Video Game / Rivals of Aether II

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Rivals of Aether II is a Platform Fighter developed by Aether Studios set in the Aether Universe, and is a direct sequel to Rivals of Aether. It introduces new (to the series) mechanics like shields and ledges, as well as new-to-genre special attacks performed while knocked down, hanging on to a ledge, or grabbing an opponent.

The game is planned to have a story that is a direct sequel to the previous game's. The Champions of Aether have defeated the Abyssal Gatekeepers, but they are now trapped in the Abyss, destined to remain there forever. Clairen arrives from the future, not knowing where the Champions are, but knowing that their disappearance will allow the evil Loxodont to rule Aether unless she does something about it.

Following a successful Kickstarter campaign, the game launched on October 23rd 2024 with 10 playable Rivals, and planned updates that will add more modes and characters, all for free.

Rivals of Aether II contains the following tropes:

• And Your Reward Is Clothes: Increasing a character's level unlocks cosmetic items and awards currency that is also spent on more cosmetics.
• Anti-Frustration Features: Casual mode has Phoenix Assist by default, which prevents players from being KO'd on their last stock as long as at least two players have more than one stock left, ensuring that less skilled players won't be eliminated early and forced to wait.
• Art Evolution: The game has made the leap to a fully 3-D polygonal game in the vein of contemporary platform fighters, with many characters sporting much more elaborate base designs that were once unfeasible in sprite form. Clairen's suit is significantly more detailed and she's able to be depicted with her tail at long last as one example.
• Artistic License – Biology: Kragg is shown to have an internal skeleton when shocked by Absa despite being a beetle, who should simply have an exoskeleton like all other insects. Normally, being subjected to an an x-ray would expose an insect's organs instead. He's probably still given one anyway for parity with the rest of the cast, and it could be Justified by Aetherians having differing biology from the actual animals they're based on.
• Bait-and-Switch:
  • In the Holiday Stream Special, Santa (not Dan in a costume) reveals the Rivals who will be getting new skins in the January 2025 event by opening presents containing plushies. The third box contains a plushie of Ranno, who had already gotten skins in all three event bundles so far.. but then Santa tosses it aside and pulls out a plushie of Orcane instead.
  • Olympia's trailer introduces Absa as Hodan's new apprentice, but once Olympia comes in, she isn't brought up again. This is after she'd been teased as coming in the December update (she did... as a player icon). Absa would eventually return as a playable fighter in her May 2025 reveal trailer.
• Battle in the Rain: The Merchant Port stage the weather change to rainy once all fighters are down to their last stock.
• Cartoon Cheese: One of the items added in the Fun-For-All update is a yellow cheese that can be thrown.
  Very sharp, do NOT eat!
• Color-Coded Item Tiers: Cosmetic items are Common (light gray circle), Rare (blue diamond), Epic (purple five-pointed star), or Legendary (yellow six-pointed star). For most item types, rarity is arbitrary (except for Legendary icons being animated), but for skins, there are clear distinctions: Common skins change the character's textures, Rare skins change the model, Epic skins have new sound effects, visuals for special attacks, and victory music, while Legendary skins were planned to turn the character into someone completely different, but have since been canceled in favor of making them separate Moveset Clone characters.
• Event-Driven Clock: Some stages have time advance when all players have only one stock left. Julesvale goes from evening to night, The Air Armada goes from day to sunset, and the Godai Delta goes from day to night.
• Grenade Hot Potato: The Bomb Balloon and Beehive items, as well as Sylvanos' target in the Tree Top Bridge stage and Fleet's Windchime Bombs can all be transferred if the affected player hits another with a melee attack.
• I Know Madden Kombat:
  • A new FGC-themed skin for Ranno replaced his poison bubbles with basketballs and his sweatpants with a basketball uniform.
  • Loxodont has an Epic skin where he's dressed as a hockey goalkeeper, with a hockey stick replacing his axe and a puck for his Molten Boulder.
• Melee Archery: Fleet's jab consists of two short slashes and a stab with one of her arrows, and all of her tilts and aerials (except for her down air) involve her hitting people with her bow rather than shooting.
• The Parody Before Christmas: The Winter Festival Event trailer is a spoof of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.
• Premium Currency: Aether Coins are earned by playing, and can be used to buy items from a limited daily selection consisting of Common skins, certain select Rare skins, and other items up to the Epic tier. Aether Bucks can only be bought with real money, or earned in limited amounts through character mastery and events. One Aether Buck can be exchanged for 100 Aether Coins (the regular currency) or used to buy any cosmetic item in the game (except those that are part of the current event, or out-of-game events) at any time.
• Recovery Attack: New features in the game include Ledge Attacks and Getup Attacks - attacks done while hanging from a ledge, and attacks done while laying prone. Unlike smash bros, there are also Special Ledge Attacks and Special Getup Attacks in addition to normal ones.
• Retraux: The theme for the first event, Rivals 3D, is old video games, giving Wrastor, Kragg, Ranno, and Clairen low-poly appearances which the trailer hypes as revolutionary.
• Revenue-Enhancing Devices: The game is monetized solely through cosmetic offerings. Numerous skins, player icons, respawn platforms, emotes, death effects and stage skins can either be bought with free currency Aether Coins or premium currency Aether Bucks (though some can be earned from level-up rewards or Events). Anything that affects gameplay, like characters or stages, will be free.
• Rewards Pass: They're called Events here, and are free for all players, letting them earn a skin and other cosmetic items without spending a dime. Each Event has associated skins that will give extra experience points if used, typically consisting of the included free skin, the set of three paid skins in the bundle released alongside the event or other skins that fit the theme. Lampshaded in the Launch Features Deep Dive, where Dan Fornace insists it's not a Battle Pass by listing traits of Battle Passes. As of the December 2024 update, it's possible to return to past events that you missed, as part of Aether Studios' attempts to minimize FOMO.
• Shout-Out:
  • The "Tuxedo Ranno" profile image is modeled after the "BEAT IT CHICK!" meme.
  • Fleet's "Fleet Squint" emote is based on Futurama's "Not sure if..." meme.
  • The Rivals 3D event trailer includes an ad for Kragg's album The Rock Wall, which was hinting at Kragg's Rockstar skin. Said skin has a top hat similar to Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash, and a recolor based on I-No from the Guilty Gear series.
  • Maypul's "Bandit" skin wears a costume based on Sly Cooper.
  • The Mecha Madness trailer (which also became the opening video) combines the openings of two of the most famous mecha anime: the song is a pastiche of "Sorairo Days", while the visuals (especially the white text on a black background) are taken from Neon Genesis Evangelion.
• Shown Their Work: When electrocuted by one of Absa's attacks, the whole cast has their skeleton rendered visible temporarily. The modelers clearly studied the skeletons of each of the animals that a given cast member is a species of, given their anatomical accuracy. Oddly, Kragg has one despite being an insect...
• Stock Beehive: The beehive item added in the Fun-For-All update is shaped like a wasp nest. Throwing it summons a swarm of bees that repeatedly damage a player.
• Suddenly Voiced: The entire cast has voice acting when the previous game lacked it.
• Victory Pose: Everyone now possesses a unique win animation after every match, as opposed to the static win screens featured in the first game.
• Wall Jump: Very much nerfed compared to the previous game, as many characters can no longer wall-jump after using their Up Special.
• What the Hell, Player?: Most of the cast will complain if you lose a stock accidentally, rather then by being launched off the stage by an opponent.
• You Mean "Xmas": December 2024 has the "Winter Festival Event", also called Aethermas in the trailer itself.