Rivals of Aether II

Rivals of Aether II presents a very solid foundation, with fast-paced combat, a variety of characters, and mechanics that work well in both casual matches and more technical levels of play. At the same time, its almost total focus on competitive play and the lack of solo content leave important gaps, especially for those who don’t intend to commit to online play. Even so, in local matches, the experience changes completely—it’s easy to get drawn in and have fun with the chaos of the fights. In its current state, it’s a game that already delivers good moments, but still feels like it’s in the process of growing. For those who enjoy learning, testing their limits, and gradually improving, there’s a lot of value here. For others, it might be worth keeping a closer eye on its development before fully diving in.

Rivals of Aether II gives fans of the genre a lot to love, with the promise of even more on the way, and the game is constantly getting patches and improving. If it offered a proper story mode and slightly more intuitive mechanics on top of cleaning up the skins for clarity's sake, it would be up there with the best fighting games ever. It feels incredible to play, the music is awesome, and the visuals are some of the most unique in the industry without feeling like they're compromising for frame rate. If you're a fan of Smash Bros. gameplay, you owe it to yourself to give Rivals of Aether II a shot, but you should know that it's still a work in progress, even after release.

Still, even with these notable accessibility issues and other flaws, I can’t help but be extremely impressed with Rivals of Aether II for catching lightning in a bottle. It not only mimics but also builds on one of the best competitive games ever made, emulating its expressive battles so fast they make eyeballs bleed and finger joints explode. The cast is varied, the combos are dynamic, and the core movement is electric. Like with any fighting game, I’m sure there will be some competitive hiccups (some are already unhappy with how strong crouch canceling is), but what we have here is a rewarding platform fighter that controls like a dream—I wish that it did more to on-board new players, and was less limited outside of multiplayer, but for genre veterans, this core feel is the most important piece. While it’s way too early to tell if the game will fully capture Melee’s magic, it’s come closer than I thought possible, and that’s no small feat.