Tower of Time

I know I've read a good book, watched a good movie or played a good game when the story ending leaves me like I've been punched in the stomach. I'm not an avid third-person RPG player (I prefer FPS action and RPG games), but the story of this game kept me hooked until the end. Loved it and recommend it to anyone, specially if they're RPG newbies like me.

Pretty self explanatory. Tried so many times over the last year? 10 months? reinstalling, tinkering, exercising my Google-fu to try and get the game to actually start. No go. Launches, cutscene, opening, set-up - all work smoothly. Then the first tower loads half way and crashes to desk top. Every time. This is actually now my second, new computer trying to get this game to work and it just isn’t happening. I put off writing a review since I expected a patch at some point, but it’s clear this game is never getting fixed (at least for me) and I’m not joining some discord or volunteering to be a beta tester for this game that should never have been released in such a state. I miss the old days when games shipped complete on disc and a company’s rep hinged on it working out of the box. Now? Everyone is releasing unfinished crap, banking on early sales to either cover the cost of finishing the game properly a year later or just making enough $ to justify the effort and moving on. Maybe the gameplay is fun. Maybe the story is great. Maybe it’s really a dota clone or like Heroes of Might and Magic or its a Baldur’s Gate killer or even a flight sim. I’ll never know, because after a year, I’m done with it. Into the bin it goes.

I play it for the music alone running in the background. It really sets the mood that the world is ending and there is all this sadness about how the ancients wrecked the world. The story is uncovered slowly by the reading of journal fragments (some of which are optional) and discussions between the characters. Conversations between characters are a highlight - everyone is included so even if you don't add them to your team they follow behind you in the movement mode - it is only when the computer switches to combat that your chosen team makes a difference. Mix and match different team members to overcome obstacles. My only criticism so far is the leveling system - the number of buildings and character point distribution could be streamlined better as it is initially confusing.

GOG was giving this game away for free so I grabbed it. I am 10 hours into it and I am very glad I gave it a shot. At first glance, it looked like a Diablo clone. However, it is very different. While it shares many concepts of Diablo and other dungeon crawlers, it differs in several ways. It runs at a slower and more story driven, which isnt a bad thing. Combat occurs (mostly) when you are ready and willing. Some traditional RPG mechanics are thrown to the side, while bringing in some new ones. You can save whenever you want, so you can put at little, or as much time in as you want in a play session. You can read the other reviews to get more info. Unfortunately, at the time of me writing this review, GOG is no longer offering the game for free and it is listed at $24.99. Even at that price, I think its a good deal. You will definitely get your moneys worth out of this game.

I have been playing for about 20 hours now. In summary the game is ok to play one time to kill time, but I would not replay it or wait for sequels. - Story is not very interesting. - In terms of choices - they are almost non existent apart for some very small decisons with immediate consequences. - Interactions with heroes are limited to them reacting to the above mentioned decisions and nothing more. - All interactions with enemies end up in a fight - i.e. there are no alternative ways to achieve a goal - Fights are ok in the beginning but become pretty dull after awhile, even boss fights - Maps are not bad, diverse with hidden areas etc, but on many occasions there is a teleport behind a barrier or door which means that the player will have to run a lot in order to return to such places when he opens them later on. - Skills are ok, each hero can have 4 active skills at any one time so it is nice that you can change them from the city whenever you like instead of being stuck for a whole game with the same ones - Equipment is nice - you can craft, improve and put various strong enchantments.