The Steam version of El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron will launch on September 2 (September 1 in America, due to time zones), with the Lucifer’s Fall novel included as a bonus. A digital artbook and soundtrack will be sold separately, alongside a Deluxe Edition that includes all of the above.
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is a cult-favourite action game that first released in 2011 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It’s designed to be “easy but profound”, with a simple four-button control scheme designed to be intuitive and lend itself to precise, timing-based action. Based on the apocryphal Book of Enoch, it tells the story a biblical scribe as he searches for seven fallen angels in order to prevent the great flood.
As well as the game itself, Steam is getting a digital artbook DLC and digital soundtrack for El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron. The artbook is curated by director Sawaki Takeyasu himself, with over 90 pages of illustrations, though you’ll need to buy the base game before you can get the book. A Deluxe Pack will also be available, including the base game, artbook, and soundtrack; both the standard and deluxe versions will include the Lucifer’s Fall novel as a bonus.
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron will be available on Steam from 12pm on September 2 JST (3pm NZST / 1pm AEST / 4am BST / Sep 1, 8pm PDT), at a regular price of USD $39.99 for the standard version and USD $78.97 for the Deluxe Pack. There’ll also be a two-week launch discount, reducing the standard version by 19% and the Deluxe Pack by 45%. Full price details are as follows:
- Standard version
- Normal price: USD $39.99 / £30.99/ €33.99
- Launch price: USD $32.39 / £25.10 / €27.53(19% off) for two weeks from launch
- Deluxe Pack
- Normal price: USD $78.97 / £61.47 / €66.57
- Launch price: USD $39.25 / £53.66 / €58.13 (45% off) for two weeks from launch
- Art book DLC (requires purchase of El Shaddai base game)
- USD $13.99 / £10.99 / €11.59
- Soundtrack
- USD $24.99 / £19.49 / €20.99
Sawaki Takeyasu first announced the PC version last December, with the hope of being able to release it in April—around the 10th anniversary of the original launch. That obviously didn’t quite work out, but considering the way the pandemic affects development cycles and the fact that this version is being self-published by a relatively small studio (Sawaki’s own Studio Crim), missing that target by a few months certainly isn’t the end of the world.