In case you haven’t been keeping an eye on this one, it’s a co-op side scroller that takes you to the fictional City of Numbers. The naming is ironic as it houses the last remnants of humanity who are under attack from a shadow that only you and the Aces can fight. As the last line of defense against a vicious enemy, the Aces bring unique skill sets and archetypes to the field for you to make use of. You’re sure to find one to suit your playstyle once you dive and test a few out in the Belfry, the game’s central hub.

Progress is going to be hard-won, but worth it with Towerborne adding a full story and a very challenging Brutal Mode. Those who’ve been playing since early access and looking for some prime endgame content to tackle can start a new playthrough with Brutal rules,  new biomes to explore, and a whole lot more in the final release.

Check out the trailer below and decide if this one is something you can see yourself playing.

However, more important is the fact that the co-op side-scrolling beat ’em up will no longer be free-to-play or always online. Instead, it’s shifting to a one-time purchase, one that’s playable offline (though online co-op will still be available). As for what you can expect in terms of content, there’s the story finale and boss alongside a revamped Bounty Board and fresh side quests.

Alongside the main antagonist, there are two new bosses, lieutenants and Umbra enemies. The difficulty has also been fully rebalanced, but those who want a challenge can still enable “Brutal mode.” Other notable additions include a reimagined map, a new biome (set on a scenic coast), new encounters, gear, a new Forge system, and much more.

You can also expect even more excellent music from composer Austin Wintory. And to make things even better, all cosmetics will be free and earnable through gameplay, with new additions incoming. There are even multiple slots for different characters. For more details on Towerborne, check out our early access review here.

As a side-scrolling beat ’em up, Towerborne takes place in a fantasy world where the remnants of humanity have holed up in the Belfry. Several threats remain, so they dispatch the Aces to navigate the tile-based world. Clearing a tile nets rewards, including weapons and gear, though you may also discover familiar-like beings called Umbras that can lend a hand.

Check out our review of the PC version when early access began; however, several updates have since gone live, including the Class Mastery Update. Available alongside the Xbox Series X/S version, it overhauls progression and adds over 50 new missions. Cross-platform play is also finally available alongside more Job variety, new Legendaries, and a “more refined” questline.

Though Stoic is best known for The Banner Saga trilogy, Towerborne features a similar animated style and soundtrack by Austin Wintory. It takes place in a post-disaster fantasy world where most of humanity resides in the Belfry, and it’s up to the Aces to venture out, exterminate threats and garner resources.

Overall, it’s an intriguing mesh of side-scrolling action, beat ’em up mechanics and action RPG-like loot progression. Best of all, console players can look forward to couch co-op support for up to four players.

Towerborne arrives for Xbox, the Microsoft Store and Game Pass alongside a new update, Class Mastery. You can also check out our early access review for the base version, which has seen numerous other updates, content additions, and balance changes.

Thus far, Microsoft has Fable, Avowed, The Outer Worlds 2, South of Midnight, DOOM: The Dark Ages, and the full release of Towerborne officially scheduled for 2025. Taking to BlueSky, Warren has claimed that in addition to those titles, the company also has additional games coming in 2025 that we don’t yet officially know about. 

Leaks have claimed that an Xbox Developer Direct presentation is planned for January, where the rumoured remake of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion will be unveiled ahead of a 2025 release. Meanwhile, previously leaks have also suggested that Gears of War: E-Day could be targeting a 2025 launch.

For starters, update 3 adds a new story quest that will see players accompany Forge overseer Bumble to the mountains to rekindle his holiday spirit, while you can also expect holiday-themed gear, with new gear sets, weapons, and more inbound. Daily surprises will also bring 12 new festive in-game stickers, while the Belfry – your hub location – will also now sport wintery decor.

Additionally, the update also adds localization support for 18 languages, more events and enemies, qualify of life improvements, bug fixes, and more. For full details on the update, head on over here. 

Towerborne is available in early access for PC, and is set to release for Xbox Series X/S sometime in 2025. Read our review of the game’s early access release through here.

The second major patch is live, fixing bugs like the Curios tab disappearing if players get disconnected or the Snaggleshire chest awarding Writs at Danger Level 1. Hits on blocking enemies should also display properly, and status effects have had their duration reined in after it was discovered they lasted for “double or triple their intended durations.”

