PHPM

About This Game

Summum Aeterna, the prequel to Aeterna Noctis, is a Roguelite game that combines world crawler mechanics never seen before in the genre with a fast-paced combat system and a unique 2D art style.

Taking the role of the King of Darkness, a mighty, powerful, and badass warlord condemned to eternal life, you’ll explore uncharted territories populated with treasures, traps, hordes of enemies, and powerful bosses.

Explore wild territories, descend into the most dangerous deeps of Aeterna, and fight your way to the end of each world… If you can!

Classic Roguelite vibes

The King of Darkness may be immortal… But he can still be defeated. You will start your adventure over and over again, that’s how this kind of games works, right? Don’t panic, even if you’re defeated, you still keep some of the stuff and upgrades you earned the last time you lived… Some of them, at least.

Summum Aeterna allows players to keep their progress, featuring a permanent character and world upgrade system. No matter how many times you’re defeated, your progression in the skill tree will be saved, as well as the world improvements you unlocked will last forever.

Random worlds

Summum Aeterna includes a unique world generator system never seen before in the genre, the Seed Mechanic… Each one generates a unique world with different enemy behaviour, special events, and even a larger map size, depending on the rarity and the genes contained in the germinated seed.

The world modifiers, so-called “seed genes” are positive and negative attributes included in each seed you find. They will determine the dangers, encounters and rewards waiting for you once you start playing.

Seeds create worlds and genes make each seed different from the last, and so will the worlds generated from them!

Brutal fast-paced combat and frantic action

The key to surviving in Summum Aeterna is killing every single living (or undead, depending on the enemy) being you encounter. How to achieve that? Well, you play as a cursed monarch… Your weapons are crafted for a king!

Show no mercy, use your swords, pistols, and scythes to make them beg for their miserable lives before they do the same to you… You will choose a starting weapon at the beginning of each world, but you can switch it for a better one, whatever its type… It’s up to you and your skills!

Summum Aeterna also includes weapon customization options thanks to the gems, precious stones that increase weapon attributes and add cool upgrades. Add new offensive and passive capabilities and improve the combat performance of your weapons by embedding gems.

Rarity is a virtue

Every weapon, seed, and gem you find in Summum Aeterna has a rarity level: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary, Mythic, and Relic. The higher the rarity of an item, the more benefits it provides to the player.

A weapon’s rarity determines the number of gems that can be embedded in it, among other things such as damage level. Gems with higher rarity make higher upgrades to your tools of destruction. And as for the seeds… You guessed it, the less common it is, the greater rewards and dangers on the other side of the portal!

Custom adventures

In Summum Aeterna you can define your own adventure. Each world will give you lots of rewards, including new seeds and currencies to upgrade your character skills, unlock new weapons, make the ones you already have even more deadly, and, of course, improve the attributes of the world.

You can unlock new special rooms, increase the rarity of the ítems you find, and alter the world conditions by the world upgrade menu. You can also modify the rarity of your current seeds by mutating their genes or recycling the ones you don’t want to get a seed with a higher rarity…

Everything is set up to make each adventure different from the last!

Beautiful art style

Each asset, enemy, NPC and animation has been hand-drawn using traditional 2D animation techniques… Everything you see in Summum Aeterna, from the smallest chest to the most colossal boss, is possible thanks to countless hours of hard drawing work. The visuals speak for themselves, the game looks amazing!

Major Update 1 – “Demons’ Mother” July 2022

Challenge rooms

Certain chambers in Summum Aeterna have a particular reward or mechanic. Idalith Shrines are rooms dedicated to the Mother of Demons and hide a special offering. You want it? Easy, you just need to defeat a random member of the Grim Horde, Idalith’s minions, who guard these shrines and will exterminate any braves who desecrate the memory of their infernal lady.

Valatuk, Lord of the Wars, Samnindas, Plage Beaber, and Ledasios, High Inquisitor, are the currently available acolytes, each one featuring a unique combat style. The Grim Horde will expand in future updates with more lethal members. There are also plans to include more types of challenge rooms.

NPCs with unique mechanics

The seed expert allows you to use his machines for germinating seeds and mutating genes, but there’re also other NPCs in Famished Town like the dummy and the seller wearing a hat.

Dummytama is a being incapable of feeling pain, you can test all your weapons on it as long as they are unlocked. Show no mercy! Rasen Lupine is a merchant that trades items of dubious origin, allowing you to buy seeds of different types and levels quickly and safely. He uses runes as currency.

Major Update 2 – “Blood Moon” August 2022

A new world

With the inclusion of the “Dark Castle” world, there are 3 already available since the launch of Early Access. This world with a gothic setting adds 2 brand new areas to the 4 already playable, making a total of 6. The level design and atmosphere of the cursed village and the interior of the castle are based on elements of classic horror mixed with sinister elements, fog, rivers of blood, ravens cawing, and nightmarish creatures.

9 different enemies with unique mechanics have been also included. Do you dare to walk the streets of the town and the corridors of the castle until you defeat the evil that has corrupted this land? To achieve this, you must reach the highest tower alive and meet with an old friend of the King of Darkness.

A new final boss

Do you remember the vampire who revealed himself after defeating Dantilus and Umehara? Count Xander has been waiting for you for a long time and is thirsty for fresh blood. The fight against this creature of the night will put your reflexes to the test and promises high doses of frantic action. In Summum Aeterna we have no mercy with our players, and if you have reached his chambers, it means that you are not afraid of a challenge and the satisfaction of overcoming a new boss.

Many more surprises

Among the additions in this update is a new NPC called Usnar Ali, who acts as a banker in the main lobby, allowing players to exchange their currencies.

New genes have also been included to multiply the variety of scenarios and situations in each new adventure. Particularly noteworthy are those that allow enemies to trigger status ailments in the main character… Be very careful with germinating seeds that contain these genes!

