The best Smash Bros.-like on Steam just added a character who can shop for items and go fishing in the middle of a match, in case you thought fighting games were too one-note

A shark-man-pirate with a ring in his fin grins with his foot on a treasure chest. — (Image credit: Aether Studios)

The worst part of Smash Bros. is that it's not on PC, and the best part of Rivals of Aether—aside from platform-generating rhinoceros beetle Kragg—is that it is on PC. But the excellent sequel, Rivals of Aether 2, lacks the character I got on with most in the short time I played the original game: Shovel Knight.

Yacht Club Games' signature dude was a gimmick-laden agent of chaos who pounded gems out of his foes and used it to shop for upgrades mid-match. To my delight, that playstyle is finally returning, with a few fishy twists.

Slade: The Swagger of the Sea | Official Character Trailer - Rivals of Aether II - YouTube

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The newcomer, Slade, is a rakish pirate shark who slices enemies up with a cutlass. But, like Shovel Knight, every hit draws out piles of currency which he can spend on upgrades. The most expensive one shown off in the trailer allows him to cheat death once, while another lets him hook onto opponents and draw them in. That and his slice-and-dice normals make him look a bit like Link from Smash Bros., if that's your thing.

He also cycles through bombs, boomerangs, shurikens, and other nonsense in the moments between scraps, so it seems safe to say he'll be perplexing to fight in skilled hands.

Hands-down, though, the best part of this trailer is Slade reeling in a fish from off-screen and letting it flop into a treasure chest he had left behind, where it then flies out and strikes a downed opponent. This is the kind of absurdity I come to platform fighters for.

The last two Rivals of Aether characters were a folding chair-flinging ant wrestler and a magnet-powered dinosaur, so it's clear the dev team is aware that the roster has to be absolutely stacked to compete with the likes of Sephiroth, Mario, and John Fire Emblem.

Slade first showed up in Dungeons of Aether, the apparently-pretty-good turn-based spinoff, so this news should be particularly appealing for anyone who mostly plays games with the word "Aether" in the title. Slade will release April 7, 2026.

Justin first became enamored with PC gaming when World of Warcraft and Neverwinter Nights 2 rewired his brain as a wide-eyed kid. As time has passed, he's amassed a hefty backlog of retro shooters, CRPGs, and janky '90s esoterica. Whether he's extolling the virtues of Shenmue or troubleshooting some fiddly old MMO, it's hard to get his mind off games with more ambition than scruples. When he's not at his keyboard, he's probably birdwatching or daydreaming about a glorious comeback for real-time with pause combat. Any day now...

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