Every time you die, the souls you collected convert into , a currency you spend permanently upgrading your party at the Elephant of Fortune . Want more health? Buy it. Want Arioch to deal double damage? Unlock it. Want to start the next run with a healing item? Purchase a Flagon.
The game rewards obsessive pixel-hunting. Break every candle. Check every wall. Fall down every pit. You’ll often find a —a checkpoint that, once activated, becomes a respawn point even after death. Finding these statues is the true measure of progress. 4. The Meta-Progression is the Real Story Astalon hides its narrative inside its gameplay loop. As you die and return to the Gate of the Dead, you speak with Blight , the skeletal gatekeeper. He taunts you, offers lore, and slowly reveals why the heroes made this pact. Astalon Tears of the Earth
PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One. Every time you die, the souls you collected
Here is why Astalon is a hidden gem that deserves a spot beside Hollow Knight and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night . The premise is deceptively simple. The Tower of Serpents has risen from the earth, plunging the world into drought. You control three unlikely heroes— Arioch the Swordsman, Algus the Wizard, and Elda the Thief —who make a pact with Death herself to ascend the tower and save their village. Want Arioch to deal double damage
The level design is dense with . Using the three heroes’ abilities, nearly every single screen has a hidden room, a healing fountain, or a key. Do you switch to Algus to burn a wall? Crawl as Elda through a vent? Or climb as Arioch to reach a crumbling ceiling?
Without spoiling: The “Tears of the Earth” are not just a macguffin. The game has multiple endings, and the true finale requires you to not just beat the tower, but to understand the tragic cycle of death and resurrection you’ve trapped yourself in. It’s a surprisingly melancholic tale wrapped in an action-platformer shell. Composer Takafumi Taniguchi (of Cathedral fame) delivers a chiptune soundtrack that punches far above its weight class. The main theme, “Tower of Serpents,” is a driving, percussive earworm that perfectly captures desperate adventure. The boss theme adds frantic arpeggios that sound like a NES overclocking itself.
In an indie landscape saturated with pixel-art Metroidvanias, Astalon: Tears of the Earth could have been easily dismissed as another retro homage. Instead, developer LABS Works—the team behind the cult hit Cathedral —has delivered a masterclass in subverting expectations. It looks like a forgotten 8-bit NES cartridge, but it plays like a modern roguelite that respects your time and cunning.