While Stoic Studio will “have more to say” about the various classes later, it believes that several Umbra are over-performing. “Our design intent for Umbra is that there should never be a global ‘Always-Use’ Umbra, nor should an Umbra’s ability be out-performing the Ace’s Focus Abilities. As such, we have reduced the damage of several Umbra to be more in line with the expectation of the Ace’s total kit.”

As such, Sten now deals 30 percent less damage; Morberry’s radius damage is reduced by 20 percent; and so on. Check out some of the changes below and full patch notes here.

Towerborne is available for PC – check out our review here. It will launch for early access on Xbox Series X/S next year.

Early Access, Patch 2 – Balancing and Bug Fixing

Gameplay

• Writs Chest Fix: We’ve fixed a bug that was awarding Writs from Snaggleshire at Danger Level 1, as players were never meant to get Writs and Curios that early. This should not impact your total Writ inflow.
• Curios Tab Fix: Resolved an issue where players who lost network connection would no longer see the Curios tab.
• Bald Ace Fix: Your Ace will no longer appear bald after previewing a helm cosmetic in the Store or Curio tab if no helmet is equipped.
• Mission Soft Lock: Fixed an issue where some players were getting stuck when destroying a monster spawner when an encounter is not properly activated.
• Dialogue Fix: Corrected a conversation title that referenced the wrong NPC.
• Quest Adjustments:
  – A Return to Form quest text has been rephrased for clarity.
  – A Class Above the Rest has been updated to give you credit for playing with the Sentinel class.

Combat

• Hit Impacts: There was an issue where hit impacts were not displaying correctly when enemies were blocking. This has been fixed.
• Status Effects: We fixed an issue where status effects lasted double or triple their intended durations, resulting in a scenario where the Ace could be stunned or poisoned for a long time. This also caused status effects to exceed damage expectations.

Classes

We have been watching how everyone is playing their respective classes and we will have more to say about that later. Right now we’re just focusing on fixing any obviously broken issues. Please continue to give us feedback, we’ve been reading it all!

• Sentinel: Fixed an issue where some attacks weren’t contributing to the Valor Meter.
• Rockbreaker: Reduced Break Bar damage from the Elbow Drop (Jump Heavy Attack).
• Shadowstriker: Fixed an issue that caused the Class Mechanic to instantly build 3 bars by performing the focus ability, Deathrattle.

Umbra

After watching players for the past week, it has become apparent that we need to make some adjustments to certain Umbra. When we look at total damage output, Break Bar damage, and situational use, it becomes very clear that several of them are significantly out-performing our intentions. Our Design intent for Umbra is that there should never be a global “Always-Use” Umbra, nor should an Umbra’s ability be out-performing the Ace’s Focus Abilities. As such, we have reduced the damage of several Umbra to be more inline with the expectation of the Ace’s total kit.

• Sten: Sten’s ability was primarily intended to provide the Ace a crowd control with moderate damage. Sten’s damage was exceeding this and so we have reduced damage output by 30%.
• Morberry: Morberry’s radius of damage combined with total damage done turned out to be quite excessive, and so we have reduced the radius damage by 20%. Direct hits will still deal significant damage.
• Papyrus: We went back and forth on Papyrus. We could have increased its cooldown and kept the damage output, however, we’re pretty big fans of being able to extend combos using this Umbra and opted to lower its damage output instead of preventing cool moments. Overall, we have reduced Break Bar damage by 20%.
• Pox: This simply was dealing a lot of damage on the initial hit in addition to dealing poison. Let’s be real, it was pretty powerful. I mean, it also has multiple charges. Thus we have reduced initial explosion damage by 15% in order to bring Pox in line with other Umbra.

With the reveal and eventual announcement of early access and free-to-play, that excitement transformed into cautious optimism. The gorgeous 2D backgrounds, fluid animations, and an excellent soundtrack by Austin Wintory (who also scored The Banner Saga) helped ease me in. The words “seasons,” “evolving experience” and “supported for years to come” still hung heavy, though.

"Some characters may appear in some missions, but they won’t fight alongside you or play any role beyond some exposition. Interactions at the Belfry rely on static dialogue trees, culminating in little more than assigning your next task."

After spending over 21 hours on a pre-early access build, completing all the Venture missions and clearing much of the map, it feels like Towerborne has all the parts in hand. They combine into this significant, discernible whole but vary in quality and polish. The current product is about improving and taking feedback from players when it enters early access, and while navigating all the usual pitfalls is key, is it worth jumping into right out of the gate?

