Here you can use all the souls you’ve collected by slaying monsters to enhance your characters, raising their HP, strength, and defense, and even giving them new attacks.Īs you work your way through the levels of the Tower of Serpents, you’ll find that the enemies become more devious, the mini-bosses more challenging, and the bosses manage to stay unique.
Death, but not for you swordslinger! Upon your inevitable defeat, you are taken to an area that gives you a second chance due to the covert machinations of Algus. Your entire party shares a hit point pool and no matter who you switch to, it stays constant. This is a unique mechanic and it’s pretty wild. The biggest shock in Astalon though is the shared hit points. You can still explore anywhere you’ve already been easily, but getting to the next area will take the combined efforts of the party. This has the dual purpose of forcing you to utilize all available characters and restricting your progress to delineate the order in which you explore new areas of the Tower. Often times, only one character can even reach certain areas in order to unlock the way for further progress. As you explore, you’ll need to return to camp areas to switch characters for their abilities in order to progress.Īrias can smash through blue barricades, but he can’t double dump off of walls like Kyuli and Algus’ fireballs can be used to hit magic switches right through the walls! A steady shift from one character to the next is essential for success here. There’s a smidge of a Trine vibe to this mechanic, but it’s only a passing similarity. Initially you begin with Arias, but you’ll quickly find that you can switch characters at campfires where you save. Once you enter the tower, you’ll find that you’re in control of one of the three members of the party. That’s definitely exploration and combat and Astalon has it in spades! But plot isn’t the main point here, although it is excellent. It’s a simple and elegant system that surpasses the usual stop and talk to random villagers content you typically see in this style of game. As you play, the plot plays out in cut scenes and campfire talks when resting that slowly develop the characters and create a connection for players. There’s no sense in ruining the story of Astalon as it’s a pretty solid one for a Metroidvania-style game. Algus keeps his secrets from the group as well and no one is prepared for what awaits them in the tower. They reach the Tower of Serpents, only to find it already inhabited by a vicious knight and more. Algus the wizard is a older, educated man who can shoot fireballs through walls, and Kyuli is a rogue who can fire her bow across the screen. Arias the fighter, is a fast talking, fast moving fighter. Their water supply has been poisoned and they have traced the pollution back to a mysterious tower. The game features three characters from a small post-apocalyptic village who have set out to save their friends and family. Either way, this action genre has seen something of a renaissance and today we’re here with another prime example of exactly why it’s so darn good!Īstalon: Tears of the Earth was released last year by LABS Works and publisher Dangen Entertainment to a fair amount of critical acclaim. Or maybe it’s because unlike an indie RPG, the world-building isn’t subject to as much critical analysis. Perhaps it’s because the limited scripts and complex backtracking simply make for a good game genre.
We review them all the time and partly it’s because there are so many, but they’re also often quite good.
#ASTALON TEARS OF THE EARTH SECRETS FULL#
The indie scene is chock full of Metroidvanias.
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