Given how wildly successful Genshin Impact has been ever since its launch, it’s no surprise that many others are looking to deliver a similar experience and enjoy a similar level of success. Studio Hotta’s Tower of Fantasy is one that very much falls in that category. The free-to-play open world action RPG first launched for PC and mobile in China a couple of years ago, before coming over to the West last year, and imminently, it will also be making its PlayStation debut. Ahead of its release on PS5 and PS4, here, we’re going to go over some key details that you should know about Tower of Fantasy, and what new things its upcoming PS5 and PS4 launch will be bringing to the table.
STORY AND SETTING
Tower of Fantasy is set in the distant future of a world that combines elements of sci-fi anf fantasy in its setting. Long ago, nearly all of civilization on the planet of Aida was wiped out when it was ravaged by Omnium, a mysterious, deadly radioactive energy that infected the entire planet. Players step into the shoes of a character on this planet, where you’ll be going from location to location throughout Aida and encountering mutated monsters.
SHARED WORLD
This is where Tower of Fantasy can be likened to Genshin Impact the most. Set in a massive open world, Tower of Fantasy is a shared world experience, which means a single instance of the world will be populated by a multitude of players going about their own business, free to explore and engage with the game however they want, from making progress in the story to diving into the game’s multiplayer-centric offerings.
COMBAT
Tower of Fantasy’s combat is very much focused on speed and flashy moves, with a bulk of the focus being on weapon switching and mixing and matching their abilities. Players can equip and freely swap between three weapons at a time, but while you’re using one, the other two don’t just remain in the background. With each attack that you dole out, your inactive weapons build up charge, which once filled up, allows you to unleash a powerful attack as soon as you pull that weapon out.
WEAPONS
There’s plenty more to keep in mind with Tower of Fantasy’s weapons beyond their abilities, too. In addition to the game featuring a variety of different weapon types across three roles in offence, defence, and support, and stats that determine attrbutes like their ability cooldowns, they also have elemental properties. On top of that, if you strike the right combinations of roles for equipped weapons, you can create Weapon Resonances for unique buffs.
SIMULACRA
Part weapons, part core characters, the Simulacra are, in many ways, Tower of Fantasy’s bread and butter. In a nutshell, these are special weapons that allow you to transform into the people who once used to wield them, which in turn will not only allow you to use their Traits in combat (which can be particularly useful for those playing solo), but also unlock new content and learn more about the Simulacrum character. Though many of these characters are unlocked through gameplay, some can only be purchased in-game- this is free-to-play, after all.
STAMINA
Though Tower of Fantasy allows players to be pretty mobile in and out of combat, it does place some restrictions on you on that front with a stamina meter. That means that outside of combat, you can’t spring or swim or climb endlessly, while in combat, it means that spamming the dodge button isn’t exactly a viable strategy.
PHANTASIA MODE
Timing the dodge right does have benefits, thanks to a perfect dodge mechanic. Pull one off, and you’ll activate Phantasia mode, where not only do your enemies slow down to a crawl, but your inactive weapons also get instantly charged to the fullest, giving you the opportunity to unleash some serious damage to foes in your vicinity during that brief window while time is still frozen.
RELICS
Outside of combat, Tower of Fantasy gives players plenty of real estate to explore across a large open world setting, and from climbing over mountains to swimming through rivers to sprinting across fields, there’s plenty to do. You can, however, also make your way around using mounts and vehicles. These include bikes, trucks, speeders, and mechanized animals for land exploration, as well as animals and vehicles that allow you to explore underwater.
CO-OP
Though Tower of Fantasy does let you tackle most of its content solo if you wish to do so, multiplayer is at the core of the experience, and there’s plenty of ways to engage with it. You can, for instance, group up with up to three other players on the same server and tackle content together, including quests, multiplayer-specific missions, world bosses, and more.
PVP
For those who’re looking to lock horns with other players rather than fight by their side, Tower of Fantasy also features PvP options, so if you find another player in the open world and want to challenge them to a fight, you certainly have the option to do so. There’s also Apex League, an arena where players can fight each other to climb up a leaderboard and earn unique rewards.
NEW CHARACTER
When Tower of Fantasy launches for PS5 and PS4 on August 8, it will also be bringing new content. Players will, for starters, be able to explore Domain 9, a new East Asia-inspired map. Here, you can also meet Tower of Fantasy’s newest character- Liu Huo, who is described as “a spirited and formidable girl with an undeniable passion for martial arts.” Equipped with a giant paintbrush known as the Pine Comet, she will also boast some pretty unique abilities in combat. Speaking of which…
LIU’S ABILITIES
Studio Hotta has described Liu’s combat as a fusion of calligraphy and martial arts, the two areas where she has the most expertise. Each of her attacks will essentially be a varying brushstroke with the Pine Comet, while each attack will also be accompanied by vibrant blue and orange flames to “intensify the visual impact”, as the developer puts it, as well as Chinese characters briefly appearing over enemies that are getting hit.
DUALSENSE FEATURES
As you might expect from a dedicated port, Tower of Fantasy will also be making use of some of the PS5’s more unique hardware features- like the DualSense’s haptic feedback. Studio Hotta says haptic feedback is also implemented in combat for very specific purposes in order to help players “accurately assess the current combat environment”.
4K MODE
On the visuals front, Tower of Fantasy’s art style does a great deal of heavy liting for the game, which isn’t exactly uncommon to see in games of its nature, though on PS5, it will also feature tech improvements to make that art shine that much better. The game is confirmed to feature a 4K mode for those looking for a higher resolution, though Studio Hotta hasn’t yet confirmed what to expect from Tower of Fantasy’s performance targets.
NO CROSS-PLAY
Tower of Fantasy’s upcoming PlayStation version is being released as a standalone version, which, in a nutshell means that the game’s PS5 and PS4 versions will have no connectivity at all with Tower of Fantasy on PC, iOS, and Android. That means there’s no cross progression, while you also cannot play with or against players on other platforms.
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