Towers of Aghasba Review

Towers of Aghasba by Dreamlit Games is an ambitious open-world sandbox that merges creative freedom, environmental restoration, and the thrill of exploration. Released in Early Access on PlayStation 5 and Steam, this biome-building adventure invites players to craft sprawling settlements and nurture vibrant ecosystems across a fantastical island. With breathtaking hand-painted textures inspired by Studio Ghibli’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and gameplay mechanics that balance creativity with survival, Towers of Aghasba offers a unique experience for players eager to shape a world in harmony with nature.

At its heart, the game tells the story of the Shimu people, a displaced civilization fighting to reclaim their homeland from a corrupting force known as the Withered. As a junior architect, players are tasked with restoring villages, revitalizing ecosystems, and uncovering the secrets buried within Aghasba’s mystical landscapes. With six regions to explore, players can scale colossal mountains, glide across expansive vistas, and interact with over 50 unique creatures as they rebuild their shattered world.

The artistic pedigree behind Towers of Aghasba is evident from its stunning visuals, crafted by Studio Ghibli veteran Yoichi Nishikawa. Every brick, tree, and cloud is painted with care, creating a world that feels both magical and alive. Combined with a dynamic ecosystem system and an expansive roadmap for future content, the game promises a long and evolving journey for players invested in its vision.

But does this Early Access title manage to balance its ambition with polish? Or does its ambitious scope lead to uneven execution? Let’s dive into the biomes of Towers of Aghasba to uncover its potential and pitfalls.

Setting and Story: Rebuilding a Shattered Paradise

Towers of Aghasba unfolds on a breathtaking fantasy island teeming with life, mystery, and decay. The island, once a thriving home to the Shimu people, has been ravaged by a malevolent force known as the Withered. As the Shimu struggle to reclaim their homeland, players step into the role of a junior architect, tasked with rebuilding villages, restoring ecosystems, and uncovering the ancient secrets hidden within the island’s ruins.

The narrative, while understated, is deeply intertwined with the game’s environmental themes. The Withered represents more than just a destructive force—it’s a symbol of imbalance and neglect, serving as both a literal and metaphorical threat to the world’s natural beauty. As players restore the land, they not only rebuild physical structures but also rekindle the spirit of a displaced civilization. This dual focus on environmental restoration and cultural revival gives the game emotional depth, encouraging players to connect with the world they’re creating.

The island itself is divided into six distinct regions, each with its own unique biomes, challenges, and opportunities. From lush forests brimming with outlandish flora to arid mountains scarred by Withered corruption, every environment feels like a character in its own right. The dynamic ecosystems respond to the player’s actions, growing more vibrant as you cultivate the land and nurture its creatures. This symbiotic relationship between the player and the island creates a sense of purpose that permeates every action, from planting trees to battling monstrous foes.

Adding to the game’s charm are the Shimu people and the quirky creatures that inhabit the island. The Shimu villagers bring life to your settlements, offering small moments of personality and humor. Meanwhile, the island’s 50+ creatures, ranging from majestic mounts to mysterious forest dwellers, add depth to the ecosystem. Befriending and interacting with these creatures becomes an integral part of the restoration process, creating a bond between the player and the world they’re healing.

The story of Towers of Aghasba is one of resilience and harmony, told not through cinematic cutscenes but through the player’s actions and the world’s gradual transformation. It’s a narrative that invites players to leave their mark on a living, breathing world, making every restored biome and bustling village a testament to their creativity and care.

Gameplay and Mechanics: A Harmonious Blend of Building and Exploration

Towers of Aghasba combines settlement-building, ecosystem restoration, and open-world exploration into a cohesive gameplay loop that balances creativity with survival. Players are free to shape their island in their own image while contending with the ever-present threat of the Withered. The game’s Early Access release boasts a rich variety of mechanics that encourage experimentation and strategic thinking.

Settlement Building: Creativity in Action

At the heart of the game lies its settlement-building system. Players construct and customize villages using a wide array of decorations and functional structures, transforming desolate lands into thriving communities. With three distinct settlement types to unlock, each catering to specific biomes and functions, the game offers flexibility for players to tailor their creations to their vision. Building isn’t just cosmetic—it plays a vital role in attracting villagers, enhancing resources, and unlocking new tools for ecosystem restoration.

