The Tower of Tears isn’t out yet, but I can already tell it’s 100% psycho business. Every preview that solo developer xena-spectrale shares about the part-Metroidvania, sort-of The Legend of Zelda horror game makes it sound like a life-changing fever dream, and I can’t wait to play it.
when mommy finally gives u the HUG 💀 🔊#theTowerOfTears pic.twitter.com/JULyt0U72jDecember 18, 2024
“Struggle your way into the ominous floors of the tower and meet all of its strange inhabitants,” the game’s Steam page proclaims. “You are the latest Tear keeper of this place and it seems that they’ve been waiting for you.”
It all sounds very regal and important, as long as I remind myself that the smug protagonist with its permanent smirk is supposed to be a teardrop and not an onion. But it really does look like a juicy little onion freak.
In this sense – the zany one – The Tower of Tears, with its N64-style 3D graphics, reminds me a lot of 2000’s Majora’s Mask, which was also playful and dark. And just as that game featured several stiff masks that Link could slap on to utilize their myriad powers, like swim faster, or become a giant, The Tower of Tears will feature ghoulish disguises that alter its protagonist’s abilities. Xena-spectrale demonstrates it in a January 2 video – a mask that looks like a punctured heart makes the onion head walk much faster than usual, while one that looks like a choked-up bottom feeder makes its footsteps heavy.
“This [game] keeps looking better and better, and this is like the 5th time I’ve said this,” one reply to that video reads. The Tower of Tears will eventually have a free demo, but xena-spectrale hasn’t yet named a release date.
If you can’t wait, here are the 25 best Metroidvania games you can explore today.