Aeterna Noctis

For players drawn to a demanding Metroidvania, Aeterna Noctis brings hand-drawn environments, combat, and precision platforming together. Its two modes let you choose between a stronger focus on exploration and more punishing platform challenges. At its tracked low, the game costs $2.03 at Eneba. The player rating is 76% positive across 1,723 reviews: useful context, though personal tolerance for difficult sections matters more than a score alone. At Eneba, Aeterna Noctis is $29.99, at its tracked low; its 76% positive rating across 1,723 reviews offers one reference point for this demanding Metroidvania.

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76%Steam Reviews1.7K reviews72Metacritic/10072OpenCritic/100

Released: Dec 14, 2021

Metroidvania · Difficult · Platformer · Souls-like · Precision Platformer

EnebaAeterna Noctis Steam Key GLOBAL·Platform:·Checked 2026-10-18-93%~ $2.03ALL-TIME LOWSave $27.96 vs SteamBuy now

KinguinAeterna Noctis PC Steam CD Key·Platform:·Checked 2026-10-18-93%from~ $2.08(~ €1.85)ALL-TIME LOWBuy now

K4GAeterna Noctis Steam CD Key·Platform:·Checked 2026-10-18~~~ $33.75~~-93%from~ $2.31(~ €2.05)ALL-TIME LOWBuy now

GAMIVOAeterna Noctis EN/DE/FR/JA/PT/RU/ZH/ES Global·Platform:·Checked 2026-10-18-92%from~ $2.32(~ €2.06)ALL-TIME LOWBuy now

Steam·Platform:·United States Steam official price~ $29.99Buy now

Humble BundleAeterna Noctis·Platform:·Checked 2026-10-18~ $29.99Buy now

Epic Game Store·Platform:·Checked 2026-10-14~ $29.99Buy now

GreenManGaming·Platform:·Checked 2026-10-14~ $29.99Buy now

All-time low ~ $2.99across Steam & third-party storesat the recorded all-time low

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Price History

Past 36 months · Updated daily

Historical Low~ $1.872026-07Current Low Across Stores~ $2.03Enebavs. Historical Low+9%

Prices cover Steam and 39 authorized stores; only legitimate offers are counted. The chart shows weekly market-wide lows and Steam's official price across the past 36 months.

01About Aeterna Noctis

Aeterna Noctis is a hand-drawn 2D Metroidvania built around combat, exploration, and demanding platforming. As the King of Darkness, you travel through 16 connected areas to regain your powers. Its non-linear world includes side quests and lets you set your own pace. Steam player rating: 76% positive from 1,723 reviews. Steam PC interface languages include English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and Simplified Chinese.

Credits

Developer

Aeternum Game Studios S.L

Publisher

Aeternum Game Studios S.L

Steam player reviews

76%positiveMostly Positive1,723 Steam reviews

Lowest recorded in 36 months

$1.872026-07-30 · KinguinBase game · same records as the chart above; USD history, not a regional Steam low.

Language support

Language	Interface	Subtitles	Audio
Simplified Chinese	Yes	Yes	—
English	Yes	Yes	—
French	Yes	Yes	—

Show 5 more languages

Language	Interface	Subtitles	Audio
German	Yes	Yes	—
Spanish	Yes	Yes	—
Japanese	Yes	Yes	—
Russian	Yes	Yes	—
Portuguese-Brazil	Yes	Yes	—

Steam PC edition data · 2026-10-18

02Before you buy

Two modes

The Steam PC version offers Aeterna mode, focused on exploration and action, and Noctis mode, with tougher platforming and challenges. You can switch modes, reloading at the last save point.

Controls and languages

Full controller support is listed. Interface and subtitle languages include English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and Simplified Chinese.

03Frequently asked questions

What is Aeterna Noctis about?

You play as the King of Darkness, exploring 16 connected areas to regain your powers in a non-linear world.

What kind of challenges does it offer?

It combines combat and exploration with precision platforming. Noctis mode emphasizes harder platform sections and challenges.

Are the cutscenes voiced?

The description states that cutscenes are voice-acted in eight languages. Steam language listings separately cover interface and subtitles.

