Yet another
Rivals Direct has come and gone, with more exciting news for various Aether games and the
Aether IP as a whole. This time, it was framed by a
Muppets-esque puppet show starring Maypul, Ranno, Zetterburn, and Fleet from the upcoming
Dungeons of Aether. I’d recommend giving it a watch since it’s pretty entertaining, but if you can’t or don’t want to, here’s a list of the important stuff:
Sandbert Plush Now Available
The first announcement of the Direct was the reveal of another new
Rivals plush, Wrast- err, Sandbert. Alright then. This funny little guy, who initially debuted as an April Fool’s character for
Rivals of Aether, comes with a pin and a DLC code for the Golden Sandbert Jr. buddy in
Rivals. Get it while it’s hot.
Orcane in Fraymakers Early Access Launch + New Rivals Assist Revealed
Next up was a new trailer for
Fraymakers, which will be featuring Orcane from
Rivals of Aether as one of its playable characters. The roster when the game launches in Early Access this August will consist of him, CommanderVideo from the
BIT.TRIP series, Welltaro from
Downwell, and Octodad from the
Octodad series. The remaining base roster characters, Ultra Fishbunjin 3000 from
Slap City and the Watcher from
Slay the Spire, will be coming as free additions by the game’s full launch.
Additionally, the trailer showed off a new
Rivals assist coming to
Fraymakers, that being Kragg. The
Fraymakers dev team held a
poll last December asking people who they wanted to see from
Rivals of Aether as an assist in the game, with Kragg winning the poll and being announced in the trailer. Kragg will be one of the 40 assists featured in
Fraymakers, summoning his iconic pillar to assist in recovery, combos, and the like.
Dungeons of Aether Release Date Trailer
Dungeons of Aether also received a new trailer this time. Revealed in last year’s Rivals Direct,
Dungeons of Aether is an upcoming turn-based dungeon crawler set in the
Rivals of Aether universe. Taking place generations after a war between the Elemental forces of Aether and the darkness from the Abyss, the game aims to expand on the lore and setting of the
Aether IP.
Dungeons of Aether will be coming to Steam on October 25th, 2022.
Finally, the Direct ended with the announcement everyone had been waiting for and expecting: the sequel to
Rivals of Aether, now officially known as
Rivals 2. We got our first sneak peek at a 3D
Rivals game at the end of 2020’s Rivals Direct and have only gotten snippets of footage since, but now we finally have a proper trailer.
Rivals 2 will be building on the established gameplay of
Rivals of Aether, adding familiar mechanics like grabs, shields, and ledges as well as new attacks like getup specials and ledge specials. The trailer showed some of the characters—Zetterburn, Ranno, and Wrastor—as well as a few of the stages, specifically Tempest Peak, Air Armada, and the new Hodojo.
Rivals 2 is tentatively set to release in 2024.
Author’s Note: That’s all for this year’s Rivals Direct! What’d you think of the announcements? Are you gonna be buying that Sandbert plush? Personally, I voted for Wrastor in the Fraymakers poll and I’m only slightly bitter about that. I’ll probably be picking up Dungeons of Aether when it comes out later this year and I’m modestly excited for Rivals 2, but will have to see more of it.
Credits:
Writing:
Ze Diglett
Editing: @Sari
Thumbnail Graphic: @Zerp
Social Media: @Zerp