Azrael's Tear

A weird little game with a ton of atmosphere, and I mean it. The moment I saw the visuals on Dungeon Chill's retrospective of this game on Youtube, I stopped watching it and went to buy and complete the game. If you've ever played any first-person dungeon crawlers, Azrael's Tear feels like those crossed with an adventure game, complete with the claustrophobia they induce. You're never in too much terrible danger, and you aren't even technically trapped inside the area you're in, but you always [i]feel[/i] trapped. You always feel like you're intruding into places you shouldn't be, and disturbing areas that you shouldn't, all because the only way forward is down. The lore only adds to this effect, making you wonder who is right—if anyone—and whether you're even among their number. Some puzzles can be unintuitive, but another place the game shines is the flexibility of both solutions and exploration. For instance, I traversed the third area in the game in an entirely different order from the walkthrough I consulted, and even skipped a puzzle to kill something by figuring out how to dodge it. The game even allows you to make mistakes! If something doesn't immediately kill you when yo…

I love how strange this game is. Worth trying it for just how bizarre it is.

I had lost hope that we would be able to play Azrael's Tear again. As a child I finished it twice without ever knowing there were maps in-game, nor did I understood english. It is a claustrophobic, enthralling, underground nightmare point-and-click with 3D and some shooting scenes. Completely out of this world.

The story is ok, but the area in which this game really shines is the atmosphere; the artstyle can only be described as a combination of Baroque for the Sega Saturn and Nightmare Creatures/Into The Shadows, creating a look captured by very few games of the generation, and the character design, in my opinion, is unmatched. In unison with the dialogue, I could even see it serving as inspiration for the NPCs in the Dark Souls trilogy. The sound design and voice acting are equally great, but in my opinion, the music is a bit of a weak point. I’d opt to turn it off altogether for that authentic Passion of Joan of Arc experience, or just replace it with something a little more fitting; the score from John Carpenter’s The Thing, for example, suits it quite well. On that note, the game uses XMI MIDI files for the background music, so you could theoretically replace every song in the game with any other song using that same format, including those from other DOS games or even your own creations. There are some very unintuitive puzzles that will almost certainly require a guide/walkthrough, and many instadeath mechanics can end your run on a whim. To compensate for this, the devs have added…

I am so glad I found this game again. I remember playing it as a kid on Windows 95.

Azrael’s Tear is a fascinating blend of science fiction, historical mythology, and classic adventure game design that stands out even decades after its original release. Developed by Intelligent Games and Ken Haywood, and published on Steam by SNEG, the game places players in a future where civilization has been pushed to the brink of collapse. Against this grim backdrop, the story revolves around a mission to locate the legendary Holy Grail within a hidden underground sanctuary maintained by the descendants of the Knights Templar. This unusual combination of futuristic technology and medieval legend immediately gives the game a distinctive identity that separates it from many other adventure titles of its era. The narrative is one of the strongest aspects of the experience. Rather than presenting a straightforward treasure hunt, the game gradually unfolds into a complex mystery filled with secrets, conspiracies, and philosophical themes. Players assume the role of a highly trained explorer equipped with advanced technology, entering the ancient city of Aeternis to uncover the truth behind the Grail and the civilization protecting it. As the journey progresses, the story reveals u…