This Steampunk RPG Revives a Long-Dead Genre (and It’s Pure Genius)
Dragon by day, steampunk duelist by night—and sometimes both at once. Sagas of Lumin is here to deliver the ultimate dragon rider fantasy, with a mechanical twist no one’s dared attempt in over two decades.
Unveiled at the Future Games Show Spring Showcase, this single-player action RPG from Elos Games And Arts promises seamless transitions between high-flying dragon battles and ground skirmishes that mix blades, magic, and steam-powered firearms. With steampunk making a roaring comeback in gaming and genre diversity exploding, Sagas of Lumin is staking out a territory left vacant since the days of Drakan.
Image credit: Elos Games & Arts
A never-before-seen hybrid combat system: from sky to ground in a heartbeat
The heart of Sagas of Lumin beats with a promise that’s simple to say, but wild to pull off: leap instantly from your dragon’s back to the battlefield below—no loading screens, no cutscenes, just pure action. In the air, it’s all about physics—climbs, dives, tight turns, every maneuver feels organic and real. Your dragon breathes fire, slashes with claws, bites, rams, and can even snatch enemy soldiers to toss them into the void. Facing rival dragons or flying ships, every aerial clash is set to be a blazing ballet of fire and dodges.
Touch down, and the whole vibe shifts. Combat is all about precision and timing, mixing swords, axes, spears, elemental spells, and steam-powered guns. Meanwhile, your dragon doesn’t just vanish into a menu—it keeps fighting on its own in the skies above, acting as an independent ally. The game also promises pure spectacle, like leaping off a cliff and being caught mid-air by your winged companion. It’s the dragon rider fantasy, cranked up to eleven.
Multiple dragons, flying ships, and RPG progression: a world you have to earn
Sagas of Lumin isn’t just about jaw-dropping gameplay—it’s packing some serious RPG depth. Two separate skill trees—one for your character, one for your dragon—let you shape wildly different builds with every playthrough. On the gear front, the studio promises crafting systems, armor sets with unique looks based on your character’s gender, and a huge arsenal of weapons, each with its own combat animations.
But the real surprise? The sheer scale of the side systems. You’ll be able to find, tame, and bond with multiple dragons as your adventure unfolds. Players can also snag flying ships that serve as upgradable mobile bases, where you can recruit and assign companions you meet along the way. Here are the main pillars of progression:
- Separate skill trees for player and dragon
- Crafting gear and armor with varied designs
- Taming multiple dragons
- Flying ships as mobile hubs with recruitable companions
- Wide range of weapons (melee, spells, steampunk firearms) with unique animations
With the recent success of steampunk RPGs proving players are hungry for these worlds, and ambitious titles like Clockwork Revolution pushing the genre’s boundaries, Sagas of Lumin aims to carve out its own niche with its draconic twist.
A morally gray steampunk world where magic and tech collide
You play as a Drair Ketra—male or female—a dragon rider from the ancient Drair order. This isn’t just narrative window dressing: the entire story hinges on the clash between this old order’s magical traditions and the rise of steam technology. Steam power is democratizing strength and threatening the age-old authority of the dragon riders—a classic steampunk power struggle, reimagined in a fresh fantasy setting.
The Elos Games And Arts team is adamant: no black-and-white morality here. Every faction and character has their own motives and beliefs. Lumin’s world fuses steampunk, medieval, and gothic aesthetics across 15 distinct cultures, each with its own language, architecture, and biomes. The archipelago’s islands range from sprawling continents to tiny, isolated outposts, and beyond dragons, rare creatures roam as anomalies. Your narrative choices will shape both the story and the world around you.
Early Access launches summer 2026: demo out now to test your wings
Sagas of Lumin is landing in Early Access on Steam this summer. The studio’s plan: keep Early Access running for about a year, with a full 1.0 release potentially set for summer 2027. It’s an ambitious timeline for an indie team, but it gives them space to iterate with community feedback. Meanwhile, a freshly updated demo is already free to download on Steam. It features a mission from a later chapter and a tutorial map—plenty to get a real feel for the flight and combat. Only catch: demo saves won’t carry over to the full game.
If you grew up with Drakan: Order of the Flame in 1999 or its sequel Drakan: The Ancients’ Gates in 2002, the parallels are obvious. For over twenty years, no game has dared to blend dragon-back aerial combat with ground brawls. Sagas of Lumin is taking on that void headfirst, armed with modern tools and big ambitions.
Whether this indie studio can deliver on all its promises over the course of Early Access remains to be seen. But the concept has never looked so tempting—and the field has never been so wide open. Summer 2026 will tell if Elos Games And Arts has the wings to resurrect a genre everyone thought extinct.