Popular Steam reviews

Native-language selection · 10 reviews

Selected helpful reviews in this language show both recommendations and criticisms. This selection does not represent the overall positive rating; opinions reflect the version reviewed.

RecommendedSteam player

12/14/2021

I will start with the bad. And these are all things the devs could easily improve. -Feedback on melee hits needs to be better, right now it doesnt have enough weight behind it -there is too much foreground clutter, I can think of multiple instances where it was hard/almost impossible to see a platform because of this -First level is slow and linear. Hollow Knight starts the same way, but has multiple paths, where as Aeternas opening level is pretty much a straight shot. It takes till about the second boss to really pick up the pace. -control input needs some tuning. For no hit bosses and for the harder platforming sections, there were moments where I failed because of input issue. Sometimes I would dash the wrong way. -There has to be a way to implement dpad movement. Analog is just not precise enough for platformers in general. Almost all these issues can be fixed with a few quick patches. So far this is the best metroidvania to come out this year. And YES, it is a metroidvania. Tons of gated exploration that requires movement abilities and sometimes keys. The hand drawn art style is amazing. I've noticed some reviewers saying its tedious and they didnt get many abilities after 4 hours, except for the axe. If it took the player 4 hours just to reach the axe, that is a skill issue, not a game issue. This is a HARD game, platforming is difficult, combat is scary, and the bosses are an absolute treat. Quick Reflexes are REQUIRED. If you want a chill slowly explore game where the enemies arnt a threat like Metroid or SOTN, look elsewhere. if you enjoy the challenge in games like hollow knight and Sekiro, Grime, Deaths Gambit Afterlife, Celeste, Meatboy, Then this game will be right up your alley. Dont go into this looking for a casual experience though. The game is also HUGE, so far it seems bigger than hollow knight. There is an endgame, with tough optional super bosses and challenges. There are tons of secrets, hidden collectibles, and lore bits. The world itself doesn't feel as cohesive as Hallownest, but this isn't a bad thing. In hallownest, most of the biomes are just "cave but with grass" or "cave but with crystal" which again makes sense and works well with the game. Aeterna is more of a bunch of kingdoms mashed together. It reminds me of dark souls 2, in that while the whole world doesnt feel as cohesive, it allows for much more unique and awesome biomes, and feels more colorful. Two completely different but great world design philosophies. I can understand not liking one or the other, its up to your tastes. The story takes place front and center, and is interesting, the voice acting is superb. Will update review when finished, but all in all this is a recommendation FULL PRICE buy. So far Deaths Gambit: Afterlife was my metroidvania of the year, but this is looking to top that.Show moreShow less

