LogFAQs > #966525132

PumpkinCoach posted...

for the next one i'll guess Astalon.

We have another winner!

#33: Astalon: Tears of the Earth

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/2/4/AAA-H0AADcfU.jpg

I feel like my writeups for these games tend to be pretty cliche. I always write them in this sort of five paragraph essay style where my intro paragraph is always something that's either semi-related or unrelated to the game I'm talking about and then I tie it in later. I try to play around with voice and style as much as I can with these things to make them interesting to read, but I've also only got so much time in the day and I'd like to at least put these out at a rate of like, once per day. I wanna get this shit done.

Anyway I sat on this one for a few days because I was just like, oh shit, I have to think of something profound to say about Astalon: Tears of the Earth. Some kind of thesis statement, or just something about the game I really want to talk about. And I've got nothing for this game! Nothing really urgent that I need to talk about here. Astalon is just a really good metroidvania that you should probably play.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/2/5/AAA-H0AADcfV.jpg

Astalon: Tears of the Earth has you playing as three characters that you can switch between; a warrior with close range sword attacks, a mage with a fast mid-range projectile, and a rogue with a slow, long-range bow. There's a plot that I frankly don't remember at all, and a sprawling dungeon that you need to explore and kill some bosses in. The main gimmick is that every time you die, you get brought to a shop where you can buy upgrades, either upgrading each of your characters' stats, or buying other shared upgrades that will help you in your next life. It's not a roguelike at all, but it does have the familiar ebb and flow of a metaprogression roguelike where you'll die quite a bit but then grow stronger every time, and it makes for an addictive hook into the game.

I think what I like most about this game, though, is the level design. This is one of those games that feels like a proper metroidvania, one that really understands the assignment. The world feels big and its series of rooms and hallways feel properly complex. There's plenty of doubling back to old areas, upgrades hidden in tricky places, areas that you can't get to yet but can come back to later. It can be a lot; this game relies a lot on one-way doors that you have to open from the other end. But, every new pathway and shortcut you open feels well earned; this is a dungeon that feels like it needs to be excavated, not just explored.

This is aided by the fact that the difficulty curve felt just right for me. This game is challenging and demanding enough that I died quite a few times, but never so difficult that it felt impossible or frustrating. The game does get a bit easier over time, as games with upgrade systems tend to, as Algus, the mage, becomes unbearably overpowered when upgraded and mashes the final boss into a fine paste by the time you're done (which is good because the final boss would be insanely hard otherwise). The upgrade system helps ensure that you're never quite stuck - I never did much farming at all, the currency I had on hand always just put me over the hump.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/2/6/AAA-H0AADcfW.jpg

I've got a few complaints, but they're fairly mild. I did have to look up a walkthrough once or twice just because this game has occasional moments of La-Mulana-esque crypticness, where a puzzle doesn't quite make sense either because you don't understand what the game wants of you, or because you missed something you needed along the way, not to mention the numerous times throughout where you'll *feel* like you're missing something (all those weird yellow blocks you see throughout the game do serve a purpose, but not until POSTGAME content). There's upgrades that are weird too, as some of them are permanent but some only work for the next run for some reason, but the game doesn't tell you which are which - and the upgrades that work only for the next run still get more expensive every time you buy them, a mechanic that I never really quite worked out. This always left me feeling like I didn't quite understand the game fully, which was a weird experience.

Still, it's a rock solid metroidvania. I was reminded of the days when I used to read Nintendo Power and look at maps for games I wouldn't play; I was always fascinated by adventure games in which you'd have to travel deep into the game's world, get some important upgrade, but then eventually double back to the game's starting area to get stuff you missed the first time. It always made the game seem so rich and interesting when it was nonlinear like that. Astalon: Tears of the Earth kind of feels like it's pulled straight out of my imagination of what those games must have been like. It feels properly retro, with bright, beautiful spritework right out of the NES or SMS, but it's a finely polished action adventure with a solid 10 hours or so of content in it. I love games in 2022 that make me feel like I'm playing what I imagined would be a really good game in 1990.

Next up: I almost skipped this game because it was frequently compared favorably to Dark Souls. Fortunately for me, it's hardly anything like Dark Souls, people just haven't played other games. (I bought it because of the main character.)