Toren Wiki – Everything you need to know about the game.

T​oren is a stylised adventure game with a narrative driven gameplay model that is based on the theme of growing up. While not much is known about the game, it is currently in development by the practically unheard of independent Brazilian development team, Swordstales. Since announcing the game, they have partnered up with the indie publisher, Versus Evil, the same publishing studio that found great success with their published title The Banner Saga. Versus Evil are expected to be the games current publisher.

The game is still being developed and as such, not much information is available regarding its release date or predicted platforms. But at the minute the game seems to be launching only on computer based operating systems such as Microsoft Windows, MAC, Linux and PS4 with no mention having yet been made regarding the possibility of a 7th or 8th generation build of the game.

• 1. Development
• 2. Story
• 3. Gameplay
• 4. Characters

Development

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There are two factors that make the development cycle for Toren difficult to accurately trace. There’s the fact that the developers, Swordtales, are basically unheard of. And there’s the language barrier, Swordtales are a primarily, if not wholly, Brazilian team.

Swordtales seem to be developing a game that is heavily influenced by artwork and other games; this includes the visual stylings of the hugely famous Japanese film director, animator and mangaka, Hayao Miyazaki and works from the likes of Shigeru Miyamoto, a Japanese video game designer and director who is famous for creating The Legend of Zelda.

In a developer blog, Swordtales said, (pre-emptive [sic], this is a translated blog post, but the general idea of what the writer is trying to convey comes across well enough) ““The world is cruel” or “This is the reality” are aspects of the western games I’m talking about and the reason is this desaturated look. TOREN tries to be the exception, not only because we liked that most, but because we miss the old Japanese JRPGs and other oriental games which portraited the ups and downs of life. That’s our Princess: A human being with hopes and dreams enduring her own quest to find her freedom.”

Toren is special in the sense that it is one of the first digital games to receive support from the Rouanet Law. The Rouanet Law is a law that was put into place by the Brazilian government that encourages and incentivises investments that can be used by individuals, small teams, groups of the citizenry and firms to help fund (be it partially or fully) a cultural project.

Story

The story for Toren seems to be one that is centred on the growth of the character as they survive in a hostile environment. Set inside an ancient edifice where a girl is kept prisoner, the player must “run against time and their own mortality to become a true warrior.”
Once again, this information comes from translated text therefore errors in translation are a very real possibility.

Gameplay

The gameplay for Toren is yet to be properly showcased and the development blog is, even after being translated, vague at best. The official line reads, “Toren is an adventure game and puzzle endowed with beautiful graphics, innovative and immersive gameplay that immerses the player in an introspective and captivating journey through the deeper themes. Built around an epic poem, the play takes the audience to an escalation of discoveries about the biggest myth of all, the sense of a life.

Toren is a game in development with transformation in mind, in an environment that has an implacable enemy; the experience is the real human condition of struggle against time and against mortality. A game to be experienced, where the player will grow and change along with the scene and its heroes.
TOREN is an adventure game based on discovery and growing up.”

Any seasoned gamer will note that the above mentioned text doesn’t contain information that relates directly to the gameplay, but keep in mind that this is translated text and may not be accurate when compared to its original counterpart.

Characters

We know nothing about the character or characters in Toren. She’s been referred to as a girl, a warrior and a princess. Who or what she is has, quite literally, been lost in translation. What we know of the arctic fox is limited to its use in puzzle solving.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.