0.9 hours at review95 people found this helpful

Not recommendedSteam player

12/17/2021

Let me preface this review by saying that there is a significant difference between actual difficulty and artificial difficulty. I've found the fifth seal, I've opened seven of the ten doors, and I've done most of the sidequests up to this point, so anyone coming at me with "game too hard" can shove it. The early game is, for the most part, fine. Once you reach the Tower of Light, however, the feel of the game goes down significantly. Why is the first major boss you fight only reachable after a really, really long gauntlet full of one-hit kills that reset you back to the start of the section? It's the first freaking boss. I understand that you don't want to hold players' hands, but this felt like overkill. From then until the Light Crystal boss, most of the game is spent exploring, trying to find a route to the next two seals. A big issue I have with this game is if an NPC tells you something (for example go find my Goblin Sceptre or whatever) you cannot get them to repeat whatever information they gave you — and the quest log doesn't have it notated. So you either a) need to write down literally every quest thing you need, or b) just stumble across whatever item whenever you find it. Unlocking the seal bosses follows a very predictable pattern of collecting three or four items to open the main gate, which promotes exploration of the area, which is fine. However, once you obtain the Crystal Arrow, literally every single jump puzzle or exploration thing requires you to do this stupid swap ability combined with pinpoint jumps and dashes — and because every item you need to progress is surrounded by instadeath walls, if you slip up, you get sent all the way back to the beginning. Other games do have this kind of thing, but usually as a side-room challenge to get an unlockable or something — never as an obstacle for main progression except in Kaizo games or stuff like I Wanna Be The Guy. This is different from Soulsborne games — in those games, there are significant tells to the one-hit death mechanics in most cases, and usually mistakes aren't punished with instadeath, but instead with significant damage. Add all of that to the sheer inaccessibility of the game itself. Thrones are not nearly plentiful enough, so completing a quest objective requires you to chug a Dimensional Vial — but returning to that point requires you to make the trek all the way down again in most cases. The skill tree is a joke — I haven't seen such boring talents since World of Warcraft before they wizened up and replaced the talent tree with the much more interesting skill selection system. Stuff like 5% Critical Chance, 10% Melee Damage are your choices all the way up to the top of the tree! If you want interesting weapons or abilities, like the Scythe or Axe or Spear, you gotta find it — except oops, outside of one quest for the Scythe, nothing indicates where or what zone these things are in. Furthermore, you tied your subweapon resource usage to your healing resource, which is ridiculous. In 99% of cases, I would always stockpile the Blood for healing and use the Scythe since its free and only does marginally less damage then the Axe. I only used the Spear for the Cave Worm fight. Making it to where you have to track down each Merchant and buy the area map from them before you can see areas YOU HAVE ALREADY BEEN TO is also absolutely awful. The fogged map I can understand for unexplored areas, but areas I've already cleared? Are you joking? The controls feel unresponsive at times, and yes, I'm playing in fullscreen with VSync off. There's this weird bug where if you are holding the stick in the face of the wall (which you have to do to wall slide/jump) and then teleport via the Crystal Arrow, any jump input you make gets negated or something, because my character warps and immediately divebombs into death. So, a fun scenario in Trial Room 7, which gives you a split second to fire a crystal arrow, while wall sliding, and then teleport to jump up to another wall is extremely difficult to do when your jump input gets blocked! Oh, and that section is midway through the entire jump puzzle, so naturally I get kicked back to the start. The story is interesting, I am genuinely invested in the characters, and the boss designs / encounters are actually very good — I think the Phoenix boss is probably one of the most stellar examples of encounter design I've seen from an indie developer, the entire fight is very tight. Even the Eye Blob re-fight in the West Wall is pretty well done, and I spent a long time learning that fight. However, an interesting story and good boss design doesn't override the rest of the problems this game has. I cannot recommend this to anyone unless you are a person who played the hell out of IWBTG-style games and enjoyed it.Show moreShow less

28 hours at review162 people found this helpful

RecommendedSteam player

05/27/2022

Summary: As a metroidvania lover, I suggest you do not care the unfair and ridiculous reviews. It is a hidden gem and it deserves to be among the best metroidvania games. It's already in my top 3. I thought it was necessary to write a review as there are unfair and ridiculous comments about this game. Most are those who either play for about two hours or only play ten percent of the game. The main concern in the comments is platform difficulty. This part has been solved (for those who see it as a problem) with the new mod (Aeterna) added by the developers. I mean there are two modes in the game: Aeterna and Noctis. Aeterna is something like normal HK gameplay and Noctis is something like Path of Pain. Noctis mode is actually not that difficult and is more fun to play. Secondly, this game is like a child of HK and Ori, which takes the combat features from HK and the platform features from Ori. Of course, I need to add the original platform mechanics to this synthesis. The game includes 16 unique regions, of which 14 are playable. (One of the largest game map you’ll ever see) Its best features are it has fluent gameplay mechanics, it is not linear and it allows you to explore. The game has a compact skill tree, gems page, various weapons, detailed quests, collection (140 creatures in total) and progress pages. There is unique 17 bosses in total. It has a good twisty narrative and its soundtrack is awesome. Its gameplay time is 65 hours in total. Finally, its a hidden gem and it deserves to be among the best metroidvania games. If you like other metroidvania games, you will love this one. I can't wait for the expansion packs to be released. Give it a chance and have fun :)Show moreShow less

