Towerborne blends whimsical Zelda-style monster slaying with side-scrolling arcade beat-'em-ups, and it's the definition of chaos
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I start my Towerborne journey on the show floor with Senior Staff Writer Heather Wald at my side. Together, we set out across a stunningly rendered 3D side and vertical-scrolling fantasy world teeming with monsters, and it’s our job to cleanse the lands of these Bokoblin-like brutes and give humanity one last shot at survival.
For Whom the Bel(fry) Tolls
Towerborne’s combat is as intuitive as it is simple and fun. Mashing the X or Y buttons deals light or heavy attacks in turn, while a toolbar on the upper left corner of the screen details each of our special attack combos unique to our ready-chosen avatar, so you can imagine a fair bit of trial and error has to go down before we could consider ourselves total masters of the Belfry.
It’s not until later, at the guided hands-on demo session, that I learn my default class on the show floor: the war club-wielding Pyroclast. It speaks to one of the biggest changes made to the game since last year’s Gamescom, implementing four set classes with default weapons that can be swapped out for ARPG-style loot drops over the course of each individual run.
That means when I sit down to play the sword-and-shield Sentinel class during my second stint, I’m treated to a whole new experience. I take to the guard, parry, and general hack ‘n’ slashing style more than I did the heavy thwack of the club, taking special delight in how my special attack turns me into a spinning wheel of doom that deals damage just by being near an enemy. Cleric’s Spirit Guardians spell inBaldur’s Gate 3comes to mind here, and honestly I couldn’t be happier with it.
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