Towerborne review: "A satisfying gameplay loop about gear, gear, and more gear"

Combine a healthy dose of Castle Crashers, a cup of the Simpsons arcade game, and a dash of original fantasy lore and you'll get Stoic Games' beat-'em-up multiplayer side scroller, Towerborne. Even though it's a departure from the studio's past work with the Banner Saga series, Towerborne offers a satisfying gameplay loop that's absolutely worth a look as it heads into Early Access on Steam.

Whether Towerborne remains installed is still yet to be determined. Sharp combat mechanics and gorgeous visuals don't completely set a game like Towerborne up for longterm multiplayer success, although Stoic Games has committed itself to adding more content throughout the game's Early Access period and beyond.

In Towerborne, people live as refugees in a huge tower, known as the Belfry, after the City of Numbers was destroyed. I – an Ace who has lost nearly all of their memories – need to venture out from the tower to fight beasts that threaten the safety of the Belfry's people.

Brawling for the Belfry

Early Access release date : September 10, 2024
Platform(s) : PC, Xbox Series X
Developer : Stoic Studio
Publisher : Xbox Games Studios

Venture out into the world map with a few jobs and missions in tow, fight through short levels filled with a variety of monsters by using one of four classes (either alone or with a small team of other players), collect a variety of loot and gear, and level up your class, weapons, gear, and overall rank. Rinse and repeat. The core gameplay loop Towerborne offers is a familiar and satisfying one, especially as fighting fantastical monsters can be as kooky as the Simpsons arcade game.

Combat is sharp and somewhat strategic. Light moves, heavy attacks, Umbra abilities, parries, and special attacks provide filler for a number of combos. Dodge rolls and friendly fire caused by a few enemy attacks leave room for strategy, although fighting the monsters that scourge the Belfry usually leans in a chaotic direction rather than tactical.

That chaos isn't necessarily a bad thing. Collecting loot from the bodies of five dual sword-wielding rats in a single combo or dodging a bomb thrown by a Snaggletooth – an early level monster I saw hundreds of during my first couple of hours in-game – just in time for it to finish off a handful of other beasts with its explosion makes me feel like an accomplished Sentinel. Doing so amidst gorgeous backdrops of fungi-filled forests and grasslands was like a painting come to life.

The background of each of these paintings include the same unexplorable cottages, fields, and gardens featuring no secret passages or extra bit of loot. I never completely tired of seeing similar layouts and monuments in the distance, but level design choices feel as if they encourage me to pop into the inn nestled just beyond the explorable area. Not allowing me to explore some of those spaces – even part of the time – comes across as a missed opportunity.

A chasm of cosmetics

Just because there were no secret chests with helms and swords hidden mid-level doesn't mean there was any shortage of loot during my playthrough. Each bout with the monsters haunting the edges of the belfry and beyond left me with a robust number of helms, belts, pants, and weapons that granted me different bonuses and styles.

Designing my Ace with these weapons and clothes gave me plenty of freedom in how my avatar looked and behaved in and out of combat. Complimented by a semi-robust character creator, going through and evaluating the haul after every mission was a highlight during my hours of play.

The excitement of digging through a bag of equipment eventually faded, as most of the gear received after a mission would need to be dismantled to create spirit dust used to upgrade other equipment. A good chunk of your time will be spent at the forge, breaking down unneeded gear. Going through my rewards after a mission began to feel like a chore at times with in-game characters even echoing this sentiment – remarking on how the Belfry's economy even works.

It quickly became apparent  that – even while combat missions were amusing – I'd be in for a grind in order to get the full Towerborne experience. Which is the biggest question mark heading into Towerborne's time in Early Access and ahead of its eventual release on Xbox Series X in 2025. Stoic Games is clearly aimed at making this beat-'em-up relevant for the foreseeable future; a store with founder's packs, multiple types of currency in the form of various dusts and writs, a battle pass-like curios system, and plans for future content are all built into Towerborne now. How will the grind change going forward? Will it get better – or worse?

Stoic Games didn't implement any systems like these with the Banner Saga – those games didn't have any multiplayer functionality at all, in fact. While having Xbox Games Studios as a publisher should help in rolling those out, it's difficult to say whether Towerborne will continue to evolve into a lore-rich experience in the future. But the video games that Stoic has put out for now, incomplete as it is, is at least worth the initial investment.