Aeterna Lucis is the direct sequel to the hit metroidvania Aeterna Noctis. The biggest change in this installment is the shift in perspective: while in the first game we controlled the King of Darkness, in this new title the absolute protagonist is the Queen of Light. Following the events of the first game, the balance between Light and Darkness has shifted. The story plunges us even deeper into the “Aeterna Universe,” exploring the luminous domains, revealing the Queen’s motivations, and pitting her against new dangers, divine creatures, and ancient secrets that will test her power and faith.

The most drastic and important change lies in the focus of its mechanics. Aeterna Noctis became famous for being an extremely demanding precision platformer, where jumps and movement were the core challenge. In contrast, Aeterna Lucis places its main focus on combat. Although it will still feature exploration, platforming, and the classic metroidvania structure (unlocking abilities to open new paths), the battle system has been redesigned to be much faster, more dynamic, and aggressive. Players will rely on a combo system, light magic, and dodges to defeat common enemies and spectacular boss fights.

Although the developers (Aeternum Game Studios) always try to make their games accessible to newcomers, it is highly recommended to have played at least Aeterna Noctis. Since it is a direct narrative sequel, the Queen of Light’s motivations, the role of the supreme deity (Chaos), and many of the supporting characters originate in the first game. Playing it will give you invaluable context to fully enjoy the plot twists. As for Summum Aeterna (the saga’s roguelite spinoff), it serves as a prequel for the King of Darkness; it adds a lot of lore to the overall universe, but it is not as essential as the main title.

The release of Aeterna Lucis is scheduled for 2026. The Spanish studio decided to postpone its initial release window (originally planned for 2024 and then 2025) as a strategic decision: to avoid being overshadowed by the highly anticipated Hollow Knight: Silksong and to give themselves the necessary time to polish the game to the fullest. The studio’s goal is a massive, simultaneous launch across all possible platforms. Therefore, the game is coming to PC (via Steam), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch, and potentially to their successor consoles.