Ecosystem Restoration: A Living, Breathing World

The game’s standout feature is its dynamic ecosystem mechanic. Players cultivate three types of ecosystems, each with its own unique flora and fauna. Restoring these biomes requires planting and nurturing diverse plant species while protecting the environment from the Withered’s corruption. The success of these ecosystems directly impacts the island’s health, with vibrant biomes attracting rare creatures and unlocking new resources. This symbiotic relationship between nature and civilization adds depth to the gameplay, rewarding players who prioritize harmony over unchecked expansion.

Open-World Exploration: Traverse the Wilds

Exploration is a key pillar of Towers of Aghasba. The island’s six regions are packed with activities, from discovering ancient ruins and unlocking hidden relics to climbing towering mountains and gliding across expansive vistas. Mounts add another layer to traversal, allowing players to cover large distances or reach inaccessible areas. The inclusion of fishing and other leisure activities offers a welcome respite from the more demanding tasks, giving players a chance to unwind and enjoy the serene beauty of their surroundings.

Combat and Resource Management

While the focus is on creativity and exploration, combat plays a supporting role in the fight against the Withered. Players craft weapons, armor, and elixirs to face challenging foes that threaten their settlements and ecosystems. Resource management is another critical aspect, requiring players to balance their time between gathering materials, building structures, and maintaining their ecosystems. The addition of multiplayer co-op allows up to three friends to join in, making battles and resource collection more efficient—and more fun.

The gameplay mechanics of Towers of Aghasba are built around freedom and experimentation, giving players the tools to create, explore, and protect their world. Every decision, from where to plant trees to how to structure a settlement, has tangible consequences, ensuring that no two islands are ever the same.

Multiplayer and Replayability: Building Together, Exploring Forever

Towers of Aghasba extends its creativity and exploration to multiplayer, where up to four players can team up to shape the island together. This cooperative mode significantly enhances the experience, transforming the solitary process of restoring ecosystems and building settlements into a collaborative journey. Multiplayer introduces new dynamics that deepen the game’s replayability, encouraging players to return and experiment with fresh strategies and designs.

Collaborative Island Building

In multiplayer, players can share the workload of building and expanding settlements, allowing for larger and more intricate designs. Tasks like gathering resources, planting ecosystems, and battling Withered threats are more efficient when divided among a group. This mode fosters teamwork and creativity, as friends can combine their ideas to create unique settlements tailored to their shared vision.

Exploring Together

The island of Aghasba becomes even more enchanting with friends. Traversing vast landscapes, scaling mountains, and uncovering hidden ruins feels more rewarding as a group. Mounts make group exploration seamless, and the addition of co-op combat ensures that facing the Withered’s challenges becomes a shared adventure rather than a solitary trial. Multiplayer also allows players to trade resources and items, further encouraging collaboration and strategy.

Replayability Through Variety

The game’s procedurally influenced ecosystems and settlements ensure that no two playthroughs feel identical. Each region offers different challenges, resources, and secrets, making exploration fresh with every session. The diverse range of activities, from crafting and farming to combat and fishing, adds layers of engagement that cater to different playstyles. Whether players focus on creating the most visually stunning settlements or mastering the art of ecosystem restoration, there’s always a new goal to pursue.

Future Multiplayer Enhancements

Dreamlit Games’ extensive roadmap includes expanding multiplayer features, such as crossplay, enhanced co-op questing, and new multiplayer activities. These updates promise to keep the experience dynamic and engaging, providing reasons for players to revisit Aghasba with their friends long after the initial playthrough.

While single-player offers a deeply personal and meditative journey, multiplayer elevates Towers of Aghasba into a shared experience that emphasizes collaboration, creativity, and camaraderie. The ability to explore and build together ensures that the game’s charm and replayability remain strong, even after dozens of hours.

Graphics and Sound: A Visual and Auditory Masterpiece

Towers of Aghasba sets itself apart with a stunning artistic direction inspired by Studio Ghibli’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. The game’s visuals and sound design create an atmosphere that feels magical and immersive, encouraging players to lose themselves in its vibrant and dynamic world. Every visual element and audio cue is carefully crafted to complement the gameplay and elevate the experience.

Hand-Painted Visuals

The standout feature of Towers of Aghasba’s graphics is its hand-painted textures, brought to life by Studio Ghibli veteran Yoichi Nishikawa. Each biome, from lush forests to arid mountains, is painted with meticulous detail, creating a world that feels alive yet serene. The textures blend seamlessly with the game’s 3D environments, offering a unique aesthetic that makes every corner of Aghasba a joy to explore. Whether planting trees or scaling mountains, the visuals invite players to appreciate the artistry behind every brick and leaf.

