0 
0 Towers of Aghasba is a new open-world exploration and adventure survival game by Dreamlit Games. This is the first game by the indie studio, and an ambitious one at that. The self-published title is available now as an Early Access title both on PC via Steam as well as on PlayStation 5.
Towers of Aghasba Has Got the Vista Views on Target
Towers of Aghasba is another one of those titles that flew well under my radar. Honestly I hadn’t even heard of it prior to it popping up on our upcoming list of potential reviews. Even more surprising is that it is already on PlayStation 5 as an Early Access title. I don’t feel this is a small feat for an indie studio producing their first game where the base game isn’t already available in full on another platform. Though one could argue that many games, including “AAA” games, launch in in early access due to the number of sweeping changes made after the fact. So I guess at least Dreamlit is being honest? Anyhow, check out my early thoughts on the build available now below.
Gameplay
In Towers of Aghasba, you and other clan members arrive at your ancestral homeland via shipwreck. Your overall objective is to re-settle the land that has been wrought with destruction and infestation. Planting special seeds promotes the regrowth and proliferation of foliage and fauna alike in the surrounding area. A bit of mysticism helps things along as well as you encounter certain creatures to progress you along. Oh and I’ll throw this in as a warning to any arachnophobes out there – the withered creatures look very much like spiders so if you have this condition DO NOT play this game. There currently is no setting to use alternative models like some games have but hopefully they may add it in the future.
Towers of Aghasba falls into several different genres. At the onset it is most definitely an exploration survival game. I honestly have spent more time running around while looking to the horizon and asking, “How do I get there?” than anything else. But in addition to exploring just about everything you can see, the game also includes survival, city-building, town management, and collection elements. Though the survival aspect isn’t as stringent as most given that you don’t have to watch a food/water bar constantly, you still go out and gather resources to then craft and build other things. Buildings go seem to go up as one unit though, so that feature isn’t as in-depth as similar games.
Early Access Means More Time to Fix Things
The game is launching as an Early Access title so I’m trying to not be too hard on it. However, part of the reason I spent so much time just running around in Towers of Aghasba was because I was stuck trying to find flint. For the life of me I could not figure out where I should be able to find and gather it and it is a necessary component to progress your small little starter farm. This became somewhat frustrating because there was also no in-game information about where to find it either. Searching the internet after the fact led me to believe that I should have been able to get it from stone boulders but I never found any. I also couldn’t find fish to attack for the longest time.
Other notes seem to be typical of Early Access titles. Towers of Aghasba has some major quality of life improvements that are needed that will likely come from player feedback. Having to tap a button/key for each individual resource strike rather than being able to hold it down is tedious. There were also a handful of bugs and glitches I came across while playing. The most noticeable was the poor little creature pathing. At times they would just get stuck up against a tree or rock running into oblivion.
Graphics & Audio
Towers of Aghasba is a gorgeous game. There’s no denying it. The setting is beautiful, vast and runs performatively well on my PC at a 2k resolution. Bumping the resolution up to 4k make it a little more choppy. My biggest complaint graphically at the moment is more UI-related than graphics. But the tiny little blue indicator above gatherable resources is nearly invisible at times and I did not find a way to change either the colour or size of the indicator.
The audio in Towers of Aghasba provides some cozy vibes. That is until you get near a withered nest. The combination of tone change and haptic feedback when approaching one of those is the thing of nightmares. It was very unsettling to me but in a good way that made the game more immersive and in tune with the environment. The character voices though are very off-putting. Not sure if there’s going to be actual voiceover work done in the future. Presently what is there I wish I could turn off.
Longevity
The game that Dreamlight has here is quite ambitious. Towers of Aghasba has a very vast open world – and I’ve only just been on tutorial island. I’m not sure what beyond that is currently available to play but just looking at the map there is at least a plan to be able to expand further too. Along with populating the homeland of your people, there are also collection aspects for all the things in the game to complete your “Shimudex”. As long as the developers stick with it (and fix multiplayer which from the sounds of it from others is very much broken right now), I could see many hours easily put into a game like this.
Final Thoughts
If you are looking for a game that blends various aspects, Towers of Aghasba may be for you. Dreamlit expects the game to be in early access for about 12-18 months. So check it out now if you don’t mind some wonkiness or check it out later if you want some cozy exploration with some Zelda-like vibes. It’s definitely one that I’ll be trying to revisit regularly.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this preview.
If you enjoy this review, be sure to check out my other reviews here.
YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Discord | Podcast
About Author
