Any time a genre I love crosses over with roguelike mechanics, my ears prick up. Turning loss, death, and failure into deliberate design never gets old, and it gives me a new sense of purpose no matter what I’m playing. That’s why I’m so excited for Aethermancer, because it takes the turn-based party gameplay I crave and makes defeat a boon, instead of a setback. With truly gorgeous pixel art and a wide array of vibrant creatures, a new Aethermancer demo is available to try on Steam right now.
The world of Terastae is filled with monsters who just refuse to stay dead. An endless cycle of rebirth means they keep coming back, and as the titular Aethermancer, this is a power you can take advantage of. Normally, if one of your creatures dies it’s gone for good, but you can bring them back in an entirely new, and more powerful, form. Think of it like a Pokemon Nuzlocke where instead of losing your starter forever when they faint, they come back morphed into something new.
But Aethermancer is also a roguelike, which means you have ever-changing procedurally generated levels to explore. You can keep pushing until you lose your group in a tough battle, at which point you come back stronger and try it all over again. Your party of three can utilize monster synergies to make these randomized areas more manageable, and you have access to four aether elements to help turn the tide at any moment.
Aethermancer thrives on its monster designs. With so many creature taming games around these days, it can be tough to stand out, but Aethermancer does just that. There’s the devil dog Mephisto, who can become consumed by their blue flames at any moment. Then there’s Dullhan, a centaur with a glowing skull and scythe who has some serious speed. My favorite is Jotunn, though, because he’s a giant buffalo man covered in ice shards who looks incredibly threatening.
The game’s demo also offers you a lot to do, with 15 different monsters and two areas available to explore. There’s even an additional ‘Heroic’ difficulty available for when you defeat the demo on normal, helping you put all those skills you learned to the test. You’ll want to replay Aethermancer just to hear what all the NPCs have to say, too, because each has dynamic reactions based on your choices.
Developer moi rai games has released the Aethermancer demo on Steam, with the full game’s launch listed as “coming soon.” You can get involved here.
If you want more like Aethermancer while you wait for the full launch, we’ve got all the best RPGs and the best turn-based strategy games you can play today.
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