Fallen Tear: The Ascension Preview | PAX West 2025

Roger Reichardt
Sep 13
2 min read

A masked character with silver hair leaps forward, wielding weapons. "Fallen Tear: The Ascension" is in bold text amid a cosmic background.

I’m not a huge fan of platformers. In fact, I almost skipped Fallen Tear: The Ascension at PAX West. But I’m so glad I didn’t. The animation and gameplay were so impressive that it earned one of our Best of PAX West awards.

A dark-skinned character with a mask and white hair speaks to a group of fantasy characters in a cave. Text reads: "Bjorn, how is everyone?"

The first thing that stands out is the animation. I’m a sucker for fantastic art, and this looks straight out of a Saturday morning cartoon. Each character and enemy is crisp and clean, with movements that flow fluidly. The visuals are so striking I almost forgot how much effort goes into making a game look this polished. Every sprite pops on the screen, a testament to the dedication Winter Crew has put into Fallen Tear: The Ascension.

A massive robot, spewing green slime, stands in an industrial setting. A small figure watches from a platform, surrounded by chains and pipes.

The gameplay was well done too. The basic movements felt tight, but the abilities my character gained set the game apart from others. On my short journey through the demo, I met other characters who provided new powers I could deploy against enemies. For example, one character froze enemy movement, a valuable ability against a boss I faced at the end of the demo. Once I filled up a meter, I could even summon all three allies at once, unleashing massive damage. The developers told me there will be more than twenty different characters to recruit in the full game, and I can’t wait to explore more.

A character fights a mushroom creature in a magical forest with colorful spells. HUD displays health and score, with "ShroomLord" below.

The demo was structured as a boss rush, and I was impressed by how unique each boss felt; not just in art design, but in their barrage of attacks as well. Like any good boss battle, I had to study their patterns to find a way to win. One boss relied on jump and dash attacks, familiar from other games and not too difficult to handle. But the final boss gave me a much harder time: a simple mushroom that sprayed poisonous mist. It looked harmless, but it was deceptively difficult. The developers explained that each boss had a particular weakness tied to the abilities I picked up, and once I figured that out, I made short work of it. The whole experience was a lot of fun, even with all the times I died.

Fallen Tear: The Ascension is one of those games that should be on everyone’s radar. I only got to play a bit of it, but the art and gameplay are fantastic. I can’t wait until next year when it releases.