Towerborne preview (PC) | Smash Jump

Towerborne is a fun and engaging action game that mimics a side scroller in some of the best ways. An ARPG at its core, but also carries some beat ’em up roots. The highlight here is simple but addictive gameplay where players take on the role of an Ace, a defender of humanity. Gifted with great strength and skill, players will be thrust into the role and quickly learn the fate of humanity is in their hands. The threat you may wonder, is a horde of gobos that have taken over the world around you. 

You can fight solo or join others as you work to take back the land from your enemies. Let’s get into the details, there is no time to delay.

The Belfry

The Belfry is the “tower” in Towerborne. It is said to be humanity’s last refuge. It stands massively tall and cannot possibly be missed from the in-game map. It is all players’ home base. Players will go to the Belfry quite often to do a great deal of things. You can pick up quests, scrap or upgrade armor, talk to NPCs, and meet up with friends or other players while planning the next mission. Put simply, players will be using the Belfry to do almost everything other than questing. If you travel to the left at the Belfry, players will also see a gorgeous view from the top of the tower.

Classes

There are four unique classes: Sentinel, Rockbreaker, Pyroclast, and Shadowstriker. Each class has its own skill set and weapon type that can be used. Players are able to change classes whenever they choose to do so. You can play one class the entire time, or you can switch it up. It’s entirely up to you how you choose to play. 

The classes are different in style and moves. Combat with one class will work and feel different than others. And they all have their own special moves that can be used during combat, but all the classes work relatively well for all enemy types. It will take practice for players to master the class they are playing, and enemies push the practice piece because they are always coming after you. The classes feel well balanced, and there isn’t one class that seems better than all the others. Stoic seems to have put a lot of time into the balancing of each class, to help ensure players feel just as powerful playing with all the different classes. 

What you can expect from the classes is fairly prototypical of the fantasy genre. A warrior class — the Sentinel — a tank class – the Rockbreaker — a fire class — the Pyroclast — and a rogue class – the Shadowstriker. Pyroclast is more of a heavy pyromancer-type class and strays away a little bit from the fantasy genre class types. I played with each class, and felt like they all had strengths and weaknesses, but I felt the enemy types were not too much of a factor. This is a good thing in my opinion. Due to the fact the game can be played solo, and honestly is played solo a majority of the time, it is important that each class can succeed on every level of the game. I felt that no matter what class players choose, they can feel good about the choice they made.

Environment and art style

Towerborne gives players beautiful vistas and colorful landscapes to interact with, all while monsters are trying to take over the world. Artistically, the game is stunning. After my game downloaded, and I started playing, the art design took me by surprise. Fantastically designed characters that fit the theme of the game occupy the Belfry and makes exploring the Belfry that much more enjoyable. The game is charming in a way that fits the vibe, the music and environments provide a feeling of hope for the characters in the story. The bright colors set a positive tone, even though the outlook is grim for the players when they jump in. 

You will see other players while in the world, which does take a bit away from the immersion. Even still, Stoic shouldn’t be faulted too much for this, as many games have taken the same approach. All things considered, it doesn’t take too much away from the experience. Also, the game offers a variety of scenery players will encounter. Different regions such as grasslands, mountains, and fungi forest.

Combat and danger level

Fighting hordes of monsters in this game starts out at an easy difficulty. But as players will notice as they increase their danger level (which is essentially difficulty meters) the combat quickly turns from easy to increasingly difficult. Generally, the challenge in the game is pretty significant, especially when playing solo. Playing cooperatively with other players, in my experience, makes the game quite a bit easier. It is also fun when other players team up together to take on the baddies as a team. Players aren’t able to necessarily link combos together, but the gravity defying moves and damaging effects on enemies often can be amplified when multiple players get in on the action. 

The world map has tiles that spread far and wide. Players will fight to take back the tiles from the enemy. Each tile, when players engage with it, will offer a choice of danger level, higher levels must be unlocked before the player will be able to choose the option. These tiles represent a game level that will load in after being chosen. Tiles fall under two different categories, discovery tiles and venture tiles. Currently as of writing this, venture tiles are the only ones that offer a matchmaking option. Venture tiles are also the bigger, more mission based tiles that often offer challenges to players when playing through the level. Discovery tiles, when completed, will open up more of the map. Both types of tiles follow a similar gameplay path, with venture tiles slightly larger and more mission based.

Summary

Even though Towerborne is starting off its launch on Steam only, it is an Xbox Game Studios published game, and the game has plans to launch on Xbox Game Pass in the future. How soon that future is, we can only speculate. Officially the only date given is a generic 2025 from Xbox. 

I anticipate the early access going well for this game, because of the fun beat ‘em up combat that intensifies as players increase their danger level ability. The Xbox Game Pass release of this game will also likely add millions of players to the player base. Stoic seems to want to support this game beyond the early access window and make this game a success, and I personally think the game is fun and deserves some attention.

Towerborne is in Early Access right now on Steam.