is almost nothing to do if you’re playing on your own once you’ve done the tutorial.