2024 has certainly been a big year of big twists and turns. To start with, preparations to get ready to open up Elemensional Rift for early access was well under way and prepared for the beginning of the convention season when a very large surprise launch of Multiversus was declared to happen a mere two days away from to when Elemensional Rift was going to open early access. For those unaware, an indie game of very similar genre launching so close to AAA competitor setting Steam records for the genre usually results in drowning out all coverage for the indie game. The decision was made to push Elemensional Rift’s early access release back and take more time to prepare and polish to make the most out of the situation rather than trying fight for scraps of coverage.
Momo Con 2024
For Momo Con, there was a lot of small updates, fixes, and behind the scenes issues addressed. Also, the options received a major revamp. This focus on tying up many loose ends and pending priorities was a result of focusing on preparing for early access that had to be pushed back last minute. Lastly, the introduction of the bounty mode was quite well received. There also was great attention to the the wrapping up of many loose ends getting tied up.
Interesting stats of note for Momo Con 2024:
- Over 100 play sessions
- Neon, Crispy B., Kaizen, and Selphieroth each had over 30 play sessions
- Crispy B. did have the greatest number of individual wins with Selphieroth behind by just 1 less win.
- Miroi had the lowest number of usage but the highest win percentage rate
- Nekuen had the lowest win count and lowest win rate
The detailed write up about the Momo Con appearance can be read here.
Southern-Fried Gameroom Expo 2024
After Momo Con, the next major showcasing for Elemensional Rift was at SFGE. This event introduced the second of the five boss battles. Unlike Momo Con having a lot of focus towards the freeplay portion of Elemensional Rift, SFGE had great focus on the survival mode instead. There is not as much data tracking the survival mode sessions but there were many contenders. Only two managed to get past the midboss of the survival mode and none succeeded in making it through the survival challenge. The tournament was small but quite intense. A series of round robins took place with the winner using the anti-meta heroine of the story, Selphieroth, to claim victory.
Interesting stats of note for SFGE 2024:
- Selphieroth’s first convention tournament victory
- Over 20% more gameplay sessions than SFGE 2023
- Neon squeaks out top usage for the first time since Crispy B.’s introduction
- Neon and Crispy B. also maintained leading the number of wins
- Each of the heavyweight characters had the lowest usage (the only ones with less than 10 usages)
- Miroi maintained the highest win rate (this time with 100% win rate)
- Mana also had an extremely high win rate
- Otagaz was the only character to not acquire a win
The detailed write up about the SFGE appearance can be read here.
DreamHack: Atlanta 2024
Next came DreamHack: Atlanta for the next major event showcasing for Elemensional Rift. This was a crucial event for Elemensional Rift to ensure it is ready for the next big step. Not only is the DreamHack crowd important to win over for Elemensional Rift as it had a very eSports focused attendance, but it also introduced the highly requested dedicated rushdown fighter that the same audience has patiently been waiting for. This new fighter was Hina and she came in bursting with a fire passion (even dominating usage for the very first day). The tournament was also quite successful with a hefty show up. The champion had a hard fought route and showed up right before the start of the tournament but conquered with great talent. A victory earned without losing a single round along the way.
Interesting stats of note for DreamHack: Atlanta 2024:
- Over 100 play sessions
- Crispy B. regained leader of the usage board with Neon and Hina also surpassing 30.
- Psyren had the lowest usage count.
- Hina had the greatest number of wins in her debut convention
- Miroi maintains his streak of the highest win rate.
- Drake, Mr. Bishounen, and Psyren were tied for lowest number of wins
The detailed write up about the DreamHack: Atlanta appearance can be read here.
Shao Con 2024
While not quite big enough to do a big blog update, Elemensional Rift did a special showcasing for the first year of Shao Con. As expected for a convention’s first year, the attendance was budding while trying to establish it’s feel in the series of conventions within the area. This also was where a new helper was added to the roster. This new helper is based on IAmBrandon, a great individual who has done a lot for making the world of Twitch a better place for content creators. One special contender took it upon themself to challenge defeating survival mode with each of the available characters in the roster. He managed to get through clearing survival with five of the thirteen available fighters at the time.
