ELESTRALS AWAKENED Brings Growing TCG to 2.5D RPG with Massive Kickstarter

Elestrals is a really fun trading card game that I’ve come to greatly appreciate. The team is ready to expand their offerings though with a video game. Elestrals Awakened is an upcoming 2.5D RPG that is being developed for PC (via Steam) and Nintendo Switch.

You can back the project over on Kickstarter now and back it so that you can get a discount for when the game eventually releases (currently estimated for December 2027).

Elestrals Awakened invites players to explore a richly imagined world inspired by Greek mythology. Along the journey, players will form meaningful bonds with mystical creatures, ascend them into more powerful forms, and uncover the secrets of ancient conflicts between gods and titans.

Elestrals Awakened looks like a really fun video game. The 2.5D aesthetic, I think, really does a good job of combining feelings of nostalgia with a more modern design. It looks good.

Of course, the main driving force appears to be a monster catching system of mechanics, but it looks like there’s going to be a bit more to it as you can see in the trailer when the player is having to dodge attacks from the Awakened Penterror.

In addition, thanks to Elestrals Awakened smashing funding goals, there have been additional game modes and bonuses unlocked as stretch goals. First, the game will offer multiple save files which makes me very grateful as a very popular monster catching RPG still doesn’t allow that for some reason.

It’s also nice because of the five additional game modes (on top of traditional standard story mode) that Elestrals Awakened will have which means that ideally, you can have at least one save file per game mode.

There’s a permadeath mode, randomizer mode, speed run mode, level cap, and bond limit which sounds very similar to the popular Nuzlocke modes that some gamers enjoy in other games.

Let’s briefly go over other gameplay aspects. When you start the game, you’ll get to choose from eight different spirits and their accompanying starter Elestral (one pair for each element).

As you travel across the land, you’ll encounter other Casters to battle and will even be able to interact with Divines such as Heracles and Zeus. Spirit Points (SP) is a mechanic that I appreciate for mirroring the Spirit Deck in the TCG. It is a single resource that acts as your health and your energy meaning that your ability to manage your SP is paramount.

Also, you’ll be able to use Empowerments to unlock powers that can alter the world including changing the weather. As you might suspect, there is ascending in Elestrals Awakened meaning that your Kryoling can eventually evolve into Kryoscorch, Sproutyr eventually becomes Centaurbor, etc.

Another aspect that I’m intrigued by is the way that Nexus has been incorporated. When you Nexus, you change an Elestral’s Elemental Spirit which changes its form. The example given is Astrabbit to Ashrabbit, but I imagine that the various Ursa cards will be able to take advantage of this and the various “liths.”

I’m interested to know if this will be limited to only some Elestrals or if all Elestrals will be able to Nexus. There will also be Awakened Forms which are “The original, transcendent state of Spirits or Elestrals, where Elemental energies unite rivaling the strength of even the Divines.” That sounds crazy!

When talking about what makes Elestrals Awakened different from other games, Dan “aDrive” Clap (creator of Elestrals) said:

It may sound a bit cliche but I really do believe it comes down to passion. Myself and Shady (ShadyPenguinn) have spent our careers hearing feedback from players about similar style games and we're taking in all of that to create an unforgettable adventure that pulls in the best of all worlds and uplifts the Elestrals franchise in a way not possible otherwise. When you can create something you love because you simply want to do it, that's where the magic happens.

Honestly, Elestrals Awakened looks like a fantastic start and I’m very excited to see how it ascends before launch to its final form. Yes, a lot of it takes inspiration from very popular games and at first glance it’s easy to write it off as another generic monster catching RPG.

However, if you take even 30 seconds to look into the game, you can start to see more of the intricacies and ways that the team is striving to separate it from the pack. I also really appreciate how they are incorporating key mechanics from the trading card game into the video game format.

If this has caught your attention, you’ll probably want to pledge at least $25 so that you can save some money and get a digital code for either Steam or Nintendo Switch when the game is ready to launch.

Higher tiers offer additional rewards including physical items like limited print Serialized Stellar cards, uncut card sheets, Elestrals Awakened Founders Promo Packs, and more. Plus, you can always pledge lower and then add on physical items like the adorable Stellar Lavaddle Plushie or Omnilith Plushie.

I do want to note that Elestrals Awakened has been the largest Kickstarter campaign for a monster catching RPG. Clap responded to this critical success with the following statement:

Honestly I'm blown away. I've been a fan of this genre since I was old enough to read and to be able to put my ideas into the world and have it resonate with people is incredible. The work doesn't stop here, we've got an epic game to make and that's where my focus is now.

Personally, I’m very hyped for Elestrals Awakened. It’s looking pretty good already and with some more development time and funding, I think fans are going to be in for a real treat. Sound off in the comments, which element you plan on choosing as your starter. I think I’ll go Solar (Sundile) or Fire (Necruff) for my first run.