Dynamic Ecosystems

The vibrant visuals extend to the game’s ecosystems, which evolve dynamically based on player actions. Restored forests grow lush with greenery, while neglected areas become desolate and overrun with Withered corruption. The visual feedback from these transformations enhances the player’s sense of impact, making the act of restoring ecosystems as rewarding visually as it is mechanically.

Quirky and Majestic Creature Designs

The island’s 50+ creatures are as much a part of the visual experience as the environments. From towering beasts to whimsical mounts, each creature is rendered with care and personality. Their animations and designs add charm to the world, making interactions with them feel special. Watching these creatures roam, interact with the environment, or form relationships with players enriches the immersive quality of the game.

A Soundtrack That Soars

The game’s soundtrack, composed of serene and whimsical melodies, complements its themes of restoration and exploration. The music adapts dynamically to the player’s actions, shifting to gentle tones while building settlements and swelling with epic crescendos during battles. This dynamic approach ensures that the music feels like an integral part of the experience, enhancing every moment of gameplay.

Immersive Sound Design

The sound effects, from the rustle of leaves to the distant roar of a Withered beast, further ground the player in the world of Aghasba. Each biome has its own ambient soundscape, immersing players in its unique environment. Whether it’s the hum of a thriving ecosystem or the eerie quiet of a corrupted wasteland, the sound design captures the emotional tone of every scene.

Performance and Optimization

Despite its artistic ambition, Towers of Aghasba runs smoothly on the PS5, taking full advantage of the console’s power. The detailed textures, dynamic lighting, and smooth animations all contribute to a polished presentation. Occasional minor graphical hiccups, typical of Early Access titles, don’t detract significantly from the overall experience and are likely to be addressed in future patches.

Towers of Aghasba’s graphics and sound combine to create a world that feels magical, inviting, and alive. The artistry behind its visual and auditory elements ensures that players remain captivated by its beauty long after the gameplay itself takes center stage.

Final Thoughts: A Towering Achievement in Creative Gameplay

Towers of Aghasba by Dreamlit Games is a testament to the power of indie ambition, blending artistic beauty, creative freedom, and environmental restoration into a deeply engaging open-world sandbox. Its unique take on biome-building and settlement creation, combined with an emphasis on exploration and discovery, offers players a deeply rewarding experience that stands apart from the crowd. While still in Early Access, the game’s potential shines brightly, promising a future filled with innovation and growth.

Strengths That Shine

The game’s standout strength lies in its dynamic ecosystem-building mechanics. Watching barren wastelands transform into lush, thriving biomes is both visually satisfying and emotionally rewarding. The hand-painted textures by Yoichi Nishikawa and the Studio Ghibli-inspired art direction elevate the game’s presentation, creating a world that feels magical and alive. Add in the ability to build intricate settlements and explore vast landscapes, and Towers of Aghasba delivers a gameplay loop that’s as creative as it is immersive.

Areas for Improvement

Despite its many achievements, Towers of Aghasba does show its Early Access roots. Minor graphical hiccups and a few clunky mechanics, such as resource management, occasionally disrupt the experience. The combat system, while functional, lacks the depth and polish seen in other aspects of the game. However, with Dreamlit Games actively addressing player feedback and rolling out regular updates, these issues are likely to improve as the game evolves.

A Visionary Roadmap

What makes Towers of Aghasba even more exciting is its ambitious roadmap. Promised updates, including new regions, expanded multiplayer activities, and advanced ecosystem dynamics, ensure that the game will continue to grow alongside its community. Features like crossplay, additional mounts, and character customization hint at a future where the game’s scope becomes even grander, solidifying its appeal to both casual and dedicated players.

A Game Worth Watching

Ultimately, Towers of Aghasba is more than just a game—it’s an evolving project that invites players to join its journey. Whether you’re planting trees to restore ecosystems, battling Withered beasts, or simply enjoying the breathtaking views, every moment in Aghasba feels purposeful and satisfying. It’s a game that rewards creativity, curiosity, and collaboration, making it a must-try for fans of open-world sandbox experiences.

With its combination of artistic brilliance, engaging mechanics, and a promising future, Towers of Aghasba stands as a shining example of what indie developers can achieve with vision and dedication. As it continues to grow and refine its systems, it has the potential to become a defining title in the genre.

We prepared this review with a digital copy of Towers of Aghasba for the PS5 version provided by Evolve PR.