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Rivals of Aether II
Rivals of Aether II is the sequel to the hit indie fighting game, Rivals of Aether. Play as both new and returning elemental fighters in the next generation of platform fighters.
In short, Steam reviewers most often praise “Smooth movement, satisfying combos” (71 of 104 reviews) and “Developers listen and improve actively” (17); the most common complaint is “Unbalanced characters, worse than original” (22). What reviewers agree on ↓
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-09-29 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-12.
What reviewers agree on
71 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“This has been my absolute favorite game since the first backer beta in April 2024, but I could not rate it as "Recommended" unless you had 100 hours of Melee, PM, or Rivals 1 experience. But I can now. (Provided you…”
“I'm having fun playing this game casually with friends, but it's because we're furries and choosing to have fun with the furry game. Character actions and movement are not conducive to casual play. Many 'fun buttons'…”
“only game where i 100% trust the devs and have hope for its future movement feels amazing, learning all the tech makes you feel like a genius music and sound design is incredible single most consumer-friendly live…”
17 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“only game where i 100% trust the devs and have hope for its future movement feels amazing, learning all the tech makes you feel like a genius music and sound design is incredible single most consumer-friendly live…”
“Now that they've added the Casual content this game does in fact have it all. If you want to get crazy competitive you can do that, and if you don't you can just goof around with items and free for alls with online play…”
“For those that bother to check my profile, I've had a lot of experience with Rivals 1 (over 1,000 hours). Given that, I feel like I have plenty of room to compare both R1 and R2 with each other, and now with the game…”
16 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“Great game! I enjoy the competitive nature of the game, but I waited for the fun for all update to leave a review because NOW there is a reason to actually play the game if you are a casual player. The casual mode is a…”
“I loved the update for casuals/party modes! A fear I had was they'd add very chaotic stuff only, but there's a handful of new stages that are more beginner friendly. On the other hand, I'm in love of how absurdly strong…”
“Now that they've added the Casual content this game does in fact have it all. If you want to get crazy competitive you can do that, and if you don't you can just goof around with items and free for alls with online play…”
8 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“I loved the update for casuals/party modes! A fear I had was they'd add very chaotic stuff only, but there's a handful of new stages that are more beginner friendly. On the other hand, I'm in love of how absurdly strong…”
“If you like any smash bros, or any other platform fighter, this is a good one. Everybody is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ in a fun way, the game has pretty solid balance once you get the hang of it, and it's approachable. The deep technical…”
“This is just straight-up fun! Movement feels buttery smooth, combos are satisfying, and every character has their own unique elemental flair that keeps matches fresh. It’s easy to pick up, but there’s a ton of depth if…”
8 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“Now that they've added the Casual content this game does in fact have it all. If you want to get crazy competitive you can do that, and if you don't you can just goof around with items and free for alls with online play…”
“Liking it so far. The transition to 3D models from pixel art helps the game a lot. It was difficult to properly identify certain attacks, faints, or movements, based on the limited amount of animation frames in the…”
“I really, really, really dislike rivals 2, but it is still a good game. Sure, I'll blame my computer for not being able to properly run the game at all even with lowered settings, I was at least able to play one ranked…”
22 of the 104 reviews raise this · 6 of them still recommend the game.
“interesting sequel decision, after making a good game, they chose to make a bad game this time. riveting.”
“I've tried my best to like this game over the course of its lifetime, but it seems like each update the game gets worse and worse to play. The game is less optimized than before, runs poorly on some devices (luckily not…”
“I liked rivals of aether because it wasn't just smash for PC. It has its own identity and ideas and Rivals II simply feels like the devs abandoned that identity to reach a broader, specifically the smash, audience.…”
7 of the 104 reviews raise this · 7 of them still recommend the game.
“This has been my absolute favorite game since the first backer beta in April 2024, but I could not rate it as "Recommended" unless you had 100 hours of Melee, PM, or Rivals 1 experience. But I can now. (Provided you…”
“Great game! I enjoy the competitive nature of the game, but I waited for the fun for all update to leave a review because NOW there is a reason to actually play the game if you are a casual player. The casual mode is a…”
“Most Fun I've had with a fighting game hard to start but when you get over the first hill its so fun”
7 of the 104 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“I'd really love to enjoy a smash game that has nothing to do with nintendo, but unfortunately this game is so niche the only people playing it are people who have been grinding melee for 25 years. It's miserable to play…”
“This game feels like it was made out of spite. The top-tier characters feel like spiteful ripoffs of SSB characters (like Marth & Link,) the stage hazards feel less like hazards and more like actual game-ruining…”
“Great game, but impossible to play against a human as a new player. The sheer knowledge and skill gap between Stone 300 and Stone 350 is immense (this is the lowest rank tier). Even if this wasn't the case, there are so…”
6 of the 104 reviews raise this · 1 of them still recommend the game.
