Towerborne swings between being overly familiar at times while during other moments, scratches the itch I often find in other genres. Think of this game as a side-scrolling beat ’em up with RPG elements. You have your button-mashing combo system where I could pull off cool moves while powering through a group of enemies, and now and then I was able to improve my character thanks to new gear and upgrades.
The general rinse-and-repeat gameplay reminded me of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Castle Crashers but with perhaps a bit more repetitiveness. In Towerborne you play as an Ace borne from the spirit realm. You arrive after a once-thriving kingdom was taken over by monsters and the people have since relocated to a sky tower for safety known as the Belfry.
The lands below the tower are now ridden with baddies and you set off to clear out the map one portion at a time. The story doesn’t have the most depth to it and that’s okay. Towerborne wants to be a gear-focused game where players strive to improve their class, mix gear sets for different bonuses and ultimately, create a character which can take on powerful raid-like bosses.
The class system is where Towerborne finds its variety. These can be swapped around outside of a mission and span from a sword and shield class, a dual-dagger class, a pyromancer with a staff class and a giant fist-wielding class.
Each class feels uniquely different to play. They all have standard attacks and heavy attacks. Weapons provide skills which are pulled off by consuming a stamina chunk. You can also jump and dodge around the stage while performing all these moves. Classes also evolve over time with new move sets and class attacks. Combining all of this together, you have yourself a decent beat ’em up.
It feels fun. Even hours into the early access, I was still having the best time through missions as I performed combos, juggled enemies in the air and pulled off devastating blows. The more I played, the more I was able to flesh out my character with new gear and upgrade that gear. This system is quite important because Towerborne is a tough game. Enemies hit hard and there’s a clear focus on character improvement and min-maxing stats.
Later on, was then able to use resources like trinkets to further enhance my gear. These trinkets are inserted into certain items and grant extra stats and abilities. Some trinkets are rarer than others and I can see myself grinding for hours to get the best roll possible.
Essentially, you’ll spend most of your time in Towerborne completing the smaller missions, gathering loot, levelling up your class and upgrading your gear. After that, a boss fight comes along that puts all that to the test. You’ll die a few times and then start the process over again while you make your way to the next boss. It isn’t incredibly deep by any means but it is fun.
I think the biggest pull for me in Towerborne is the mix of genres. I haven’t played a game that incorporates side-scrolling combo mashing and a cool gear system like this. This game sort of reminds me of how Destiny changed the game with its RPG systems.
The game also looks fantastic. The cel-shaded art style plays into the fantasy elements quite well. The world is vibrant and everything moves as you walk about the levels. Sure, the environments get a bit repetitive after a while but Towerborne isn’t lacking in personality.
I do have some concerns over how much longevity the game has. After 20+ hours with early access, I did feel a bit tired and done with the experience. Sure, more content will come our way but everything did start to blend together after a while.
I would hope more variety in mission styles arrives to switch things up a bit. Repeating the same trek across the same-looking stages will grow tired fast.
Also, I would love couch co-op here. I know the game is always online and saves your data but it would be cool to have someone on the couch next to me playing. There is online co-op but the couch feature feels natural for this game.
I am excited to see where Towerborne goes. There’s a lot of room for new classes, moves, enemies, locations and more here. Early access seems like the start of something wonderful. Towerborne is out in early access now with various Founder’s Packs to pick up. When it does launch, it will be free-to-play. So I can already see where the grind will tie into.
The game is expected to launch on Xbox Series X/S sometime in the future but for now, you can find it on Steam here.
