Remember when Genshin Impact first came out and there were complaints that it's nothing but a Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild copycat? Today, Genshin Impact has set a benchmark to be the Gold standard of anime-inspired open-world gacha-centred MMO. With the success of Genshin Impact, many publishers have used the Genshin anime-inspired formula. For Example, Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds, Legend of Neverland and the latest to follow the Genshin formula, Tower of Fantasy. That said, Tower of Fantasy does take a big chunk of HoYoverse's Genshin Impact and Honkai Impact 3, from its launch screen and UID and interface placement.
Kinda like how Isekai/ Otherworld anime all feels the same, but it's the story that differs. In this case, I think it's safe to say that the main question is whether the Tower of Fantasy possess the longevity and playability that Genshin Impact has.
Today, we look into Tower of Fantasy and see if they're the real deal. Is Tower of Fantasy worthy enough to be called Genshin killers or are they just another Genshin clone?
Story
Without giving too much of the story away, Tower of Fantasy takes place in a dystopian future where you'll first meet your character running away from danger. Much like Genshin Impact, you get to choose the gender of your character. However, the difference is that you get to customize the character's avatar.
While escaping danger, you somehow overload your suppressor and become unconscious. Your character's memory gets wiped and you wake up in a small village where you get to meet a few friendly characters. Zeke is the leader of Astra, and his sister Shirli becomes your best friend. Long story short, something happens to Shirli and your character is all in to try to save her.
Characters
So far, I've played two chapters and the characters I met thus far aren't as compelling and memorable as I would like them to be.
I don't really feel connected to them as much as I did with other games. They are written in a way that makes them feel less important to the story or your missions. But, that's just my personal opinion. Most of the time I need a reminder of what the characters' names are, kinda like how you just met someone new but instantly forget their name.
The two main characters you meet early in the game are Shirli and Zeke from Astra.
Gameplay
The mechanics for Tower of Fantasy is similar to Genshin Impact but the aesthetic is similar to that of Honkai Impact 3. Only difference is that, instead of controlling different characters, you can only control the main character you created or the Simulacra characters you get from pulling. Moreover, you can only have three weapons to rotate around while you go on an adventure and complete daily activities, dailies for short.
The animation and graphics for Tower of Fantasy are the highlights. The way each weapon has new animation and moves is fun to see.
Dailies
Speaking of daily quests, I know it’s always good to complete these tasks every day, but I think that it is more of a chore than anything.
Unlike Genshin Impact's daily commissions, which are pretty straightforward, Tower of Fantasy's daily quests can take some time to get used to. For example, in one of the quests you have to defeat a group leader, but the group members all look the same, so sometimes you have no idea who you should kill.
Rewards
The rewards you receive early in the game is pretty good. For many players, they managed to get an SSR tier simulacra/character in the early pulls. It's a fun way to get you hook in a way that it makes you feel that you don't have to spend on anything to get special characters.
Is It Worth Playing?
Definitely worth a try. Although this game has many flaws, it’s by no means a terrible game. Although I say it's okay and you should give it a try, there have been mixed reviews since the game came out. And by no means am I saying that it's a horrible game, it's just that there are many other games similar to Tower of Fantasy that have done better, like Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Genshin Impact, but those games may not cater to everyone as well.
If you’re playing Tower of Fantasy as its own game and you've not touched Genshin Impact, it can be a very decent game.
As a Genshin player myself, I find myself comparing it to the classic quite often and if you were to do that, there's so much to nitpick on that it gets quite frustrating.
One thing I must commend Tower of Fantasy for is the graphics. With it's subpar storytelling and mechanics, the graphics and animation are definitely a highlight. In fact, I think that it has better graphics than Genshin Impact. The biggest question is, will Tower of Fantasy have the same longevity and playability for players to revisit time and time like for Genshin Impact? I would think not unless Tower of Impact has had a few updates that makes it unique and its own. As of now, I think that it's still a long way to go to reach the height of Genshin Impact, and I doubt they will, but I will be really happy for them to prove me wrong.
Then again, games are subjective at the end of the day, you can enjoy Tower of Fantasy and hate Genshin Impact or your friends can love Cyberpunk 2077 and hate Honkai Impact, the most important thing to remember is to have fun.
What do you think of Tower of Fantasy? Do you agree with our review? Is it as good as you imagined it to be? Share your thoughts with us.