I first saw Fallen Tear: The Ascencion after I received a press release promoting a trailer for the game. When I found out it was being developed by a studio in the Philippines, it had my full attention. My roots are important to me. My review of Until Then is actually the most-read review on this website, and I take great pride in that. I responded to the e-mail saying “As a Filipino-American myself, this looks awesome and I can’t wait to see more.”
I never got a response.
So I forgot about it.
Fast forward to PAX West 2025, last year. I was enjoying some drinks at the Polish Party when fellow games journalists asked me if I’d given the game a try. Again, I forgot about it. Talk to me about Fallen Tear, and I wouldn’t know what you’re talking about. “It’s a Metroidvania, and it looks absolutely beautiful. You should give it a try, especially you. The studio is based in the Philippines.” I gave the person who told me that the Leo squint.
With this much color, you could be fooled into thinking this is a cozy game.
During one of my breaks at PAX West (I was exhibiting at the event for Gamers Outreach), I found the Fallen Tear booth, but the demo stations were all taken. I introduced myself to the dev on-site and said I’d come back when it was available, but every time I came back on a break, it was still busy, so PAX West came and went with me not giving the game a try.
But that’s why you network, folks. A new demo just dropped on Tuesday ahead of Steam Next Fest, and I played the heck out of it. I didn’t “finish” it, but I played it enough to know that I want to get down and dirty with the real game once it’s ready. Anyway, you’ve listened to my personal ramble a little too long, so I’ll reward with the actual hands-on piece now.
It’s a Metroidvania, and it looks absolutely beautiful.
Okay, I lied. I gotta ramble a little bit more, but I pay for this site, so I’ll say whatever I want as long as I’m not slandering anybody or breaking any laws.
Those of you that know me understand that despite my enjoyment for writing previews like these, I’m not a fan of playing demos, especially demos like Fallen Tear‘s. The demo for the game out on Steam right now is just their prologue, apparently not unlike their last demo, but it’s much more meaty. The reason I don’t like these kinds of demos is because you can spend more than an hour on them, like I did with this one, but none of that will matter once the game actually comes out because your progress doesn’t carry over. I hate that, and that’s going to happen with the three hours I spent playing this demo for this hands-on piece.
There’s quite a bit to explore in Fallen Tear: The Ascension.
The one thing that makes it easier is the game is just a pleasure to look at. The visual style has a hand-drawn anime look to the characters while the environments look like they were taken right out of a high quality children’s storybook. Even once you fire up the game, the clean and crisp start screen shows you’re in for a treat.
It’s almost mandatory for an indie Metroidvania to have a distinct look like this. Every year, there’s a handful of awesome indie games that just happen to be Metroidvanias, so you have to stand out. Fallen Tear does that both visually and with the fact that the game features combat that’s both varied and challenging.
Action for real gamers
While Fallen Tear does have its fair share of dialog boxes that explain some of its more unique gameplay nuances, one bit of fresh air is the fact that it doesn’t tell you the basics of combat or traversal. As mentioned earlier, this demo is essentially the game’s prologue, and it begins by putting you in control of a beast with some pretty interesting abilities. At that, it’s a beast, so when it came to maneuverability, he felt pretty clunky which was understandable. Being a 2D Metroidvania, I did my best to explore the area I was in from end to end, oftentimes going left instead of right when I was able. Upon entering this chamber, a bigger beast than the one I was using basically kicked me out and closed the chamber. Cool. off to the right I went!
Then I found myself fighting a sorceress boss, but there were only two moves I knew how to use. I had the regular attack, and I can hold the attack button to let out a more powerful aura attack that harmed anyone within my immediate vicinity. I thought I was holding my own before getting murked anyway and waking up as the real main character in a far more colorful environment.
I’m not going to talk about the story, because if this game does actually interest you, I’d implore you to watch the trailer above or go on the game’s website because there’s a more than adequate synopsis of what the game is about there. All I’ll say is that you use this little guy named Hira, who aspires to be a hunter. He’s far more swift than the beast we had control of at the beginning, but he was also quite limited in his moveset. After all, it’s a Metroidvania. You earn your moves in this game.
The beast cometh
That’s done in various ways. A lot like the latter Castlevania games, you can level up and collect items to learn new abilities. In this demo, for example, one boss I beat was blocking a door that led me to earn Hira’s ability to climb. There was also another point in the game where I entered a chamber and spent some currency for Hira’s double jump, obviously a staple in action platformers such as these.
Speaking of bosses, in addition to bounty hunts you’ll go on, they’re pretty tough especially with such a limited moveset. In the prologue, all you really have are standard sword swipes and a backward dodge. When dodging at just the right time, you can have attacks and projectiles just float by you and incur no damage. I had trouble doing this, primarily because it just didn’t feel right using the Steam Deck’s right shoulder button. Luckily, controls are customizable, but as my headline says–I probably played too much anyway.
