Fallen Tear: The Ascension might seem like another handsome but forgettable entry in the ever-crowded Metroidvania space. But I came out of it having spent far more hours in Raoah than I originally planned to. This game was developed by Winter Crew Studios, and they spent a year and a half in Early Access sanding this thing down. The 1.0 release, out now for $24.99, roughly doubles everything that was already there. It is one of the most ambitious hand-drawn adventures I’ve played in years, even if it still stumbles in a few places.
A World That Draws You In and Doesn’t Let Go
You step into Fallen Tear: The Ascension as Hira, a mysterious kid marked by a dark element and fated to take on ancient gods. Every frame of Raoah is hand-drawn, and its animation work is truly admirable. Forests give way to crumbling temples. Crumbling temples give way to shifting landscapes that visibly react to you. Arches rise, chasms close, and vines rearrange themselves so that old areas keep revealing new routes once I pick up the right ability. It’s a classic Metroidvania trick, but in this game executed with much visual confidence.
The scale of the game is also amazing. There are more than twenty interconnected regions across Raoah. Forests, lost cities, and forgotten ruins, all stitched together in a way that rewards backtracking and exploration. All the characters are voice-acted, which is a delight considering it is rare to see at such a production level. This adds a layer of immersion to the game and makes you actually care about the story and lore of this world.
Fated Bonds Make Progression Feel Personal
The single biggest thing separating Fallen Tear: The Ascension from every other Metroidvania is its Fated Bonds system. Players form actual bonds with companions that they will meet across the world. Mages, swordsmen, tricksters, healers, and other companions that change not only combat but also exploration. This system is similar in nature to the Ender Lillies and Ender Magnolia game, and is also executed very well in this game. Players choose which relationships to invest in, and the investments pay off in the story too. There are a staggering amount of Ascensions, Hunter Skills, Elemental Imbuements, and Mastery Skills spread across the game.
Combat is where the game shows its first major flaw. When the combat works, it’s thrilling and satisfying. Players have the freedom to slash, dodge, parry, and weave in elemental abilities against a boss that keeps adjusting its patterns mid-fight. There are also some flaws, particularly earlier on. The balance of the game felt genuinely unfinished. A few bosses felt wildly overtuned compared to everything around them. Elsewhere, some new zones felt like that Hira just didn’t have the damage or survivability to be there yet. Without an obvious way to catch up short of grinding out Fated Points. This makes the gameplay experience tiring and cumbersome in contrast to the well-designed combat.
The other flaw Fallen Tear: The Ascension shows is how currency and skill costs are balanced against how quickly players actually earn them. The actual price tags on unlocking new Masteries felt steep against how much Korr Shards and Fated Points you pull in. More than once I found myself grinding out repeat encounters specifically to afford an upgrade rather than because the fight itself offered anything new. This again adds drag to the overall good gameplay experience.
Final Verdict
Fallen Tear: The Ascension is one of the more genuinely ambitious Metroidvanias in a long time. It earns that ambition, despite having some flaws. The Fated Bonds system alone sets it apart from a genre that is already very saturated. It also gives progression an emotional throughline most games in this space never bother reaching for. Combat balance and an overly stingy in-game economy keep it from being an unqualified masterpiece. Neither issue, however, was enough to make me want to stop playing, and the developers have clearly been actively working to close that gap since Early Access. If you’ve got any love for Metroidvanias, JRPGs, or just games that wear their inspirations proudly while still finding their own identity, Raoah is worth the trip.
