There is an expectation that games will sell themselves with a title. Do you never judge a book by its cover? Never judge a video game by its title because Tower of Fantasy would make you assume it’s swords and magic when it’s actually science fantasy rather than high fantasy. You would infer that from the screenshots, but certainly not from the name.
Tower of Fantasy is a free-to-play, open-world role-playing game with an optional multiplayer element. You are completely free to run around alone, but you can also let others join in if you wish. While I saw other players wandering and doing things in the world, I didn’t join any of them. However, that bothered me in a way, because there are multiple world puzzles that require more than one person to solve.
The story goes that these giant towers were built long ago to collect an element called Omnium. Unfortunately, something went wrong with them and the Omnium started turning people into monsters. Some people left the surface, but others didn’t. To survive in the environment, special Suppressors have been developed that protect people from the effects of Omnium, as long as they are charged and functioning properly. You play someone who has amnesia after his Suppressor went out of power, and shortly after he was helped by the people of Astra Outpost, the Omnium towers are reactivated…
You slowly get to know Tower of FantasyThe world and various missions send you to all corners in search of a rare element needed to take out each tower. There are several biomes to explore and you collect relics to help you do that. You also unlock vehicles such as a motorcycle that you can use when not in combat. All vehicles handle the same thing, but speeds seem to vary in races – although that may be due to players upgrading their vehicles more than I had.
Relics have cooldown periods between uses, but you can upgrade them to give you more use or decrease the cooldown time. The first to unlock is a jetpack that can launch you into the air, but also slow your descent – ideal as there is fall damage in this game. It decreases your stamina while soaring, but as long as you have enough stamina you can keep equipping it in the air. Other relics include combat items such as a mech suit and lava bombs, but not all of them can be unlocked very easily. You must collect relic shards by completing challenges, taking training or doing one of seven different types of ‘go somewhere and fight’.
I admit that while there are quite a few different things to do, most of them just go somewhere and fight. Sometimes solo, sometimes with a team, and usually with a different kind of loot or reward at the end, but it always involves a fight. They all have different names; Bygone Phantasm, Apex League, Dimensional Trials, Spacetime Domain, Void Rifts… Some are arena battles, others require a bit of running from point A to point B before (or during) combat. You should really try them out, if only for the weekly rewards.
Another thing you encounter when you enter the world of Tower of Fantasy are the number of treasure chests. While I haven’t been able to confirm it, I’m pretty sure the normal chests reset every week as I’m sure I’ve collected some of them multiple times. That’s okay, I like loot, but they’re just the normal chests. There are special chests that are only unlocked after defeating a guardian, but those are definitely one-time chests. A third type of treasure chest is locked and requires a “password device” to unlock, and those are definitely coming back as there’s a weekly challenge to open 10 of them. I will usually explore and open treasure chests when playing on my phone as I prefer fighting when playing with mouse and keyboard on my PC.
One of my favorite things to find in treasure chests are Dream Machines. These give you a random challenge and a time limit to complete it, but if you fail you can just try again whenever you want, as I can say Dream Machines will stay there until you go back and finish them. Why I like them is because they are a challenge that is not just a fight. Before sitting down to write this I had one that was a side scrolling platformer – collect the shinies before I got to the end – it was awesome. Another favorite is a maze I’ve been to several times and I think I have the routes to the shinies in my mind now, but there’s a second type of maze where you have to find a route around falling floor tiles! Obviously, I quite like the Dream Machines. But some of them do have combat challenges…
Okay, I’ll talk about it, fight in Tower of Fantasy is a bit of a mixed bag for me. Since this is a free to play game from Asia, it has a gacha element to it. This takes the form of weapons, and some weapons come with a Simulacrum (more on that later). There are multiple (at the time of writing, six, but usually four) gacha that run simultaneously, each with different tokens that can be purchased with in-game currency. Some tokens can be found or obtained in-game, but those gacha clearly don’t have the best drop rates. This goes a long way in saying that finding a decent weapon is no easy task.
You can equip three weapons at once and switch between them freely. Attacking enemies build up a special gauge that lets you unleash a devastating attack. Dodging just before an enemy attacks creates a space with pause time and charges your special meter. Each weapon also has a special attack with a cooldown. I’m probably making it sound more complicated than it really is, things go pretty smoothly and each weapon type feels different. My biggest problem is probably that it never seems to get any easier. My second issue is that performance on PC could be improved, but it’s a pretty minor complaint.
As your character levels up, so do the enemies. In some sides you will encounter lower levels, but if you go to the distant Warren Snowfield as soon as you start the game you will encounter enemies of the same level as outside the starting area Astra Shelter. The higher your level, the higher you can upgrade your weapons, but it’s always a struggle to get enough materials to do that, so you have to choose which weapons to upgrade. You also have gear like helmets and bracers that can be upgraded to improve your base stats, but again, the materials needed aren’t exactly plentiful.
While Tower of Fantasy features some pretty good facial and hair customization options, your clothing options are limited. You can dye certain areas of the clothing, but you only have access to a handful of options. However, these are supplemented by the Simulacra which gives you access to the decent weapons. They make you look and sound like some of the different characters you’ll meet around the world, which can be a nice change – as a fan of Melissa Fahn I like to use Ene, if not her ice hammer weapon. The Simulacra aren’t just for looks though, you can wake them up by giving gifts, which unlock abilities. For example, Ene’s first awakened ability at 1200 points will slightly decrease the stamina while climbing. The highest number of points a gift can give is 60.
I just mentioned the voice of Ene so I might as well respond to Tower of Fantasy‘s audio next. All the voice actors are excellent and go well with each character. The music is decent with some memorable tracks and a slightly irritating one you’ll encounter as part of the story.
The graphics do a pretty good job on their own, mainly because they need to look good on PC and mobile devices. Having played on both I have no complaints. There’s a little pop-in of certain graphics on PC, but since you can see glowing crates on mobile from a distance, I’m perfectly happy with how it all looks. Honestly, if you hate anime style games, I’m surprised you’ve read this far, because this isn’t the game for you.
Honestly, I kept putting off writing this review because I kept playing Tower of Fantasy. It’s creepy that comparable free-to-play games haven’t succeeded, and I attribute that to the open world. There are treasures hidden everywhere in this game, I can’t stress that enough. I avoid using fast travel because I know I will probably miss 3-4 chests along the way. While fighting isn’t my favorite part, there’s plenty to do without having to fight, and you can upgrade past level 50 without spending any money. I know that from experience, as I was not given any special benefits while writing this review.
Tower of Fantasy is a fun time with a good story and some spectacular open world settings. If it didn’t stutter so much when loading after a quick trip or exiting an arena, it would be impossible not to recommend it. As it stands, it’s just highly recommended, especially since it’s free to play and doesn’t aggressively try to make you pay for things.
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