Introduction

Hey it's Tarrmu and welcome to another episode of Indie Hour where we talk about the latest independent video games that may have passed you by, and in today's video we're going to be talking about Fallen Tear: The Ascension a lush and vibrant Metroidvania developed by Winter Crew Studios.

The Hook

Fallen Tear's gameplay starts off showing you the ropes and letting you get a feel for many of its basics within the first half and hour, and then like with many games in the genre lets you loose to explore its world, solve puzzles, get new unlocks, and make new discoveries. The map for this game is huge, in my 3 hours with the game I had barely scratched the surface of how huge the world of Fallen Tear is. Another fact that is worth mentioning is that the game is still also in early access too, so there is still content that is set to release with the full game.

Fallen Tear hooked me in with the sense of exploration that the game offered next to the fantasy world that it was building over time. There are a lot of different features that are working in tandem, with some that feel on brand for a Metroidvania, and others that feel like an interesting spin on something different. There is this charm, and this want to explore more of Fallen Tear's world, and I'm interested to see how different biomes shape up overtime, along with more boss encounters. Speaking of bosses, the boss fights I experienced in this version of the game were dynamic and satisfying to fight, and there are new mechanics that are introduced that play into how you tackle them.

The Moment

The moment when Fallen Tear really clicked for me was after the first boss encounter and when world opened up allowing me to fully explore. Fallen Tear isn't necessarily unique in its design, I do feel in a lot of ways as far as exploration goes, it plays it pretty close to the book, and that isn't a bad thing, considering traversal and navigation of the world is fun, with a good amount of puzzle variety and biome diversity.

One element that I do think is different, and something I haven't really seen in this genre before is the inclusion of bonds, which are party members that will join you on your adventure, making your journey feel like a band of heroes, rather than a solo journey. These characters that you meet along the way can aid you in combat, and fill in the role for ability based attacks, where each unique bond will correlate to an ability, that can be used in combat, whether it is a fireball that deals burn damage over time or another bond ability that allows you to freeze enemies for a moment.

The Features

There are many features that underpin Fallen Tear, starting with all the staples of the Metroidvania genre, exploring different area, having areas gated or locked behind abilities that you haven't yet acquired, and cities that have bounty boards for side quests, along with main objectives that you can explore. There are many different people that you will meet that offer side objectives, along with others who offer the bonds that we talked about earlier, and there are a ton of people it appears that can become a bond. On top of bond abilities there are Ascension abilities that you will acquire which are more akin to your standard unlocks like wall running or double jumping which can allow you to explore more of the world and branch out.

Each area feels comprised of a location that has a particular biome, environmental hazards that play into the traversal, along with new enemies that layout the area, and each location is generally topped of with a boss encounter, and sometimes contain a hidden boss which can be turned in for bounties. There are some hidden walls and locations that will contain treasure chests, along with milestones that come with completing different feats in world, but feel a bit obtuse and out of the way to track, like they pop-up and are like an "oh cool" kind of reward, which is weird given that they reward you with your key currency for upgrades. There is no tab or section that clearly indicates where these feats are, which makes chasing these rewards that you get hard to find, and I think it is something that could benefit for a clearer communication or location to explaining what they are, if they're repeatable, or are more like achievements that you're able to track.

But overall there is an abundance of things to do in Fallen Tear, the map is expansive, and the progression systems are large and flexible.

The Presentation

The Art Direction for Fallen Tear feels quite distinct it weirdly reminds me of a game that you would find on the browser sites of the late 2000s coupled with this really nice art direction and type of fantasy that reminds me of something like Ori. The art and character designs for Fallen Tear all look really clean, detailed, and the variety really does make this fantasy world feel expressive.

The sounds front is another element that I think absolutely works in the games favor, with characters being fully voice acted being one element that I absolutely adore about this game. On top of this the soundtrack is really nice, and the overall sound design whether it is enemies, sound effects for hit detection all operate and function.

As for performance the game works well for me, with no real issues such a bugs or crashes. One thing that I do think is a little odd is the way that keyboard mapping works for the game and it can feel a bit odd. I did play this game mostly on controller, but in the brief window where I was trying out the the keyboard controls it did feel awkward and things like the arrow keys not working on the main menu, felt like easy things that idiot-proof functionality and should be in place. But those are minor nitpicks.

Who This Is For

Fallen Tear: The Ascension is a game that I think has a wealth of potential that I believe could be a must play for someone who is a fan of this genre. There still are ways to go, and with the game being early access I do think that Winter Crew Studios can further polish and refine Fallen Tear, and my hope is that they are able to cohesively pull all of these unique elements and components together to make a whole that feels fun the whole 20 hour runtime that the game has been announced to be at launch, that measures up to the same fun that I had when I played the game for 3 hours. If you are a fan of this genre, or love a vibrant and beautiful world to explore with a ton of content that will keep you invested for hours to come.

For me, I'm waiting for the full release to play through this whole game, so you can expect that here on the channel, the day Fallen Tear hits 1.0. It is still early days, but the future for Fallen Tear: The Ascension feel bright.