Aeterna Lucis: inside the Tower of Light

The Tower of Light gives Aeterna Lucis a generous introduction: an entire opening biome, new powers to unlock and a first boss waiting at the end. You can explore it in two modes, with Aeterna offering the more balanced journey and Lucis turning up the platforming and boss challenge. For a sequel built around an agile new monarch, that's an inviting way to meet the Queen before committing to her kingdom.

Aeterna Lucis arrives on 3 December on PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch. Aeternum Game Studios' follow-up to Aeterna Noctis puts the Queen of Light in charge after the balance between Light and Darkness has broken. Her destination is a confrontation with the Supreme God Chaos, and her route runs through a connected world of golden cities, jungles, temples and caves. The free Steam demo is available now. On 22 October, the studio refreshed its Steam page with screenshots from the latest version and gameplay clips covering the world, powers and bosses.

A kingdom with its own picture map

The Queen awakens alone in a world approaching collapse. Light and Darkness belong to two rulers caught in a curse, condemned by Chaos to fight, die and rise again. Lucis continues that story from the Queen's side, with new powers and weapons of her own. The premise gives this grand, colourful scenery an urgent purpose: you're gathering allies and searching for the truth behind the monarchs' predicament while trying to stop Aeterna falling apart.

Getting around looks particularly appealing. The world joins its regions without loading screens between areas, and the map uses miniature representations of the rooms with their actual decoration. That's a lovely choice for an adventure about learning your surroundings. A distinctive chamber can remain recognisable when you open the map, giving its artwork a second use as a point of orientation. Hidden paths, alternative routes, optional challenges and side quests fill out the journey beyond its main destination.

The places themselves have plenty of character. Golden structures hang among clouds; elsewhere, thick greenery wraps around platforms and enormous plants. Blue-lit caverns sit alongside red mechanical rooms, with the Queen's bright silhouette cutting through the gloom. The hand-drawn detail gives each region something to recognise, while real-time lighting responds to weapons, projectiles, enemies and the environment. Light is both the Queen's identity and a conspicuous part of the scenery around her.

Aeternum also uses stained-glass storytelling to introduce the world's history. The studio says you can begin with Lucis, then return to Noctis for more of the detail behind it. Dialogue, item descriptions and environmental clues add to that history as you explore. For newcomers, the immediate task is clear enough without a lesson in every previous event: take control of the Queen, recover powers and challenge the god responsible for the curse.

Choose how hard the climb becomes

Aeterna Mode is the studio's recommendation for most players and a first journey. It balances exploration and combat, with a more forgiving challenge curve. Lucis Mode is aimed at players who want much tougher platforming and relentless bosses, including returning Noctis veterans. You can choose according to what draws you to this world: discovering its routes and atmosphere, or spending more time mastering its hardest movement and fights.

Those are useful choices to have available in the demo itself. Both modes include the Tower of Light, letting you try the Queen's movement and the opening boss before choosing a full adventure. The October build includes a light-based navigation system, a dynamic camera, a redesigned HUD and colour-blind options. It also supports directional-pad input. The Queen's jumps, dash and expanding set of offensive and passive powers sit at the centre of exploring and fighting.

The first demo patch already adjusts several practical details. Interact can be remapped, the mouse cursor hides during controller play, and skippable lines wait for a button press. A Menu Brightness setting sits under Graphics. Fast travel is disabled during combat, and the Queen is protected from damage while travelling. A separate fix addresses remapped Light Dash controls while inside the light. These are specific changes you can assess in the current build.

There's a useful contrast with Hope in the City's choice of investigation modes: Lucis puts its two distinct approaches around physical movement and combat. If precise jumps and repeated boss attempts are your favourite part of an adventure, its harder mode has a clear audience. If the illustrated world is the attraction, Aeterna Mode is the developer's recommended starting point.

Demo progress doesn't transfer to the full release, so treat the Tower as a chance to find your preferred mode and controls. A console demo is planned before launch; its date hasn't been announced. On PC, the free opening is already the most useful next step: explore the Tower, meet its boss and decide how demanding you want the Queen's December journey to be.