First seen back in 2022, CMD Studios and Winter Crew have shown new gameplay and revealed new details about their upcoming Metroidvania title, Fallen Tear: The Ascension, during the recently concluded iD@Xbox Digital Sessions Asia.

What is Fallen Tear: The Ascension? Read on to find out all of the new details of the game!

Fallen Tear: The Ascension is a Filipino-made Gem

Fallen Tear: The Ascension is a homegrown, Filipino-developed tale that unfolds as an epic adventure within a vast, magical world. In this journey, players confront dangerous beasts, defy gods, and overcome various challenges in pursuit of restoring balance to their realm. Game Director Stephen Manalastas describes the title as a Metroidvania-JRPG fusion, an intriguing mix of mechanics.

During a hands-off media presentation, a 10-minute gameplay trailer offered an in-depth look at Fallen Tear, showcasing its various mechanics and systems that set it apart from its contemporaries. Winter Crew, the developers, wanted to go beyond the confines of a typical 2D action side-scroller and embrace a full-fledged JRPG concept that seamlessly integrates dungeons and interactive towns, creating a dynamic universe that marries action with social elements. Visually, the team cites Wakfu and Ori as their biggest influences, reflected in the vibrant world and its denizens.

As with other Metroidvanias, Fallen Tear features levels with hidden areas and breakable barriers that open up into sprawling paths that players can freely explore. Maps are completely interactive, surrounding items can be broken, and environments can be changed; enemies, in turn, can be affected by these changes.

The world of Fallen Tear boasts 26 distinct biomes, each teeming with unique environmental hazards, and over 150 enemies that will challenge players with various attack styles and patterns. Amidst these challenges, players can also engage in mini-games, reaping exclusive rewards.

Fallen Tear: The Ascension’s Story about Hira and his Journey

At the heart of this tale stands Hira, a mysterious young boy driven by the quest for truth about his forgotten past. Hira can utilize an Overgrowth or “OG” form that can be unlocked in the game. This form is capable of building up charges while attacking and can unleash a powerful AOE attack when fully charged. Overgrowth is considered a “power form” for Hira, where damage is nullified and attack power is amplified, but only lasts for a few seconds.

Fallen Tear features menacing bosses who are drawn to scale to increase their intimidation factor. OG is particularly large compared to Hira, so seeing bosses ten times larger than OG is something to watch out for. While serving as a challenge, Hira will have some tricks up his sleeve to take on these hulking behemoths.

Throughout the game, players can take advantage of Endure Break, a stagger ability that allows you to stun the bosses for some extra damage during the encounter, which activates when you whittle their Endure Meter. They also have directional weaknesses, where some enemies are strong against frontal attacks but weak on their flanks. Some monsters also have elemental weaknesses to take advantage of.

Fallen Tear: The Ascension’s Fated Bonds and Special Attacks

To even out the odds, Hira has abilities unique to him, such as the backstep and counter, allowing him to avoid damage and punish enemies with a powerful counterattack. Combos abound, but one of the main features of Fallen Tear is called Fated Bonds, allies and friends that Hira will meet in the game that will aid him in his journey. These companions can be recruited by completing quests, and having them in your party will increase stats or provide other bonuses such as buffs or debuffs.

As you collect more Fated Bonds, you can mix and match skills that can be used to aid you in tougher battles. Manalastas adds that a unique feature found in the game that’s different from other Metroidvania games is that abilities and tools are found in levels, while in Fallen Tear, they can be acquired through these unique characters. With 22 Fated Bonds to play around with, unique combinations will be key in your quest.

During the showcase, Towns were also featured, showing interactions with NPCs and their unique currency, “Fated Points”. You can earn Fated Points by completing rare hunts or quests given to you by your companions. The game also has hunting missions that can pit players against tough challenges and be rewarded with Fated Points. Manaslastas adds to this by stating that there are 22 hunting missions throughout the game that increase in difficulty and are not repeatable.

So when is Fallen Tear: The Ascension launching? Manalastas says that the team is hard at work, and they are targeting a release window of late 2025.

Fallen Tear: The Ascension is currently in development for PC and consoles.