64.5 hours at review61 people found this helpful

Not recommendedSteam player

01/01/2022

I love metroidvanias and platformers but this game kind of hits different. I think there are a ton of good things about it, but there are too many things that i keep finding very annoying. I'll list them out: - Inputs. There are plenty of times where i want to dash the opposite direction and continue in the same way i'm facing. I've also had the issue of jump inputs being eaten as well. - Leaps of faith. There are so many rooms that even with the panning of the camera that you cannot see what is coming next. For a precision platformer, you should have all the information (by that i mean the layout) shown to you so you can plan how you are going to make jumps. So imagine having to react to a tiny area with one shot mechanics and your inputs being eaten as well. Turns in to dying a bunch just to know what's happening and then memorizing it. - Skill gems. So you find these skill gems that increase your power in some ways (more damage, more crit, etc.). There are some that seem like a requirement to always wear when exploring. For example, the gem that increases the slowdown of the arrow. Without that skill gem, your timing to teleporting must be PERFECT. a split second off and you're dying. There are only a few gems you can wear so having to waste a slot on a necessary way of moving irks me a lot. - Enemies. There are some enemies that i think are completely unfair. Mostly that light angel woman that does the HUGE circle explosion that can only be avoided by running REALLY far or a perfectly timed teleport arrow. Doesn't seem that bad right? Well you mostly find her in very small hallways where you practically have to know the timing on when it's coming or just eat the hit. Almost every enemy also has auto tracking charges or projectiles. I dont think this too bad, but it really sucks dealing with 6 things that all have auto tracking fast projectiles. - Hitstun + Screen Shaking. Every time you get hit by something the screen shakes violently and you will be in hitstun long enough to not be able to recover when near any one shot thing (spikes and light). The shaking of the screen and the "blinking" of your character makes it hard to figure out where you are even at after getting hit. There have been tons of times i just walked off a platform before i even realized where i even was. - Dashing. For movement that is required, there is NO INDICATION on when you actually have it available after using it. Lots of times i'll just quickly hit a platform and continue going and then die not having the dash because i was being too quick. - One shot mechanics. They are everywhere. Everything that isnt an enemy will one shot and reset you. Every area is held together by spikes and more spikes. Prepare to reset everywhere and often. - Weapon Skill memorization. I hope you remember exactly how everything works because once it's explained to you after you pick it up, that's it. Nothing else in the game will explain it to you. You have a menu that shows you pictures on stuff you've obtained, but that's it. - Getting stuck without a way of getting back. So you can get these vials (consumable) that can take you back to one of the Thrones (used as waypoints). WELL, so many puzzles require you to do it backwards to leave. There were times where i did not have any vials and was required to go through it backwards. The worst offender to this are the King's Trials you go through. Without a vial in the trials? Your file will literally be stuck there with no way out unless you "git gud" because the checkpoints auto save there. Good luck. This game does have some very good qualities about it, but i've been finding everything i've mentioned the most annoying. I hit a point where i didn't want to collect anything just to finish the game and put it to rest. I definitely got my money's worth out of it. You can see the love and work put in to this game and i respect that fully, but i cannot recommend it in it's current state.Show moreShow less

