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Towers of Aghasba, an upcoming open-world adventure from developer Dreamlit inc, takes place on a vast handcrafted island that you'll be able to shape and mold as you build up villages and revive the land's ecosystems as a shipwrecked member of the Shimu tribe. It looks gorgeous. But fitting all the pieces together is shaping up to be an ambitious undertaking. With a chance to see some of the climbing, exploration, crafting, side activities you can get stuck into in a hands-off presentation, it very much looks like a mix between the island getaway customization of Animal Crossing New Horizons, and the sandbox freedom of Breath of Wild – only with a prehistoric, fantastical twist to it.
In actual fact, CEO, co-founder, and game director Khang Le points to both games as big sources of inspiration for the direction Towers of Aghasba would eventually take. With the initial idea for the survival experience taking root all the way back in 2009, with Minecraft being a major influence, it wasn't until some years later that Le decided to actually put things in motion.
"When [The Legend of] Zelda: Breath of the Wild came out, I was like, 'That's it, I think on Unreal Engine, it's time to really make this game'. With the sort of exploration and discovery gameplay, but mixed with the builder game aspect, it was supposed to be a bit more survival-y – based on Minecraft, "Le says. "But once I played Animal Crossing [New Horizons], I was like, 'I think this is a fresh take on it', because I really want a lot of players to be involved. I think survival games have this very hardcore and niche audience, [and we wanted] fans of Ghibli films, a family-friendly type of audience, to be able to enjoy Towers [of Aghasba]."
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The desire to appeal to Ghibli film fans is no surprise given that Towers of Aghasba's design and look channels the likes of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and Princess Mononoke. The beginning of the game sees you arrive on a beach – like many a classic Zelda game – and the land, for the most part, is barren. As Le explains, you start bringing life back to the island by planting a 'Colossal Seed', which you put anywhere you want to begin growing your first Colossal Tree. This will help you begin to grow plant life that you can harvest for crafting, and lure in animals to foster an ecosystem. The latter feature, as Le explains, was also inspired by another game – the colorful 2006 critter-raising sim, Viva Piñata.
"The original trailer back in 2019 shows a bit more of a survival PvE game, and we transitioned to more of an open-world sandbox builder game with the novel take of the player also having to build ecosystems and forests, and having to balance between nature and civilization," Le says of the Viva Piñata connection. "But then the feel [of Towers of Aghasba] is very much Nausicaa and Princess Mononoke, to be able to build a beautiful forest, so then you can lure these strange creatures to your ecosystem."
As you start working to restore the natural world, you can also work towards building up your own villages on the island, cobbling together various structures to create. Not unlike Animal Crossing New Horizons, you can have up to three other players come to visit your island to check out your handiwork, trade with you, and hunt the creatures that roam your lands.
While the vibes can be chill, there are some threats in store as well. Infected areas known as the Withered Lands harbor monstrous creatures and you and your pals can work to get rid of whatever force plagues the environment. But, if like me, you're not one who gravitates towards multiplayer experiences, Le emphasizes that you can take on the Withered Lands solo if you wish.
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During the presentation, I see some impressive examples of the kinds of villages, forests, and ecosystems you can build and nurture, with huts, windmills, and big dinosaur-like creatures. I watch as the player character even starts to climb one of the towering beasts, which brings to mind my adventures scaling up Tallnecks in Horizon Zero Dawn. Le highlights that "you can pretty much climb anywhere", again drawing parallels to Breath of Wild's freedom of exploration.
One feature that already intrigues me is Towers of Aghasba's take on fishing. I'm a big fan of fishing minigames in the likes of Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, The Garden Path, and even Final Fantasy 15. But in Aghasba, instead of your traditional fishing rod, you capture aquatic critters by aiming and firing a tethered bow into the water and in the words of Le, "yanking them out". It looks like a playful, relaxing twist on one of my favorite in-game pastimes, and I'm definitely keen to try it out.
Set to release in Early Access on November 19, 2024 on PC and PS5, the team at Dreamlit hope to keep on improving the game alongside the community and bring more content in future updates. Putting forward Towers of Aghasba as a mixture between Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Breath of the Wild with Studio Ghibli-inspired visuals is a surefire way to get my attention. Baking in an awful lot of systems across a truly massive scale is certainly ambitious, but I'm curious to discover how it will all come together, and what kind of island I can bring to life.
Towers of Aghasba is set to launch in Early Access on PS5 and PC on November 19, 2024. See what other exciting releases are on the way with our roundup of new games for 2024 and beyond.