If you enjoyed The Banner Saga and felt excited by Towerborne’s story-telling potential, temper those expectations. Set in a fantasy realm following the destruction of the City of Numbers, you control an Ace. Recently brought back from the dead, you’re an amnesiac warrior who calls the Belfry, a distinctly tower-based structure, their home. The Destiny 1 similarities hit a little too close for my liking, but compared to Stoic’s previous outings, the overall disposition is more hopeful and less doom-mongering.

As you learn the ropes and focus on one of the four classes – Rockbreaker, Pyroclast, Sentinel, and Shadowstriker – the various denizens of the Belfry offer tasks, Aspects, and other interactions. The tried and true set-up is this way for a reason – players learn about the world alongside their character, simultaneously building connections and pushing the narrative forward. You take on tasks from people like Krafft and Courage, learn more about the Umbra from the Spirit Realm and how they help players, the various species in the world and the threats they possess.

However, you’re very much the designated problem solver. Some characters may appear in some missions, but they won’t fight alongside you or play any role beyond some exposition. Interactions at the Belfry rely on static dialogue trees, culminating in little more than assigning your next task. There is some intrigue, especially when learning about potential Merk sympathizers at home, but the current antagonists – like the mysterious Seamstress – are as enigmatically cliché as they come.

Towerborne’s core gameplay consists of three elements – exploration, combat, and loot. It follows the age-old adage of “kill stuff, get better gear, kill more stuff, repeat.” When you embark from the Belfry for the first time, you’ll notice the map is shrouded in a fog of war. Go to the nearest hex tile, clear it out, and a little bit of the map is revealed.

"It’s your average live service blueprint, but the Venture missions offer some twists. For instance, Broken Mystech Pylon involves an NPC calling out pillars to activate in a specific order while enemies continuously swarm in."

Some tiles hold Venture missions, the essential dungeons necessary for progressing through the story (and opening up higher Danger Levels and tougher missions). Others can have chests, loot, Discovery missions to recruit new Umbra, and more varied objectives, like escorting a wagon and protecting it from waves of enemies.

However, blank tiles are randomly generated, containing unique enemies and hazards depending on the biome. For instance, the Grasslands play host to Gobos, who strike with spiked tails, shields and spears, and explosives, but you may also have to deal with thorny bushes that inflict Bleed. Fungi Forest biomes contain deadly sentient mushrooms, which inflict Poison but can also puff up and explode, knocking you back. Other unique threats emerge, each with unique attacks and tactics that keep things interesting.

Lower Danger Level tiles are pretty straightforward – left to right, beat up everything, and claim the loot chest – to the point where it can feel dull. Thankfully, as more of the map opens up and the difficulty increases, you encounter challenges like protecting a wagon from waves of enemies, destroying an enemy camp within the time limit, taking out enemies within the time limit, etc.

It’s your average live service blueprint, but the Venture missions offer some twists. For instance, Broken Mystech Pylon involves an NPC calling out pillars to activate in a specific order while enemies continuously swarm in. One random challenge tasked me with protecting barrels – only one enemy would spawn at a time, but the barrels could only take one hit, mixing things up slightly.

The Discovery missions present more varied challenges, like petting animals in a sequence or opening a bunch of empty loot chests to find that one locked chest (and then searching for a key). Not every objective is a winner, like the mission that throws waves of enemies and then – wait for it – repeats the process. At least the payoff is parodying the live service genre’s annoying penchant for threes.

"While Stoic has nailed the “one more tile” hook of exploration, things can get monotonous when trying to get closer to a designated Venture mission. Many of them aren’t marked on the map, which means you’ll be scrounging through the fog of war…"

Unfortunately, the random tile generation can be very uneven. You can jump into a tile and face two of an intensely annoying mini-boss type, who throws projectiles, teleports, summons and enchants minions for more damage and dishes out an insta-kill attack with a wide range. Redo the tile and marvel at receiving an easier boss, that too only one. Since dying means redoing a panel from the very start, failing to RNG feels disheartening, especially when the next go-around is significantly less punishing with little variance in rewards.

Also, while Stoic has nailed the “one more tile” hook of exploration, things can get monotonous when trying to get closer to a designated Venture mission. Many of them aren’t marked on the map, which means you’ll be scrounging through the fog of war, clearing tiles left and right, only to meet a blocker specifying a Danger Level License that isn’t even in the game.

