Volume 13: Labyrinth of Aetheria
Steam Next Fest is kind of a crapshoot if you want something niche like a DRPG, but there’s usually at least one game to find if you’re willing to look. During the June 2026 Next Fest, I literally only found one game that fit the bill, which is fewer than last time we did this here. Kind of a bummer, but at least this one’s pretty good. A port of a mobile game, Labyrinth of Aetheria is by the basics approach, but it has a lot of old-school charm and stuff to uncover as you build your team. Plus, it has custom portraits, which is a time-honored tradition in old-school RPGs we don’t often get to see anymore.
Labyrinth of Aetheria is a classic-style DRPG developed by Jimineko Games, a one-person studio who previously released this game on mobile platforms 2023. This PC version is a little souped-up with PC gaming accoutrements, as much as you could reasonably expect for a project like this anyway. It’s a simple game for the most part, an obvious tribute to the likes of Wizardry and not straying very far from that formula. There are modern concessions like an automap, but you’re still at the mercy of things like having to pay a priest an absurd amount of gold to possibly revive a downed party member.
The visuals are simple, pleasant pixel art, but accentuated with bright colors and clean lines, kind of giving Sega Master System to me. The music sounds similar, almost reminding me of Phantasy Star a bit both in tune and sound font. And you already know I fuck with Phantasy Star, so that’s a plus in my book. One thing I noticed early on is the starting area, a standard town with various shops and services, also comes in the form of a map you have to navigate. There are even parts in which you have to unlock doors to find secrets, and even clean out a bandit invasion before you can gain access to the main dungeon. This can be an extra slice of unexpected friction, especially if you’re trying to drag a poisoned teammate to the church before they perish, since the church is tucked away in a corner, far from either dungeon entrance. Cheeky!
The best part is custom character portraits. Obviously, a big part of PC gaming for decades has been modding. But when it comes to RPGs, one thing that really took off is custom character portraits. When playing something like Baldur’s Gate or a later Wizardry entry, players would dig into the files and add in their own portraits to use for their custom characters. Maybe they had their own drawings, art from other games or anime, or even just pictures of their friends and family. It’s such a thing from that era, artists like Ryoko Kui (the creator of Delicious in Dungeon) have drawn portraits for RPG games and released them for fans to use. Some newer games, like Digital Eclipse’s Wizardry remake, officially support this practice, offering instructions for where to go and how to tune the images properly for in-game display. Aetheria made this happen for the PC version, so naturally I made the Skybox crew the main party. I left Kris out because he doesn’t use his own likeness on social media, so I personified the website instead for laffs.
Like we’ve seen with XCOM, there’s a magic about making the characters you control in a video game into people you know in real life. There’s an extra connection to the little digital soldiers, and an extra ounce of despair when you lose someone. I definitely felt that extra oomph when, in an early dungeon run, we almost lost Brian. Our Editor-at-Large is the Thief in my party, responsible for safely disarming traps on treasure chests. I could’ve opted for the magic route, but magic is for dorks, and I’d rather have Skybox-San (a Paladin) focus on healing if I have to use it. Besides, Brian can also unlock doors, which saves a lot of money on keys. Anyway, he finally failed to disarm a pretty basic trap, and the resulting damage took him down in one hit. That’s bad for multiple reasons, requiring a physical and emotional journey all on its own.
See, when someone dies in a classical DRPG, you’re in for an ordeal. First, you have to find a church. As I mentioned earlier, it’s a trek and a half to get to this one, so not only do you have to survive exiting the dungeon with one less body, you gotta drag ‘em all the way out to the church. Then, you have to pay hundreds of gold to have a priest attempt to revive them. Unlike a Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy-style RPG, here you have to pray to God. And if God decides you’ve served your purpose in this world (see the excellent Blade & Bastard series for this bit of lore), your pal’s body just dissolves into a pile of ashes. No refunds! Luckily, God saw Brian’s journey as virtuous, and allowed it to continue. The next time he fumbled a trap he survived, but then it was Will’s turn.
Will’s a Samurai, a sort of Red Mage if we’re using comparisons. I mostly put him in that role because I was already a fighter, and I needed more beef. But he’s a little squishier than me, and all it takes is one bad turn against a pair of Zombie Kobolds to take him out. Just as he was about to level up, too! When I made it back to town, I realized I didn’t have enough money to pay off our benevolent creator, so I had to figure something out. Luckily, I went to talk to the king for some reason, and there was an option I didn’t notice before to “ask for help.” One of the choices was 500 gold, which was more than enough to hop back over the church and make an appeal to heaven. Samurai Will was also granted another chance. Luck was on Skybox’s side on this adventure.
You can’t escape death forever, however. As I explored the dungeon further, an ominous message in front of a door hinted at some rowdiness on the other side, an obvious warning. I was feeling brash, so I went ahead and barged in. On the other side, three Ogres and the Ogre King, the clear boss of this demo. Considering a pair of Ogres had given me some trouble earlier, I knew we weren’t ready. It wasn’t even close. I went down first to a critical hit, and it was a wrap from there. The Ogre King played with his food, even casting an unneeded sleep spell to knock the rest of the group out before his goons bludgeoned them to death. RIP, Skybox crew.
Don’t let a cute-looking indie RPG from a solo developer lull you into a false sense of security. This person was inspired by Wizardry, the ultimate (and original) in dastardly DRPGs. Labyrinth of Aetheria got hands, folks.
Until next time, dungeon delvers.
