Towerborne crosses action RPG systems with good old fashioned beat 'em ups

Developer Stoic is looking to build something ambitious with the upcoming Towerborne. On the surface, the team is looking to build a live service action RPG that keeps players coming back for years to come. However, after trying it out at the recent Xbox preview event in Los Angeles, Towerborne felt like something slightly simpler than that. It felt like an old-school beat 'em up.

Towerborne tells the story of the remnants of civilization kept safe within the Belfry. Monstrous forces look to infiltrate the walls of the Belfry and only the heroic Aces can keep the townspeople safe. The Aces must venture outside the Belfry in order to defeat the monsters looking to devour humanity, keeping the fight going across numerous biomes.

Towerborne's gameplay appears to contain deep systems. Players will be accompanied by an Umbra companion, which grants them unique abilities and powers. These abilities can help enhance the player's weapon, whatever they decide to take into battle. It's possible to use weapons like War Clubs, Dual Daggers, a sword, and many other unlockable and upgradable items. By collecting ingredients across their travels, it's possible to beef up a player's weapon and armor to prepare them for more difficult quests.

That sure does sound deep, but I didn't do any of that when I jumped into my session. I flew into Towerborne relatively blind, not recognizing the experience I was in for. As a result, I approached this mainly as a standard beat 'em up. Using my dual daggers, I was able to take out enemies one at a time or dispatch multiple at once by using special abilities tied to my weapon. There was also a special attack tied to the Umbra I was using, though I had no idea what it was at the time. It took some further research after the fact to realize just what I had gotten into.

As a beat 'em up, Towerborne's combat feels satisfying. Upon further reflection, the idea of a live service co-op brawler sounds enticing. It's one thing to get new areas to visit, new enemies to battle, and new quests to undertake in a standard RPG or an online dungeon crawler. Doing so within the beat 'em up genre sounds like a fresh and interesting idea, one that I would be eager to dive into a little deeper. If Stoic can keep pumping out big bosses like Pangojira, a giant subterranean brute with multiple attack phases and a series of underlings, I'd be happy to come back for more.

Because my vertical slice was so limited, it's hard to speak about anything else involving Towerborne aside from the combat. With that said, developer Stoic is promising a deep character-building system and ample customization features. It's interesting to note that Towerborne will launch on Steam Early Access and Xbox Game Preview with a premium price tag attached. Once the game goes 1.0, the game will go free-to-play and look to monetize in other ways, likely through premium cosmetics.

We're eager to see more of Towerborne whenever it does arrive, including whatever additional story we can get from the makers of The Banner Saga. Look for the early access period to begin on Tuesday, September 10.

This preview is based on an early PC demo played on-site at the Xbox @ Gamescom event in Los Angeles, CA. The final product is subject to change.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?