34.5 hours at review65 people found this helpful

RecommendedSteam player

11/24/2023

This game is what you get when the Hollow Knight finally had his way with Madeline from Celeste, and it’s GLORIOUS! I’m gonna be clear and say that I’m heavily biased towards this game, but I’m gonna do my best to provide an objective review. Aeterna Noctics is mega niche. It's a combination of tough-as-nails platforming, tough-as-nails boss fights, and metroidvania. If you happen to fall right in the middle of that Venn diagram, it's pretty much unbeatable, but that's a pretty tight niche. If it clicks for you, you'll love it. For me, Aeterna Noctis was simultaneously the most triumphant, rewarding, yet devastating experience I’ve ever had in gaming. This game is a triumph, I play literally every Metroidvania and this is top 3 of all time for me. The world is amazing, the story is really interesting, and elaborated enough. It has some dialogue but it never feels like it’s too much. The platforming challenges are tough but most of the time very fun, artwork is top tier, ost is out of this world. The combat is complex, even more complex and diverse for bosses. Many skills as well. If Hollow Knight's White Palace had you pulling out your hair, if you haven't taken on the Path of Pain for fear of its difficulty (or you tried it and bailed), if you didn't love Celeste, you probably won't like Aeterna Noctis though. The bosses are all unique and different. They are hard. Their mechanics and patterns vary a lot. Usually every bosses has on average 5ish attacks plus a second phase. Most fights are simply epic, lasting up to 10-15 minutes. They’re brutal. Just so brutal. But, I absolutely loved it. The devs also have a lot of creativity, I won’t reveal anything (and I advise you not to look at trailers so you don’t get spoiled) but there is a huge amount of crazy amazing cool creative and ambitious parts in this game. There’s massive enemy diversity and there's incentive to kill all of them for experience, gold, potions, blood... The difficulty progression is exceptionnally well done. Every new enemies, puzzles or platforming is a little more complex than its predecessors. Platforming is extremely complex and challenging. I still can't believe some of the stuff I accomplished. Super satisfying. This game puts Path of Pain and Miriam's to shame. The controls are sharp and responsive. Typical dash, double jump and wall climbing but the teleportation adds a total new dimension to the genre. Once mastered, you feel like a god. There's nothing like it. Exploration is the best of the genre. Highly rewarding and worth backtracking. Many ability gated items and areas. The map is massive. Probably 3x Hollownest. Every area is unique and distinct. The graphics aren't for everyone. I wasn't sold at first but I now think it’s some of the best art style out there. There's many quests and many side quests that are all challenging and worth doing since the rewards are usually great. The puzzles can be difficult but with patience you can figure it out. I honestly don't know what else a Metroidvania fan could even ask for. Is it for casual players? No it is not. I recommend playing this game when you are ready to invest your time and effort in it without comparing it to other games. It’s a masterpiece that sadly most gamers won’t be able to see to completion because it’s super challenging. In my opinion though, Aeterna Noctis is a masterpiece. Besides Hollow Knight, no other game has ever brought me so much satisfaction before and I can only hope that with this review someone else will find it and get to experience it the same way I did. 10/10Show moreShow less

42.3 hours at review55 people found this helpful

Not recommendedSteam player

10/30/2022

The game is really struggling to work what is challenging gameplay and what is punishing design. There's a lot of good stuff in there, but if I were to pin down the exact target audience, it would be the sort of masochist that likes bragging how many controllers they had to go through. The game is definitely big, but there's a fair bit of repetition to pad the size of the areas. There's some cool areas that twist gravity and make the platforming experience quite unique. The overall design is generally fairly good. And now the downsides. The first thing the game warns you about is that you won't be getting most achievements if you play on normal difficulty. Only the key plot ones. Naturally, being fairly versed in the genre, I guessed I could give the hard option a try. The game does let change the difficulty at any point. Anyway, hard difficulty was a mistake. First five hours or so were alright, but then it just got out of hand. Everything started being designed as the most tricky precision platforming the devs could get away with. And that's not just to reach something special. That's the entire area being a death trap. I've spend maybe 40 more hours struggling through that, but eventually just had to go down to normal and give up on achievements. Couldn't get through some bosses. It turned out the Hard difficulty isn't just 20% more HP and Damage. It felt like the difference was more like 5X the challenge between the boss becoming a damage sponge and have 20 extra moves and projectiles flying around everywhere. I think the problem with the game is that even after getting through something really tough, you don't really get a sense of achievement. The reward probably didn't feel worth it and maybe after 40 attempts it was probably more down to luck anyway. The general frustrating design problems are that you often don't know where exactly you're supposed to go. I've spent a few hours just stuck, until I consulted a guide to work out there's a door I forgot to try in a dungeon. Then there's issues with affordance. Typically, if you don't have some ability to get through an area, the design of the map should probably tell you that pretty early on. Not here. Here you'll struggle through a nightmare level challenge maze for an hour until at the very end you'll find out you're missing something and have to go back. A general good design practice is that after going through a challenge and collecting what you want there for, there's some secret door or button you can press to get back to the main path with no time lost. Not here, here you're expected to travel all the way backwards through the challenge. Or you can just use a teleporting trinket to get back to a resting area, then teleport to another one that's close to a store, buy yourself another trinket, go back to the teleporter, port back to the area you were in and continue. Because that's less time wasted. The game does a twist on the soul-like mechanic of retrieving your corpse. Only here you still keep your xp and coin. You just an't get any more XP until you get it back. Which is somehow at the same time less punishing, but also more demotivating. There's an illusion area that shows you fake geometry and you need to fire a magic arrow to reveal a glimpse of the real layout and monsters. F*** that area in general. There's mini-planets with twisted gravity where you platform in a circle, while escaping a wall of lava... Just imagine tough as nails precision platforming with controls inverted. One of the quest lines kinda involves you finding a dude multiple times. It's end-game content and the guy teleports to a random place each time you find him until 6 or 7 finds. It's a humongous game. There's a dozen possible locations. It can take 20-30 minutes to check each of them out. it's really very demonstrative of where a developer creates an honest challenge and where they just want to troll the player base. So yeah, I don't think I can think of a lot of people I'd recommend this too. Maybe to a correctional facility.Show moreShow less

