Quick Look: Toren

This should be good!

Oh wow Kameo vibes at the beggining.

That wizard talking in ye olde gibberish was Ico as hell.

First brazilian game on a quick look?

@kblosnack: wasn't papo y yo also brazilian?

Nope, it's about a brazilian kid, but was developed in Canada and the game director is Colombian.

This game is mad janky. I enjoyed my first romp through it though. Its pretty short, average playthrough will take you about 2 hours. Maybe hour and a half if you don't get distracted by trying to break it.

I like to speedrun it on occasion and try to break it in new and interesting ways. My current PB/WR is 52:28, for those interested :P

Its easy to note the Ico influences of this game, where the whole boss fight gimmick is the same as the final boss fight in Ico.

In the end, its an interesting game that doesn't quite amount to its full potential.

That was definitely the Star of David, not a pentagram.

I've played like an hour of this. I find their assessment to be pretty spot on... the game is fun to look at and interesting from a story perspective, but the actual gameplay is pretty shallow and kind of wonky sometimes.

Also, guys, I'm pretty sure that was a Star of David and not a pentagram lol

Moonchild, still live in my heart. Can I ask you something, is your life better now?

Moonchild, do you know what you're doing, baby? Do you know what you're doing, baby?

Finished this yesterday by coincidence. I liked it but its super short and technically atrocious on ps4

@kblosnack: Nope! ACE Team (Zeno Clash, Abyss Odyssey) is a Brazilian dev and there have been Quick Looks for some of their games.

i really like this kind of stuff. thanks alex and vinny!

She's a moonchild

Gathering the flowers in a garden.

Lovely moonchild

Drifting on the echoes of the hours.

Moonchild

Lower me down, lower me down

Moonchild

Lower me down down down down down down

Well it's a righteous day

But out of mind, yeah

Oh, it's a righteous day

Hahah, Vin-Dawg, I think pentagrams usually have five points.

I keep seeing people say that this is the first ever game out of Brazil, that's simply false. It is however, one of the first games that's supported by the Brazilian Cultural Incentive Law.

Don't think people have said that it's the first game out of Brazil, just that it's the first covered by GB (but it's not the first Brazilian game covered by GB either)!

@anarchobama:but Ace Team is from Chile

"ACE Team is an entertainment software developer based in Santiago, Chile. Our company is committed to making unique games that stand out for their originality and quality."

@amyggen: maybe not here but definitely seen it pop up on Steam

I can read in my dreams. Math is really hard in them though.

Fun fact: toren means tower in Dutch!

@kblosnack: was going to post this. One of the things that drew me to Abyss Odyssey was my unfamiliarity with Chilean myth.

Even if this isn't great, I'm all for indie teams trying to make an Ueda game (since we may never get another one). One day, someone's going to nail it.

I've been super waiting for this Quick Look!

Yeeeeeah, the execution looks questionable. Some neat ideas though.

So many things about this are straight outta Ico. I think I realized that execution in Ico is super important otherwise it would have just been annoying.

Making video games is hard, interesting looking game though.

Didn't they do a quick look of this a few months ago? I can't find it anymore

This sure does look nice, and I like that folk-metal vibe it has going for it. But I do feel the jank just from watching this video. I'll wait for Toren 2. Or maybe Vinny can just do a playthrough video to show the game off, so we don't have to.

@falling_fast said:

Not exactly the same vibe as the King Crimson song, but the first to pop in my head...

I had this playing in the background after having lost interest, and then I heard Alex say "this whole game is just a (The) Sword song" and my eyes instantly snapped back onto the video. Maybe I'll buy it afterall.

That tree of life is everywhere in this game.

Also should talk to Drew and Dan about long ladder.

I like the look of it all, but it seems to move a bit too slow.

Watership Down scared the living crap out of me as a child. The introduction was especially unsettling.

I'll probably play this just based on the strength of the art and story. Nothing about the game-play seems particularly inspired, but neither does it seem particularly offensive either. Papo & Yo was a good comparison, and I enjoyed that quite a bit.

@alex with the Army of Darkness reference. You're the fucking man, man.

Nope.

Everything looks flimsy in the world. And all the art is pretty picture that was then put through a shitty cell phone camera editor.

@tiffanytryhard: Journey already exists

I hate when Alex says making good games are hard. It all comes down to budgets, Time and resources.

Uhh, that's a Star of David, not a pentagram...

@leejunfan83: Yeah, talent has nothing to do with it whatsoever. Nope.

Yeah, that's definitely not a pentagram. It has six points.

Of course it does but that's usually not the reason a game turns out bad

This does look kinda neat and I can forgive some jank, so I'll probably play it.

For those looking for Brazilian-developed games covered by GiantBomb, there was a multiplayer-only Freelance-ish space-shooter called Taikodom covered some years back on...an "Unprofessional Wednesdays"? "Throwdown Thursdays?" One of those shows, I believe. :)

Watership Down: Aww. Cartoon rabbits! Watch as they assault the rabbit third reich and steal their women. Praise the sun!

I watched Watership down when I was 13 or 14. It was fine for a tween, as I recall it was not a short movie.

Toren looks sorta... borin'.

That was a Star of David, guys... not a pentagram XP At least "Satan Is Good" is destined to top the pop charts.