RPG elements might be a little ambitious
I already talked about the reasons why I’m not a fan of playing demos, and the fact that Fallen Tear has extensive RPG elements upset me a little more. (This isn’t CMD’s fault. This is an industry problem and I feel like ranting about it is what’s going to help other companies, including CMD, address it). One of the cooler aspects in combat is the Fated Bonds system. Fated Bonds are pretty much like party and support members in RPGs. Instead of having direct control of these other characters, you can equip them to one of each of the face buttons and use them while holding the right bumper. They essentially act as more powerful attacks or buffs that you can use while in a fight.
Too much going on here for a demo
It didn’t happen in the demo, at least in my runthrough of it, but eventually you’ll get to a point where your Fated Bonds have to be managed and upgraded. While interesting, that’s something that’ll be tedious to a lot of gamers especially since you already have Hira’s abilities to worry about. Take a look at the pause screen above. That’s just the Bonds tab. You still have the Hira and Fated Goals tabs there that have even more info to go through, and it personally made my head spin. Those are separate things to manage entirely. Navigating the UI wasn’t the least bit enjoyable to me, and I’m sure this is one of the things that kept this game in development for as long as it has.
Hold me back
I’m not the most hardcore Metroidvania fan, but I definitely have enjoyed my fair share of recent releases. Fallen Tear: The Ascension is setting itself up to be quite an ambitious release. While I’m coming away from the demo overwhelmed by the menus and overall user interface, I’ve had a lot of fun exploring the colorful world while struggling and triumphing in combat. All that said, I had to force myself to stop, because I don’t want to repeat all this when the real game comes out.
Some polish will absolutely be needed to make the game great though. For those wondering, I played the demo on the Steam Deck over the course of a few days. When I came back to it overnight, performance absolutely stumbled. Every few minutes I’d have bad lag for whatever reason, and I corrected this by restarting the handheld. When I did that and reloaded the game, it took more than three minutes to get to the start menu. That shouldn’t be happening regardless of the circumstances.
So pretty!
Going into my own preferences, I’m hoping to see some nods to the homeland. I don’t know if Temple of Oras is a nod to Zelda, because “oras” in Tagalog (the Philippine native language) is “time.” If it is, that was enough to acknowledge that it made me smile.
Fallen Tear: The Ascension is slated for release sometime during the first half of the year on the PC via Steam, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch.
I first saw Fallen Tear: The Ascencion after I received a press release promoting a trailer for the game. When I found out it was being developed by a studio in the Philippines, it had my full attention. My roots are important to me.
I first saw Fallen Tear: The Ascencion after I received a press release promoting a trailer for the game. When I found out it was being developed by a studio in the Philippines, it had my full attention. My roots are important to me. My review of Until Then is actually the most-read review on this website, and I take great pride in that. I responded to the e-mail saying “As a Filipino-American myself, this looks awesome and I can’t wait to see more.”
I never got a response.
So I forgot about it.
Fast forward to PAX West 2025, last year. I was enjoying some drinks at the Polish Party when fellow games journalists asked me if I’d given the game a try. Again, I forgot about it. Talk to me about Fallen Tear, and I wouldn’t know what you’re talking about. “It’s a Metroidvania, and it looks absolutely beautiful. You should give it a try, especially you. The studio is based in the Philippines.” I gave the person who told me that the Leo squint.
With this much color, you could be fooled into thinking this is a cozy game.
During one of my breaks at PAX West (I was exhibiting at the event for Gamers Outreach), I found the Fallen Tear booth, but the demo stations were all taken. I introduced myself to the dev on-site and said I’d come back when it was available, but every time I came back on a break, it was still busy, so PAX West came and went with me not giving the game a try.
But that’s why you network, folks. A new demo just dropped on Tuesday ahead of Steam Next Fest, and I played the heck out of it. I didn’t “finish” it, but I played it enough to know that I want to get down and dirty with the real game once it’s ready. Anyway, you’ve listened to my personal ramble a little too long, so I’ll reward with the actual hands-on piece now.
It’s a Metroidvania, and it looks absolutely beautiful.
Okay, I lied. I gotta ramble a little bit more, but I pay for this site, so I’ll say whatever I want as long as I’m not slandering anybody or breaking any laws.
Those of you that know me understand that despite my enjoyment for writing previews like these, I’m not a fan of playing demos, especially demos like Fallen Tear‘s. The demo for the game out on Steam right now is just their prologue, apparently not unlike their last demo, but it’s much more meaty. The reason I don’t like these kinds of demos is because you can spend more than an hour on them, like I did with this one, but none of that will matter once the game actually comes out because your progress doesn’t carry over. I hate that, and that’s going to happen with the three hours I spent playing this demo for this hands-on piece.
There’s quite a bit to explore in Fallen Tear: The Ascension.
