Towertale Switch Review – Change Your Fate

Towertale is a story-driven game by MiSou Games and published by Keybol Games. It has a heavy emphasis on boss battles, so the game tells its story between these fights as you progress to change you fate. But is the climb in Towertale worth the effort to ask the Ancient One to change reality? Or should we avoid climbing this tower at all costs? Well, let’s find out!

The story of Towertale is an interesting one. You choose one of four characters to climb a tower that suddenly appearing in your land, and it is rumored that climbing to the top will grant you a wish to change reality. Since there are four characters, each of them have their own adventure, often intertwining with the others, where the game slowly reveals their backstory and why they want to change their fate.

Another interesting thing about the story is that you are given a couple choices throughout your journey that can change the outcome of the character’s ending. They are not major choices, but ones that basically give each couple two different paths.

The stories themselves are your typical medieval storylines where kings go crazy, entire villages are destroyed, loved ones are killed, and vengeance is to be had. Each character’s story is engaging enough, but none of them are worth writing home about.

I did really enjoy that each character has their own narrative, which made me want to check out all four campaigns. Although, not all campaigns were created equally. There are two campaigns, in particular, that are so heavily interwoven that you can tell this was the pillar of the writing. The other two campaigns are complimentary, but they are not nearly as deep or emotional. The cooperative story is even less deep, but it still does its job.

That’s not to take too much away from Towertale‘s storytelling. It may not be top-tier, but what it offers is varied, interesting, and fun. I enjoyed the stories of Towertale, and I feel like it was the strongest part of the game.

Towertale is a 2D boss rush game. Basically, each floor of the tower is protected by a boss, and it is up to you to take that boss down and move on to the next floor.

Boss fights are multi-phased, meaning that they have multiple health bars that reset after each one is depleted. With each reset, the boss gains new abilities and changes its patterns. This makes each boss feel fresh and unique, because each one of them have their own multiple stages.

When it comes to the actual fights, Towertale takes an old-school approach by requiring the player to memorize patterns. Similar to games like the old Mega Mans, each boss moves and attacks in a particular way, so things may seem overwhelming at first, but once you understand the pattern, you will be boss-rushing in no time.

There are three difficulties to choose from, and wow, are the extremes in difficulties strong. You can play the game in Casual, Heroic, and Nightmare. The change is simply in damage input and output, but it really makes some of the bosses significantly harder. I was able to clear a campaign in Casual difficulty in under an hour, while a Nightmare run took more about 3.5 hours. It does not make the game longer, but you will be dying a whole lot more, that’s for sure.

In regards to modes, Towertale offers a nice variety. You have Story Mode which takes you through the campaign of each character, Arcade Mode which takes you up the tower without the story, Free Mode which allows you to return to any floor and practice a boss, and finally Boss Rush Mode which tests your skills in an unlimited line up of the game’s bosses. Each mode compliments the others, and all modes can be played in co-op.

Each of the four characters are unique in gameplay, so when you play co-op, the teamwork shines in the boss fights. Whether you are getting up close and personal with Lionel, staying back and picking off with Faindrel, conjuring magic with Lord Snicklefritz, or quickly flying around the arena with “Dark Echo”, every character has their strengths and weaknesses, and it is awesome to see them all working together.

Towertale is just one of those games that shines a lot brighter when you are playing with friends. The single player is not necessarily bad, but it is a lot harder to kill some of these bosses alone and not nearly as fun as doing it with a team.

One of the nice things about Towertale is that it offers different strokes for different folks. If you enjoy playing alone, there is plenty to do here that will last you quite a few hours. If you want a multiplayer game, Towertale offers some great co-op in all modes to satisfy that need. And if you are a fan of both single player and multiplayer goodness, well you are in luck.

The music in Towertale is satisfactory. I cannot say it is anything amazing, but it does its job well and carries the game with its medieval overtones and sounds.

Sound effects and character sounds are awfully cute and give so much charm to the game. I thoroughly enjoyed the interactions between the different characters and bosses throughout the game.

The visuals of Towertale are splendid. I love how the game looks and feels like Scribblenauts, which is an incredibly cute and charming game itself. The character and boss designs, the stages, the backgrounds, and the cut scenes all look beautiful in this game, and it was truly a joy to look at.

The animations are smooth, and there were absolutely no framerate problems.

However, I did run into one strange error. If you go into certain modes, there is no way to quit out to the main menu without resetting the application. When I was trying the other modes, it was quite annoying to have to exit the game, close it, restart it, and try another one only to repeat the process again. I do not know why this is an issue, but it desperately needs to be addressed.

Towertale is a great little package that is set at the perfect price! For $9.99, you get many hours of gameplay, a tough single player challenge, especially at Nightmare difficulty, and a fantastic co-op experience for up to four players. There is even a lot of unlocks in the form of a gallery and achievements for those looking for an extra challenge, which only adds more to the value of the game.

Despite its minor blemishes, the game offers a lot, looks great in the process, controls really well, and is just a lot of fun to play. It is well worth the asking price, and if it ever goes on sale, it would be criminal to miss out on a lesser price.

Towertale is a great game that offers both a lot of fun and a great challenge. As a single player experience, you will be tested in a good way, and as a multiplayer experience, you will have a grand time with friends and family. It looks and feels great, and all the bosses and unique and fun to play against. I cannot recommend this game enough!

Towertale Review provided by Nintendo Link
Developer: MiSou Games
Publisher: Keybol Games
Release Date: April 8, 2020
Price: $9.99, £7.99, €8.99
Game Size: 1.8 GB