Fallen Tear: The Ascension is an ambitious Metroidvania along the lines of Afterimage as far as how expansive the world is, which comes with both positives and negatives. On the positive side, Fallen Tear takes from some of the best games in the genre, like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, as far as exploration; it allows you to take snapshots of any area in the game, which are placed exactly where you are on the map so you can refer to them later.
Where many Metroidvania leave you guessing what a previously visited place might be with only the regular pins, this one lets you see a photo, so you know what it is, when to return, and with what movement upgrade. Each biome, and there are over 20, has a Rin Map Tower which, once found, shows the entire map of the biome, further aiding in efficiently diving into every location without too much wandering or second-guessing. Though a few of the puzzles, here and there, are slightly obtuse.
However, one shortcoming of this expansive world is, comparatively, the lack of fast travel points. While some biomes are well covered, some have travel points clustered together too much, while leaving other large portions of the biome uncovered. If they were spread out better, it would have aided backtracking much better.
Combat is straightforward at first and doesn’t really branch out until later, when different elements can be added to certain movements from the menu. Boss battles are very inconsistent as far as challenge. Some of the bosses on medium difficulty were easier than some of the bosses on easy, so it seems like some of the bosses need tweaking, especially the question mark boss. Other bosses, while not particularly hard, felt like damage sponges (Mechalevizz being a perfect example). There is a parry mechanic, but it isn’t required to beat the game.
There are enough customisation options, including collectables you can find around the world, such as stat-boosting chests that include one of two choices: boosting HP or MP, or increasing attack or defence, which allows players to focus on an attack build, a defensive build, or even tank. There is a small customization tree, called Masteries, made of three tiers, that gives plenty of other useful passive boosts, but options are limited; three can be equipped per tier, and there are small mini tiers between each main one where one or two extra can be equipped.
22 bonds, important NPCs that join the castle and can be used in battle, are scattered around Raoah, and a tree on the first floor of the castle gives vague but somewhat helpful hints on where to find new bonds. They add some extra customisation options, as you can equip three at a time and have unique attacks and passive benefits. Those bonds can also be levelled up until level five, greatly increasing strength, and require a currency found from defeated enemies that, annoyingly, is also used to warp. To bypass grinding for this currency, perhaps completely, fated charms (21 total) can usually be used to level up a bond.
Of special note are three specific bonds: One uses health spices scattered around the map to cook up a dish that increases HP. Another, on the first floor, collects energy herbs that are used to create a consumable that increases MP. Still, another collects ancient weapons, cleverly hidden but well worth seeking out, that increase attack strength. At first, it is cumbersome to revisit the same location on the map to turn these weapons in, but later on, a bond allows you to increase attack at the castle. 50 ancient texts, between one and four per biome, add a significant amount of lore to Fallen Tear, as well.
Fallen Tear goes about movement upgrades differently. Whereas most Metroidvanias have them at set points in the game, usually after a boss, these ones are collected after getting bond points. After each bond that you form, you get a point, signified in the top right corner as a yellow symbol. If you want double jump, for instance, you need to have two of these bond points and then enter the Temple at any fast travel location. If you want dash, you need an additional two, and then some of the other movement upgrades cost three points. A few hours into the game, you can start using one of the four elements and attach them to certain movements to enhance them to, for instance, get triple jump or a lengthy dash upwards or make it so each dash also attacks enemies in the line of fire.
One disappointing aspect is that once you have 14 bond points, that’s it; no more movement upgrades, even though there are 22 bonds and thus 22 bond points. Eight non-utilised points seem like a waste and were disappointing, not even some super move as a reward for going through the effort of finding everyone, which is considerable.
For gamers aiming for 100%, the biggest hurdle is likely the corrupted korr shards, up to 20 per biome. The map doesn’t have any way to label what’s been found, so seeking those last few could prove to be a headache. When loading a new game, no information, such as current play time or percentage completion, is shown. Although going into the menu, this could be reasonably assumed to be the average between the three percentages shown for Exploration, Castle, and Hunts. Hunts could prove to be another barrier to 100% as a certain number of enemies per biome need to be defeated, and there are a few rare ones. Other superpowered enemies appear on hunt boards scattered around different towns and are usually almost as hard as bosses.
One other minor annoyance is the blood moon, which seems to occur randomly, possibly after a set amount of time, but strengthens all enemies and, if it happens just before a boss, makes for a much harder battle.
Visually, the game is beautifully animated. Sadly, an all-too-common trope rears its ugly head in too many parts of the game, where visibility is very poor in some areas, mainly, but not limited to, the Lilac Mire. The overly dark places, with just a small circle of light around the hero, are a game design choice that can fall by the wayside, for sure.
Another issue is that the screen does not always move fast enough when Hira is moving up through platforming sections or, worse, when he drops. The character portraits are drawn well with painstaking detail, aside from the bizarre-looking omission of the pupils in the eyes. Even though it looks deliberate, it still feels unfinished. There is a decent variety of enemies, and the design is above average, but there are noticeable palette swaps. Musically, the game gets the job done, but there’s nothing too memorable about any specific track.