You may even find a completely different Venture that can’t be accessed because you didn’t complete the one you’re actually looking for. I wouldn’t mind if the Venture missions had waypoints, but the actual route remained shrouded – let me bumble around, looking for the best route. It would still be miles better than trying to clear every hex tile, relying on the process of elimination.

The next core pillar, and arguably the most intriguing, is combat. Each class has unique weapons and actions. You have the standard Light and Heavy Strikes – alternating between them creates different combos while holding them down executes a launcher or a ground bounce.

I opted for the Shadowstriker, which uses Dual Blades and a teleport strike to close the distance. Alongside a weapon meter for pulling off the latter, there’s also the Focus gauge for executing powerful techniques tied to a weapon. Deathrattle, for example, dashes through enemies in a straight line, inflicting them with Poison and granting haste for a brief period.

"Getting knocked out of combos by the most minuscule hits while your enemies sometimes shrug off your Light Strikes (especially when glowing yellow or red) can be annoying."

As straightforward as it seems, combat can be pretty addictive. The various enemy types introduce some fighting game-lite nuance into your combos. Instead of holding down Light Strike for a launcher, you could launch enemies with a Light-Heavy-Heavy-Light combo. It could be beneficial when facing enemies with quick initial strikes.

However, it won’t be effective against shielded foes, who become vulnerable with a regular Heavy combo or a teleport strike. It only takes a single hit to knock you out of a combo, and you can’t animation cancel long-press Strike combos. You also need to consider Break damage, which stuns bosses and enemies briefly when their Break meter depletes.

Umbras also mix things up in exciting ways, from a stationary orb that continually damages and suspends enemies to dishing out a poisoning area of effect blast all around you, even if you’re stunned. One Umbra grants Haste and Aegis to allies, providing some much-needed protection at opportune moments. Combining all this results in some pretty satisfying clears as you juggle a few enemies into the air, land with a Heavy Strike bounce, teleport across the screen to strike a ranged foe, and so on.

Unfortunately, combat has its share of issues. Getting knocked out of combos by the most minuscule hits while your enemies sometimes shrug off your Light Strikes (especially when glowing yellow or red) can be annoying. However, it’s even worse getting juggled, as enemies can ping-pong you back and forth. Occasionally, some rubber-banding and latency issues occurred, causing dodge rolling to feel unreliable.

It even introduced some unwanted RNG into the Shadowstriker’s teleport strike, placing me in front of an enemy, even though it appeared I went behind them. Perhaps the most irritating consequence of this is using a Focus Skill or Umbra, only to have it cancelled and the resource consumed or cooldown initiated.

"Loot drops are based on the Danger Level of a tile or Venture mission. You must pass license exams to qualify for higher Danger Level missions, similar to Monster Hunter."

Couple this with Elite enemies who can power out of your attacks for surprise follow-ups or become enraged, inflicting Vulnerability while dealing more damage, and it’s a recipe for frustration as your character’s health whittles down in seconds with almost no way to fight back.

Then you have the boss battles. A fair number of them are fun, with interesting mechanics, like the boss digging underground and emitting shockwaves to jump over. However, some of them, like the Monkey King and the Merk Marauder, offer very few windows of opportunity to attack, exacerbating the existing issues. It’s worth noting that balancing is still a work in progress, especially at the higher Danger Levels, so there could be changes to some of the more annoying bosses.

Finally, we arrive at the loot, which breaks down into headgear, shoulder pads (or scarves and fur), chest armor, leggings, boots, and your weapon. You have stats like attack, defense, health regeneration, etc., but there’s also increased Bleed damage and duration, critical hit chance, Critical Damage, Affliction Duration, and so on. Aspects also introduce passive effects, increased damage to status-afflicted enemies, a percentage chance to inflict Vulnerability on Bleeding enemies, or Protection for damage reduction while an Umbra is active.

Both Aspects and equipment have rarities while contributing to your Gear Score. The former even has Tiers, presenting tough choices between an exceptional perk or something with better stats. There are also gear sets, where collecting three of a set unlocks a unique effect. Their drop rates leave something to be desired, especially at higher Danger Levels, and it would be nice to have additional avenues for obtaining them (like, say, an additional currency to spend for random gear set items from a vendor).

Loot drops are based on the Danger Level of a tile or Venture mission. You must pass license exams to qualify for higher Danger Level missions, similar to Monster Hunter. Taking on Danger Level 4 missions makes sense if you want 204 Gear Score loot, but once you get and upgrade it, it’s all about the Epics and BiS rolls.