Anime Weekend Atlanta 2024
There was one last big event to end the year on before 2024 could end. This was the first time Anime Weekend Atlanta opened up indies onto their show floor at their new location. The big reveal for this special occasion was the introduction of the final of the eight Elemensional siblings, ‘Zieque the electric brother. This was a momentous milestone for the roster because the final of the eight initial fighters was completed (the other six can be unlocked in-game). ‘Zieque’s introduction brought a great amount of attention and dominated usage. One dedicated player, who donned the nickname of ‘Ziechu (in honor of blending one of ‘Zieque’s guest outfits with the name) worked hard to get ‘Zieque to fight in the grand finals on the big tournament stage. His opponent for the grand finals was Miru, who showed up just before the tournament cut-off and wielded his experience from Skullgirls to adapt quickly to the gameplay. The grand finals was a close match that came down to a feint by ‘Ziechu that was called out and Miru emerged victorious.
Interesting stats of note for Anime Weekend Atlanta 2024:
- By far the most play sessions of the year (just under the combined total of Momo Con and SFGE)
- ‘Zieque’s debut resulted in any character’s highest number of usage (doubling Crispy B.’s from DreamHack)
- Crispy B. and Neon (the former titans of usage) were not just dethroned but not even in the top 5 (beaten by ‘Zieque, Nekuen, Kaizen, Selphieroth and Otagaz)
- ‘Zieque and Nekuen alone accounted for 1/3 of the total number of wins
- Miroi, while continuing the trend of lowest usage continues to maintain the highest win rate.
- Psyren had the lowest win count once again
The detailed write up about the Anime Weekend Atlanta appearance can be read here.
Final Statistics Review
The year of 2024 resulted in a lot of polish and refinement with a lot of events to prepare the word of what is to come. The roster grew to fourteen of the final sixteen characters ready. Both of the newly added fighters received great reception at their events and made an impact to the roster even after being added so late to the year. The addition of a new major helper also gave a fresh, new perspective and revitalization the Helper’s Horn needed. The bounty mode was quite successful in the reveal and continues to be a favorite throughout the year for play sessions with four players.
Interesting results of the combined 2024 stats are:
- AWA dominated usage of the conventions
- Total character usage count for 2024 reached over 1000
- Four characters achieved over 100 combined usages throughout the year: Crispy B., Neon, Kaizen, and Selphieroth
- Miroi had the fewest usages throughout the year but had the highest win rate (87.179% while second place was 54.348%)
- Crispy B. and Selphieroth were the only two fighters to achieve over 50 wins throughout the year
- Psyren had the fewest wins with only 13 wins
Plans for 2025
With the end of 2024 at hand and the beginning of 2025 around the corner, it is a great time to bask in the accomplishments of 2024 while preparing for 2025. As mentioned before, 2025 will be poised to open up early access for Elemensional Rift. In addition, the convention season will be introducing the arcade mode so players can really get to know the individual characters and what drives them to fight. An artist is being brought on just to handle the artwork for the arcade and story mode to really make them a special experience for players to connect with their favorite fighters. The third boss battle is also scheduled to be developed during 2025. More interactions with the environment in battlefield stages have also been pushed up on the agenda. The training room and the tutorial are also locked on high priority. With a small team, plans for the second half of the year will be kept more loose to pay attention to and address feedback from opening early access and what the community will desire. The order will fluctuate based on the timing of events and community feedback but the next fighter on the agenda is an aquatic creature from the Seas of Scred, a debate between Psyren’s stage or Selphieroth’s stage, the next game mode after arcade will be the challenging Face Your Fears mode, and lastly there are several new items and helpers planned on the agenda as well. There is much to do for the complete experience but the team is marching forward with aims to make 2025 a very important year for Elemensional Rift.
