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Towerborne is quietly one of my most-anticipated games to come out of E3 2023. The new game from Stoic, known for its touching Banner Saga trilogy, there's already enough pedigree behind it to get me excited again. Particularly because if you played through all of The Banner Saga, Towerborne should sound pretty familiar.
Described as a fast-paced action RPG, Towerborne combines an isometric overworld that allows players to piece together the game's story, with fast-paced combat. After each fight, you'll return to the Belfry - reminiscent of the Mortal Engines megacities - to change up your loadout and presumably further progress that story.
But for all Towerborne's bright, colourful art and the size and apparent strength of the Belfry, that tower is actually something of a last bastion. In a breakdown trailer, Stoic CEO Trish Stouffer suggests that "humanity is clinging to hope and clinging to this tower."
Despite that colour, Towerborne is an apocalypse narrative. Studio co-founder Arnie Jorgensen says that the game is "all about Humanity's last chance at survival. It's your mission to try and hold the forces of darkness at bay to give humanity a chance at survival."
That quote immediately reminded me of The Banner Saga 3. The entire final third of that game is a desperate scrabble for survival, holding out at the edges of the world for some kind of deliverance as the forces of darkness close in. For all the calmness and beauty within that world, Stoic created an excellent backs-to-the-wall narrative as it closed out its trilogy. While Towerborne might see the studio moving on from its strategy roots, the narrative thread between these two projects makes me very excited to learn more.
This is going straight on my list of upcoming indie games.
