Developers Dreamlit have piped over fresh footage of their open world ecotribal extravaganza Towers Of Aghasba. It’s an abbreviated but generous display of equatorial exotica and vaguely prehistoric wildlife, home to such key verbs as “exploration”, “village-building”, “gardening”, “creature-nurturing” and “murdering megasloths with a lump of wood”. And look at that, there’s a release date perched on top – 19th November 2024.
Kaan liked this one when he saw it at last May’s PlayStation showcase. I am quite interested myself, but being an older and more jaded soul, I also suspect a certain hollowness. The premise here is that you’re a junior architect of the Shimu tribe, on a mission to restore a landscape racked by the forces of the Withered. To do this, you will mingle with local gods, rebuild villages and plant enormous trees that greenify the surrounding earth and attract various fantasy animals.
These you can kill for their craftable wibbly bits, or nurture for more lasting benefits and because you don’t want to slaughter the nice floofy pastel dragon that’s just ambled into your jungle. If you find such eco-positivity irksome, or you outright despise pastel colours and floof, you can always run off to areas where the Withered still hold sway.
As the name suggests, the Withered look like giant undead tree people. Their dominions are wrapped in swirling layers of monochrome fog – I’m reminded of Ghost Of Tsushima’s Kurosawa Mode. Combat is real-time and seems to be a familiar mix of combos, archery and dodge-rolling. There’s a crafting system for weapons, armour and elixirs, but it doesn’t appear to be the focus. If you need reinforcements, there’s co-op support. Also, you get a hang-glider like the one in Zelda. Don’t tell Link. I’m sure he has plenty of spares.
Things I like: the sheer abundance of vegetation and critters in flourishing areas, and the accompanying emphasis on understanding the animals and their habits, which makes me think of Subnautica. I am looking forward to lurking under some fronds and rubbing my thighs while the floofy pastel dragon sniffs dubiously at the berries I’ve just left out for it. I wonder if the game’s ecosystem simulation stretches to cases of food poisoning?
I also like the organicity and tuber-like appearance of the buildings, though the game’s heady Tribal Themes do feel like they’ve been cartoonishly lifted from indigenous cultures without sufficient reflection.
It’s a shame they’ve gone with a building system based on holographic templates – I understand that this is more user-friendly and no, I have no idea how I’d construct a wattle and daub house without holographic templates, but the downside of a world of organic shapes is that any outright computery elements really clang. “Your creativity will be both challenged and rewarded,” gushes the trailer narrator, as the on-screen character waves a hammer and conjures an entire ornamental flowerbed into existence.
You can read more on the Steam page. I’m keen to give it a play, but I do wonder if Towers Of Aghasba will ultimately prove to be just another survival game with some superficial eco-theming. I want to see at least five minutes of uninterrupted play before I join Kaan aboard the giddy hang-glider of anticipation.