TheRetroArcade
Veteran
Posts: 1,967
Joined: Feb 2026
Joined: Feb 2026
Despite occasional stalls, this combination of tactics and talking has plush-leather depths worth sinking into.
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What is it?: A lean steampunk-ish RPG with tactical combat and visual novel storytelling.Expect to pay: $20/£16.80Developer: Seismic Squirrel/Chaos TheoryPublisher: Seismic SquirrelReviewed on: Windows 11, Intel Core i9, 32GB RAM, Nvidia RTX 4060Multiplayer?: NoSteam Deck: PlayableLink: Official site
I open by firing the beam weapon mounted to the hood of my flying coupe, a Chevy-ass gangstermobile that zooms across the glowing streets of New York. Then I jump over my enemy so I can soften them up with the rear-mounted pistol, pull a bootlegger's turn, and hit 'em with the beam again.
That finishes them off, then sending them hurtling down the highway to collide with an innocent bystander's car. "Ah, my transmission!" he shouts, taking four points of damage as my turn comes to an end.
These parts of Aether & Iron are a turn-based Twisted Metal where it costs more action points to accelerate up the road than it does to weave through traffic as you drop back, and undercarriage mine launchers fill the streets with wreckage that those suckers at the back will have to dodge.
The other half of Aether & Iron is a hardboiled RPG in an alternate 1930s where aether technology sent New York aerial, turning it into a network of floating boroughs connected by ferries, each ruled by a tyrannical baron. It's inspired by the real New York, but don't expect to meet Robert Moses or the Pinkertons — most of the cast are broad archetypes drawn from the era. As a cynical smuggler with a fine line in noirish narration, you get drawn into a plot that begins with a plucky young scientist's discovery that will shake the city, and soon has you tangled up with the Underground plotting to overthrow the worst of the barons.
The story's told through fully voiced dialogue broken up by skill checks where you roll 2d6 and add your score in the relevant skill, like Gumshoe for figuring out clues or Grease Monkey for mechanical know-how. It's a bit Disco Elysium even down to your deaths being recounted as newspaper headlines, only without Disco's skill-based backchat or isometric walkabouts.
All that professional voice acting and engaging tactical combat mustn't come cheap, which Aether & Iron makes up for with exploration sequences closer to a visual novel. Each location's a 2D landscape with points of interest to click on and NPCs to interact with, their portraits sliding in from the side of the screen and switching between a handful of broad emotional reactions to your choices. I don't miss all that isometric jogging from location to location you get in a typical CRPG, but your mileage may vary.
It feels lean and pacey. Without having to click, click, click your way across the screen, Aether & Iron gets to the good stuff fast. The only waiting is when you're on the overland map, hopping across islands to the next quest destination, or stopping off at a garage for repairs or a safe house to lower your Heat stat so it's easier to get through any checkpoints on your path.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Though broadly linear, a story of a predetermined character driving along a predetermined plot, there are a couple of sidequests and room to find alternate routes within the story. For instance, while infiltrating the grounds of a sinisterly fancy party I met some debauchees wearing animal masks while their companions without masks stood in cages. "Humans go in cages!" they chanted at me, so I grabbed a lion mask and did an unconvincing roar so I didn't have to join in whatever kink this was.
I could no doubt have engaged with them more to find a way inside the building, but in...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?
PC Gamer's got your back
Our experienced team dedicates many hours to every review, to really get to the heart of what matters most to you. Find out more about how we evaluate games and hardware.
What is it?: A lean steampunk-ish RPG with tactical combat and visual novel storytelling.Expect to pay: $20/£16.80Developer: Seismic Squirrel/Chaos TheoryPublisher: Seismic SquirrelReviewed on: Windows 11, Intel Core i9, 32GB RAM, Nvidia RTX 4060Multiplayer?: NoSteam Deck: PlayableLink: Official site
I open by firing the beam weapon mounted to the hood of my flying coupe, a Chevy-ass gangstermobile that zooms across the glowing streets of New York. Then I jump over my enemy so I can soften them up with the rear-mounted pistol, pull a bootlegger's turn, and hit 'em with the beam again.
That finishes them off, then sending them hurtling down the highway to collide with an innocent bystander's car. "Ah, my transmission!" he shouts, taking four points of damage as my turn comes to an end.
These parts of Aether & Iron are a turn-based Twisted Metal where it costs more action points to accelerate up the road than it does to weave through traffic as you drop back, and undercarriage mine launchers fill the streets with wreckage that those suckers at the back will have to dodge.
The other half of Aether & Iron is a hardboiled RPG in an alternate 1930s where aether technology sent New York aerial, turning it into a network of floating boroughs connected by ferries, each ruled by a tyrannical baron. It's inspired by the real New York, but don't expect to meet Robert Moses or the Pinkertons — most of the cast are broad archetypes drawn from the era. As a cynical smuggler with a fine line in noirish narration, you get drawn into a plot that begins with a plucky young scientist's discovery that will shake the city, and soon has you tangled up with the Underground plotting to overthrow the worst of the barons.
The story's told through fully voiced dialogue broken up by skill checks where you roll 2d6 and add your score in the relevant skill, like Gumshoe for figuring out clues or Grease Monkey for mechanical know-how. It's a bit Disco Elysium even down to your deaths being recounted as newspaper headlines, only without Disco's skill-based backchat or isometric walkabouts.
All that professional voice acting and engaging tactical combat mustn't come cheap, which Aether & Iron makes up for with exploration sequences closer to a visual novel. Each location's a 2D landscape with points of interest to click on and NPCs to interact with, their portraits sliding in from the side of the screen and switching between a handful of broad emotional reactions to your choices. I don't miss all that isometric jogging from location to location you get in a typical CRPG, but your mileage may vary.
It feels lean and pacey. Without having to click, click, click your way across the screen, Aether & Iron gets to the good stuff fast. The only waiting is when you're on the overland map, hopping across islands to the next quest destination, or stopping off at a garage for repairs or a safe house to lower your Heat stat so it's easier to get through any checkpoints on your path.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Though broadly linear, a story of a predetermined character driving along a predetermined plot, there are a couple of sidequests and room to find alternate routes within the story. For instance, while infiltrating the grounds of a sinisterly fancy party I met some debauchees wearing animal masks while their companions without masks stood in cages. "Humans go in cages!" they chanted at me, so I grabbed a lion mask and did an unconvincing roar so I didn't have to join in whatever kink this was.
I could no doubt have engaged with them more to find a way inside the building, but in...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?