A tough retro metroidvania where you swap between three heroes with distinct skills. Death feeds permanent upgrades through a central tower, softening the bite. Crisp 8-bit looks and clever level design for challenge seekers.
Your verdict
Category
Action Adventure1 player7+
Description
Three heroes delve into a cursed underground tower, dying and reviving to climb ever higher. Published by Dangen, released worldwide in 2021. Swapping between characters with complementary skills, shortcuts opened through death, traps, secrets and a retro pixel look.
Astalon: Tears of the Earth review
3/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Polished"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
4/5
Story
★★★★★
"Captivating"
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"From the very first minutes"
Addictiveness
"Captivating"
Difficulty
"Easy"
Lifespan
"Long"
Technical info
💾0,3 GB📅03/06/2021
Published by DANGEN
Astalon: Tears of the Earth (Nintendo Switch) price, value & rarity
Dying to better progress gives the tower's guardians a singular flavor, where each demise sharpens pattern reading. Juggling three heroes with distinct abilities opens multiple approaches against demanding entities. The polished 8-bit aesthetic and platforming precision weave duels where skill and build strategy answer one another.
An underrated gem
Dying isn't failure but leverage: each death reopens shortcuts and lets you climb higher up the tower. Swapping between three heroes with complementary skills gives this pixel metroidvania a clever bite, where you memorize traps rather than dread them. Released without fanfare by a small publisher, it stayed quiet, yet its devious level design rewards anyone who enjoys methodical, persistent challenges.
Is Astalon: Tears of the Earth still worth playing in 2026?
Astalon: Tears of the Earth embraces a retro harshness not everyone will enjoy, and that is exactly its strength. The cursed tower is climbed by dying again and again, each death unlocking shortcuts and upgrades that make the next attempt fairer. Swapping between three heroes with distinct abilities shapes the puzzles as much as the fights. The pixel look evokes the NES without slavishness and holds up perfectly today. The game stays demanding, sometimes dry, but its sense of progress is crystal clear. Fans of challenge and vertical exploration will find an honest, well-paced metroidvania.