53.6 hours at review63 people found this helpful

Not recommendedSteam player

12/15/2021

This game doesn't even come close to Hollow Knight, so if you're hoping for a similar experience, look elsewhere. It isn't anywhere near as refined, immersive, or fun to play IMO. Firstly, the voice lines aren't in English, although the text is and so is the intro cinematic. It's weird how there isn't one consistent language across the whole game. Most important is probably the skill tree - after playing for 4 hours there are no notable or fun abilities at your disposal - I just acquired an axe but it costs energy to charge and use so it's not very practical. Healing also uses energy but you have to manually pick it up after enemies drop it. Most of the starting skill tree is either increasing sword damage, critical hit damage or critical hit chance - a good 10-15 skill points. I have acquired one "gem" so far which is an equippable item - which increases my critical hit chance. The platforming is needlessly tedious from the get go and the obstacles don't really fit in with the areas at times. When you get an important item, you sometimes have to go back through the annoying obstacles you took to get there instead of having a shortcut that opens up once you get said item. The platforming resets you on a DIFFERENT time marker each time you die - so instead of all the obstacles being in the same place when you restart (so you can quickly speedrun the parts you've already accomplished), you need to wait and figure out exactly how everything was when you started your attempt the first time. The dash mechanic is very annoying - you have to precisely time when to stop a dash by moving in the direction opposite of the dash - and this dash-cancel timing is required often for all the precise platforming you will need to do. The platforms are ALWAYS the smallest size over hazards, often disappearing ones. Some platforms which appear like you can jump through them are actually solid, which usually causes you to die because you're in the middle of a platforming race. Often times it is difficult to tell the background from the foreground and therefore which things will hurt you unless you run into them. Sometimes the foreground will even block enemies from your sight and cause you to take damage. The world is huge, but the map only gives you limited markers and although it marks chests and other items of note for you, you have to zoom in all the way to see them so it's tedious to backtrack and figure out where something you're looking for might be. I don't really feel any magic in exploring the world, and it is confusing enough starting from the second area for me to want to quit the game. There are several different "dungeons" from the main world and so far I have only explored 2 of them. I have 4 or 5 doors that lead to places that I have not discovered yet and it is almost daunting to have to explore the rest. I will need to go back to all of them because there are several items of note that I simply could not reach. I have probably passed 10-20 such items so far but have no way to mark which abilities I need to access each item. The first boss had several different forms and many different types of attacks - far more complicated than I feel a first boss should have. It also took an insane amount of hits to kill (maybe 50?) in my opinion. If this is a hint of what's to come, then I wouldn't look forward to boss fights. So far I've only been able to buy one skill point and one health container piece from the main trader in the game. Everything else is far more expensive than I can afford or has no use I can yet discern.] There is a lack of rest areas, often forcing you to explore for extended periods of time without being able to change your skill tree and try new things out, and fast travel as well. You also can't edit all the controls, so instead of playing on keyboard how I prefer, I was forced to use a controller. However the controller was bugged in one specific area of the game, so I was forced to play with keyboard and remap my key bindings to use the controls I wanted to use partway through the game. I do not think I will finish this game.Show moreShow less

4.1 hours at review46 people found this helpful

Source: original Steam user reviews. Helpful votes are an archived snapshot, not live data. Last collected: 08/15/2026.