Major Update 3 – “Will of the Kings” September 2022

Crafting blueprints

It’s about time the Dark King got to do some crafting! Crafting plans have been added with which to modify the appearance of the king by alternating his with different color combinations. Other plans allow you to unlock new weapons so that they appear in the stores of each adventure.

Through weapon ascension blueprints, you can turn your Dark King into an unstoppable machine of destruction. Through certain planes it will be possible to ascend the weapons to the Summum level, unleashing all the power of him and endowing his majesty with powerful unique abilities until now. A weapon promoted to this level becomes a devastating piece of armory.

A new game mode

Once you have found the “Vial of Kings” you must fill it with chaos to be able to invoke the “Will of the Kings” mode the next time you go to germinate a seed. Once activated, you will start an adventure in which you will not be able to change your starting weapon, but you will be able to apply certain improvements to it.

Playing in this mode you will not be able to access the shops to buy and exchange weapons. Instead, these are replaced by a new type of room: “Royal Forge”, where you can improve your weapon both in level and rarity and even promote it to “Summum” level. A game mode worthy of the King of Darkness, right?

A new miniboss

Djaderas, Master of the Forbidden Arts, is the new member of the Grim Horde, adding a total of four fanatical warriors of the infernal goddess Idalith. The fight against this warlock promises great doses of action!

Loyal servant of the Mother of Demons, and one of the greatest experts on occult forces to have served under Idalith. His track was lost shortly after the fall of the infernal lady… But he has finally returned to the rest of his brothers-in-arms.

Many more surprises

A new sword, scythe and pair of pistols have been added with different designs and properties, including the possibility of being ascended to Summum level. His majesty skill tree has been expanded too with 3 new powers as well as new seed genes, making the variety of scenarios and situations even greater.

Major Update 4 – “Duel Behind the Scenes” October 2022

A new world

“Port of Venetia” is the new world available in Summum Aeterna, making there 4 available in the adventures of the King of Darkness in Roguelite format. It is a universe with a Renaissance setting that includes 2 exclusive areas, making a total of 8. As its name suggests, this time you will have to explore a world inspired by the Venice of the 16th century, going through streets, canals, and inside a majestic theatre, while you kill everyone who crosses your path.

A new world also implies a beast of new enemies. 7 different enemies with unique mechanics and behaviours have been added. Its design includes references to Renaissance statues and da Vinci blueprints, culminating in “Genoa, Maiden of Puppets”, the most powerful being in the world of “Port of Venitia”. Don’t be fooled by its colourful settings and the light that bathes the calm waters of the city… Will you survive the challenges that lurk in this paradisiacal world?

A new final boss

“Genova, Maiden of Puppets” is the governor of the City of Canals. Her desire for power led her to break her oath to the Darkness and declare herself an ally of the Queen of Light, a betrayal that will be very expensive… The fight against this character takes place on the theatre stage and promises not only a challenge for the players but also a great visual spectacle thanks to the display of effects and movements on the screen. Without a doubt, the most spectacular boss fight we will find in Summum Aeterna so far.

Many more surprises

The “Duel Behind the Scenes” update also includes “Kiromozu, Wise but Deadly” an NPC whose sense of humor may be familiar to you if you have played Aeterna Noctis, our Metroidvania title. Also included are 6 new ascension options to unleash the sheer power of the Dark King’s weapons.

Another of the great additions is the housing mechanics thanks to the incorporation in the main lobby of a farm that the King of Darkness can visit after each adventure. The options available in the royal mansion will be expanded in upcoming updates…

Main Update 4 – “Clout of the Stars” December 2022

Seed Influences

A rift to an unknown dimension has opened in the middle of Famished Town… Inside, a mysterious being that mortals call “Wandering God” seems to have the strange power to modify the influences in the seeds, being able to unleash curious effects in the germinated worlds. The influences allow you to include a series of special conditions that will make your adventure even more unique. Thanks to the tables guarded by this mysterious entity, the King of Darkness will be able to customize even more his adventures through the worlds.

The first influence is known as “Dominion of Chaos”. Those seeds influenced by it will include certain rooms flooded with Chaos, and guarded by enemies born from the pure essence of the Supreme God. These seeds will also grant unique wishes based on the chaos harvested by the player… And then there is the fearsome “Hand of Chaos”, a being sent to these dimensions to exterminate any form of organic life.

New artifacts, status ailments, and NPCs

New items have been added to make the adventure of the King of Darkness more interesting. Would you like to be able to reveal the entire map as soon as you germinate a new world? Now it is possible with the inclusion of the “Chaos Compass”. Perhaps you would like to include a few random gems in your weapon using the “Gem Embryo”, an artifact whose name speaks for itself.

“Void” is the new status ailment that can be suffered by both the King of Darkness and the hours of enemies that harass him. In the case of the cursed monarch, this effect will cause his accumulated Chaos energy to gradually decrease. As for the enemies… Equip a “void” gem and see it for yourself!

Zero, the Wandering God, is the new NPC available in Famished Town, more specifically, within the dimensional gap that has just opened in the middle of the city. This mysterious being is the one who governs influences, but talking to him will reveal interesting details about the filament between worlds and the other beings that, like him, can cross it. The way he speaks is… at times, complicated, but his words are full of ancestral wisdom.

More weapon ascensions

A total of 6 weapons can now be upgraded to the ultimate level to unleash their full destructive power. With this new batch, the King of Darkness is closer than ever to becoming a walking steamroller. Pay attention to the dialogues with certain NPCs to find out how to get the corresponding ascension diagram… It is possible that even one of those weapons will speak directly to you! Or there may be an unexpected tenant at his majesty’s house. In any case, frantic action is assured. May your enemies be prepared for the worst.