Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if we had flying cars? Would the world be safer? Would the air be cleaner? These are just some of the questions that come to mind when thinking about the possibility of what if.
At PAX East 2025, we met with the President of Seismic Squirrel, Jay Zylstra, to discuss his studio’s upcoming game, Aether & Iron and get our first hands-on with the promising new narrative RPG.
Before diving into the game, we discussed how Aether & Iron came to be and their studio’s desire to create a game that you are looking forward to playing and don’t want to put down, but is reminiscent of the games we used to love.
At the beginning of the meeting, Jay had this to say:
So it began a few years ago with a vision that we wanted to create something that, um, is similar to the games that we played when we were younger where you just get into a world. You get into a story, you get into a character, and you just can’t stop. You just play it week after week, and you can’t wait to get off work. And there are still games like that, but, um, a lot of the games now are not quite what we’re looking for. And so I believe strongly that the best games, the principles that make great games are kinda timeless.
I know everyone’s obsessed with what’s the coolest latest fad, but, um, you look at some great games over the years, and they still stand out. And so what we tried to do was create a game that embraces those timeless principles, something that is visually gonna pop in this world of digital social media.
So we wanted to choose a setting, some visuals, get really great art. Everything we’ve got is all human-made art, and so we’re not using AI to do any kind of drawing. We wanted to do was create something where the story is kinda like a BioWare game, you know? Like, Mass Effect. You know how you just get into it, and there’s so much depth in the story?
But we’re not a company that size, so we can’t do the full immersive 3D-type experience. So we thought, What if we choose a genre that’s something that’s s- we can handle, something more like a JRPG approach?
After this introduction, we were shown the opening sequence to Aether & Iron and played the beginning sequence of the game. Aether & Iron is a choice-driven adventure game where the main character is a mix between a detective and a femme fatale.
As a handywoman and a smuggler, we are tasked with bringing precious cargo to the under city. With precious cargo in store, a suspicious man looks to steal the cargo.
Aether & Iron combines three gameplay styles into one narrative adventure. When exploring the open world, the game uses a point-and-click adventure style for exploration and discovery.
When talking with others, there will occasionally be prompts that require the player to pass skill checks. Finally, when it comes to combat, the game takes more of a JRPG grid-style approach.
Rather than each character being shown on the map, Seismic Squirrel decided that they would rather show off the crews’ flying cars and the environment they are interacting with, rather than individual characters.
The combat within the game took a standard approach, however, it was very much an opening tutorial sequence, and it will be interesting to see what it is like in late game stages.
The main female character seems like she will have a dark but fun story where we learn more about her and the world around her. The developers’ decision to have the character be in Black and White while internally monologuing is also an interesting touch.
We can’t wait to see what Aether & Iron is like when it fully releases. How will you explore an alternate New York City? Aether & Iron is set to launch for Windows PC (via Steam) sometime later this year.