"Amid all my concerns while playing solo, even nitpicks like not being able to cancel matchmaking when selecting a tile, I must admit: Group play feels much better."

Having Common and Uncommon items in the pool thus feels underwhelming, not just as a reward but also in terms of cluttering your inventory and necessitating trips back to the Belfry (and there’s no Postmaster either). The chase for that ideal build is ever-important, but less junk and more Epics, even if they won’t be top-tier rolls, is preferable.

Speaking of upgrades, the crafting system currently feels very limited. All the forge offers is a means to upgrade weapons and armor a couple of times to raise their Gear Score and Attack/Defense. How this will expand remains to be seen, but even the option to reroll select stats on Aspects and Gear would be something. I also wouldn’t mind an option to choose abilities for my weapon based on the situation.

Amid all my concerns while playing solo, even nitpicks like not being able to cancel matchmaking when selecting a tile, I must admit: Group play feels much better. The number of enemies scales up with players, increasing the chaos but keeping things manageable. It even helps mitigate some of the combat system’s issues since there are fewer risks of enemies ganging up on you. Things can still get dicey if your teammates go down and don’t have any lives remaining, but Towerborne’s overall vision for an action RPG/brawler is clearer when matching with other players.

The tile generation also results in more interesting scenarios, like more bee hives in Broken Mystech Pylon. Even things like build synergy begin to make more sense – eight percent damage on Bleeding enemies may not seem like much, but having an entire squad equipped with it while you’re stacking Bleed makes it ideal. I’d still like to see some changes to Aspects like reduced damage taken when inflicted with Bleed and Poison, or at least some buffs for the same.

While this is a pre-early access build, I should note the server performance when starting. It was initially fine, but post-Danger Level 3, far more disconnects occurred, sending me back to the main menu. Even the world map failed to load on multiple occasions. Things improved closer to the launch of early access, with little to no hiccups in multiplayer, but I’m still curious about launch day servers. With no offline mode, server performance will be crucial in the coming days.

"In its current state, the finer aspects of Towerborne’s systems – from combat and difficulty to tile generation and loot – still require a lot of work."

As for monetization, Towerborne follows the Helldivers 2 model very closely. There are Silver and Gold Founder’s Packs – one or the other is necessary for early access – and they contain keys for Curios, which are like Premium Warbonds. They contain Tiers of items, which you need currency to unlock (doled out through easy-to-complete daily missions), but there’s also a free Initiate’s Cache Curio. Overall, I approve – now if only the cosmetics menu were more intuitive, presenting a separate interface to have select pieces on at all times, regardless of changes to your equipment, rather than holding down a button and equipping them for each.

In its current state, the finer aspects of Towerborne’s systems – from combat and difficulty to tile generation and loot – still require a lot of work. However, its addictive gameplay loop, excellent aesthetic and soundtrack, and group play make for a mostly fun experience worth checking out despite lacking a compelling narrative. It’s always challenging to predict how a live-service title will pan out and I’m curious to see how early access will shape the title. There’s potential – here’s hoping it manifests into something truly special.

This game was reviewed on PC.

Towerborne is being built primarily as a co-op experience, which is what the dev diary focuses on first, talking about how the different aspects of the gameplay experience (like the difficulty) change depending on how many players are playing together. As you would imagine, playing the game entirely solo is also possible. 

Details are also revealed on Towerborne’s progression mechanics, with a lot of emphasis seemingly being placed on build variety. Different kinds of loot and rewards allow players to kit out their characters in unique ways, allowing for a great deal of variety in builds and consequent play style. The dev diary also touches on the game’s combat, what Stoic’s approach was in designing it, how the developers intend to keep tweaking it post-launch, and more. Check out the dev diary below for more details. 

Towerborne launches in early access for PC on September 10. It will arrive for Xbox Series X/S in early access in early 2025, before getting a full release on all platforms as a free-to-play title later in the year.

After touching on the ways that Towerborne’s development process is similar and different to what Stoic Studio previously experienced with The Banner Saga trilogy, the dev diary goes on to speak about its early access Steam release, how it will be used to ramp up to the game’s early access Xbox release in early 2025, and how all of that that, in turn, will be used to improve the game based on the community’s feedback to prepare it for its launch. As you would imagine, Stoic has long-term plans for the game following that as well. Check out the dev diary below for more details. 

Towerborne is in development for PC and Xbox Series X/S. When it launches in full next year, it will be free-to-play.