Rivals of Aether ▶ Trailer
Rivals of Aether screenshot 1Rivals of Aether screenshot 2
IndieFighting2D FighterPixel GraphicsMultiplayerLocal Multiplayer

116 playing

Peak in the last 24 hours: 493

Peak in the last 7 days: 594

Rivals of Aether Steam store

Game description

RIVALS OF AETHER is an indie fighting game where warring civilizations summon the power of Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. Play with up to four players either locally or online.

Basic info

DeveloperAether Studios
PublisherAether Studios
PlatformsWindows
Steam DeckVerified
Release dateMar 28, 2017
Price

Prices by IsThereAnyDeal

Minimum specs

OSMicrosoft® Windows® 7 / 8 / 10
Processor1.2GHz processor
Memory512 MB
GraphicsDirectX Compatible graphics card with at least 32MB of video memory
Storage300 MB
steamyze

Review Analysis Score

Based on 418 reviews from the past 1 year

92.1/ 100
Top 10%

Steam rating: Overwhelmingly Positive (96%)

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 22, 2026)

A platform fighter with a deep workshop, Rivals of Aether scores 92.1, top 10% of games we analyzed.

👍 Strengths

125 reviews find it fun, with simple mechanics that open up surprising depth, and some enjoy it most with mods. 48 enjoy playing with friends, locally, through remote play or online. 42 say the workshop adds near endless replay value with custom characters and stages. Gameplay ranks 41st of 1396, Multiplayer ranks 50th of 642, and Content Volume ranks 35th of 1351.

👎 Where it falls short

Complaints are few. 12 reviews say it is hard to learn, with a steep curve and a tutorial that some find frustrating. 9 dislike certain controls, and some find keyboard play awkward or miss guard and grab options. 7 note a small online community, with few active players in matches today. Visuals & Sound ranks 141st of 1249, and Pricing & Fairness ranks 197th of 1399. A few also found the recovery mechanics confusing at first.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“fun gameplay with friends via remote play and modding support” · 125 reviews
“can play with friends matching with Americans by choosing time” · 48 reviews
“workshop makes the game incredibly replayable” · 42 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 45% of reviews · Top 5% of the games we've analyzed

Controls & feel +3.33 · Responsiveness, precision, and how the menus handle
Positive “gameplay fast, smooth, skill-based, movement feels great” · 40 reviews
Negative “keyboard controls are horrible” · 9 reviews

Progression 1% · Difficulty 4% · Onboarding 10% · Freedom 12% · Strategy 9%

Plot, characters and the world

Not enough data — only 10% of reviews mention this.

Characters +3.43 · How memorable the characters and their relationships are

Story 3% · World 1%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 32% of reviews · Top 5% of the games we've analyzed

Replayability +4.41 · Reasons to play again — runs, randomness, New Game+
Positive “workshop makes the game incredibly replayable” · 42 reviews

Volume 10% · Variety 10%

Graphics, art style, music and sound
Mentioned in 12% of reviews · Top 20% of the games we've analyzed

Visuals +3.84 · Graphics, art style, and animation
Positive “pixelart and animations are great, many creative workshop content” · 21 reviews

Audio 5%

Playing with others, the community and servers
Mentioned in 38% of reviews · Top 10% of the games we've analyzed

Playing together +3.73 · Fun of playing with friends, teammates, or rivals
Positive “can play with friends matching with Americans by choosing time” · 48 reviews
Negative “friends stopped playing due to skill gap” · 3 reviews

Community 17% · Servers & Connection 3%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 11% of reviews · Top 20% of the games we've analyzed

Pricing +0.09 · Whether the price, DLC and microtransactions are reasonable, and how much paying gives you an edge
Positive “steam workshop included as a factor makes it worth the price” · 3 reviews
Negative “base game does not deserve its price, relies on workshop” · 6 reviews

Anti-cheat 0% · Balance 4% · Matchmaking 1%

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 6% of reviews · Top 20% of the games we've analyzed

Performance +0.09 · Frame rate, optimization, and loading times
Positive “runs extremely smooth even on low-end computers” · 2 reviews
Negative “PC can barely run it without Remote Play” · 3 reviews

Stability 1% · Developer support 2%

Grey means too few reviews mention it to trust. — means almost no reviews mention it.

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