The one thing that makes it easier is the game is just a pleasure to look at. The visual style has a hand-drawn anime look to the characters while the environments look like they were taken right out of a high quality children’s storybook. Even once you fire up the game, the clean and crisp start screen shows you’re in for a treat.
It’s almost mandatory for an indie Metroidvania to have a distinct look like this. Every year, there’s a handful of awesome indie games that just happen to be Metroidvanias, so you have to stand out. Fallen Tear does that both visually and with the fact that the game features combat that’s both varied and challenging.
Action for real gamers
While Fallen Tear does have its fair share of dialog boxes that explain some of its more unique gameplay nuances, one bit of fresh air is the fact that it doesn’t tell you the basics of combat or traversal. As mentioned earlier, this demo is essentially the game’s prologue, and it begins by putting you in control of a beast with some pretty interesting abilities. At that, it’s a beast, so when it came to maneuverability, he felt pretty clunky which was understandable. Being a 2D Metroidvania, I did my best to explore the area I was in from end to end, oftentimes going left instead of right when I was able. Upon entering this chamber, a bigger beast than the one I was using basically kicked me out and closed the chamber. Cool. off to the right I went!
Then I found myself fighting a sorceress boss, but there were only two moves I knew how to use. I had the regular attack, and I can hold the attack button to let out a more powerful aura attack that harmed anyone within my immediate vicinity. I thought I was holding my own before getting murked anyway and waking up as the real main character in a far more colorful environment.
I’m not going to talk about the story, because if this game does actually interest you, I’d implore you to watch the trailer above or go on the game’s website because there’s a more than adequate synopsis of what the game is about there. All I’ll say is that you use this little guy named Hira, who aspires to be a hunter. He’s far more swift than the beast we had control of at the beginning, but he was also quite limited in his moveset. After all, it’s a Metroidvania. You earn your moves in this game.
The beast cometh
That’s done in various ways. A lot like the latter Castlevania games, you can level up and collect items to learn new abilities. In this demo, for example, one boss I beat was blocking a door that led me to earn Hira’s ability to climb. There was also another point in the game where I entered a chamber and spent some currency for Hira’s double jump, obviously a staple in action platformers such as these.
Speaking of bosses, in addition to bounty hunts you’ll go on, they’re pretty tough especially with such a limited moveset. In the prologue, all you really have are standard sword swipes and a backward dodge. When dodging at just the right time, you can have attacks and projectiles just float by you and incur no damage. I had trouble doing this, primarily because it just didn’t feel right using the Steam Deck’s right shoulder button. Luckily, controls are customizable, but as my headline says–I probably played too much anyway.
RPG elements might be a little ambitious
I already talked about the reasons why I’m not a fan of playing demos, and the fact that Fallen Tear has extensive RPG elements upset me a little more. (This isn’t CMD’s fault. This is an industry problem and I feel like ranting about it is what’s going to help other companies, including CMD, address it). One of the cooler aspects in combat is the Fated Bonds system. Fated Bonds are pretty much like party and support members in RPGs. Instead of having direct control of these other characters, you can equip them to one of each of the face buttons and use them while holding the right bumper. They essentially act as more powerful attacks or buffs that you can use while in a fight.
Too much going on here for a demo
It didn’t happen in the demo, at least in my runthrough of it, but eventually you’ll get to a point where your Fated Bonds have to be managed and upgraded. While interesting, that’s something that’ll be tedious to a lot of gamers especially since you already have Hira’s abilities to worry about. Take a look at the pause screen above. That’s just the Bonds tab. You still have the Hira and Fated Goals tabs there that have even more info to go through, and it personally made my head spin. Those are separate things to manage entirely. Navigating the UI wasn’t the least bit enjoyable to me, and I’m sure this is one of the things that kept this game in development for as long as it has.
Hold me back
I’m not the most hardcore Metroidvania fan, but I definitely have enjoyed my fair share of recent releases. Fallen Tear: The Ascension is setting itself up to be quite an ambitious release. While I’m coming away from the demo overwhelmed by the menus and overall user interface, I’ve had a lot of fun exploring the colorful world while struggling and triumphing in combat. All that said, I had to force myself to stop, because I don’t want to repeat all this when the real game comes out.
Some polish will absolutely be needed to make the game great though. For those wondering, I played the demo on the Steam Deck over the course of a few days. When I came back to it overnight, performance absolutely stumbled. Every few minutes I’d have bad lag for whatever reason, and I corrected this by restarting the handheld. When I did that and reloaded the game, it took more than three minutes to get to the start menu. That shouldn’t be happening regardless of the circumstances.
So pretty!
Going into my own preferences, I’m hoping to see some nods to the homeland. I don’t know if Temple of Oras is a nod to Zelda, because “oras” in Tagalog (the Philippine native language) is “time.” If it is, that was enough to acknowledge that it made me smile.
Fallen Tear: The Ascension is slated for release sometime during the first half of the year on the PC via Steam, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch.
by Danreb Victorio