“If they are gonna give up and fire everyone that built this, I will too. I tried supporting when I could. Was fun for a bit!”
“This game was kinda supposed to be the savior of people who played platform fighters such as super smash bros. But unfortunately, it is plagued with all of the same issues that make recent smash titles super unfun and…”
“I'm sure people find it fun and, when it's truly in a completed state, I'm sure I will too. But not in its current state. It feels weirdly sluggish for a supposedly fast fighting game, the bots somehow became even more…”
5 of the 104 reviews raise this · 4 of them still recommend the game.
“Liking it so far. The transition to 3D models from pixel art helps the game a lot. It was difficult to properly identify certain attacks, faints, or movements, based on the limited amount of animation frames in the…”
“I really, really, really dislike rivals 2, but it is still a good game. Sure, I'll blame my computer for not being able to properly run the game at all even with lowered settings, I was at least able to play one ranked…”
“Original review: Gamecube Controllers dont work properly ingame. Which is a shame, especially since they worked like a charm in the first game. Guess the priorities lie elswhere development-wise. If you dont care about…”
Counted across 104 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 79.9% positive rating · as of 2026-05-12
“The Fun-for-all update was exactly what this game needed - a way to play the game and still have fun without having to be fully locked in all the time.”
— a player, Steam review · 112 hrs played“going to this from playing smash ultimate every day for the last couple months drove home how transformational a game with just low input delay alone is, let alone good online LOL feels insanely good to play and pull off combos, just pure fun”
— a player, Steam review · 22 hrs played“It saddens me to have to negatively review this game because I genuinely love the Aether franchise and I played so much Rivals of Aether throughout its various phases of Early Access and its updates. I even backed the release of Rivals 2 on Kickstarter, I was that excited to…”
— a player, Steam review · 10 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live data self-collected from the Steam API · history through 2026-06 via SteamCharts.
Achievement stats
Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-10-26.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-10-26). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
Rivals II Two Year Anniversary!
Happy 2 year anniversary to Rivals 2 and our amazing community! After another huge year of updates including new characters, items, casual stages, workshop, tutorials, events, and tons of engine impro
Hotfix 1.7.3.3 Notes
Fixed a bug preventing Steam lobby invites. Fixed a bug that caused buffered tether inputs to result in a non-tether Up Special in specific scenarios. His HUD now uses the water-style border instead o
Hotfix 1.7.3.2 Notes
These patch notes refer to a hotfix that went live on 10/13/26 without details. These notes are being published today for posterity. Hitgrabs will now whiff against the ungrabbable shield hurtbox This
Hotfix 1.7.3.1 Notes
Fixed a bug that allowed the outer shield hurtbox to be grabbed. Bug Fix: Trajectory calculations will now calculate 1 fewer frame than before. Previously, the game would estimate the character's fina
Patch 1.7.3 - Workshop Full Launch
Hey everyone! We've got a BIG update this month - much bigger than the usual you'd see without a new character release. It includes huge features like the Workshop 1.0 FULL LAUNCH with custom characte
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-12.
| Genres | Action, Indie |
| Player tags | Fighting · Multiplayer · Indie · 2D Fighter · Action · Local Multiplayer · 4 Player Local · Fantasy · Combat · 2.5D · PvP · Co-op (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Multi-player · PvP · Online PvP · Shared/Split Screen PvP · Shared/Split Screen · Steam Achievements · Full controller support · In-App Purchases |
| Languages | English, French, German, Spanish - Spain, Japanese, Portuguese - Brazil, Spanish - Latin America |
| Controller | Full support |
| Achievements | 71 |
| Official site | https://rivals2.com |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Window 10+ 64 Bit Processor: 3.0 GHz Dual core Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060, AMD Radeon RX 470, or better DirectX: Version 11 Network: Broadband Internet connection Storage: 20 GB available space