The Tower on the Borderland

I remember playing the demo in 2023 and, although obviously rough and unpolished, it really caught my attention. The atmosphere was pure magic. You find yourself in this tower, immersed in what seems a neverending void, populated by weird creatures you can barely distinguish in the thick fog that envelops you. Something in-between Dark Souls and a classic Survival Horror like Resident Evil with the setting that reminded me a lot of the movie "The Mist" (movie that I love). Like I said it was very unpolished and bare bones, but I thought that it was a solid base to build on; I even gladly left some feedback to help bring this game to its full potential. Some time went on and I found myself still thinking about it from time to time, so in 2025, as soon as I found it on sale I decided to buy it and finally playing it. While the mood and atmosphere is like I remember them to be, that is basically what the game has to offer. The same issues I found in the demo are still present in the fina...

I just can't. I tried it because it was bundled (I can't seem to learn that never pans out), and I feel like I got got. Like someone programmed this game by prompting "give me a Playstation-era heroine, set it in a building, and creepy monsters with guns or something." I see that this developer posts online, I see they project values of care and love for their work, but from one artist to another- this is weak sauce. The animations are garbage; running looks stiff, the "DODGE" is kind of a poorly timed squat, and the knifing animation feels inaccurate and weak. I thought maybe it was a Super Metroid temporary "power fantasy" limitation, that eventually we'd see the character expand their move set or something. Nope. Just one sloggy battle after another through similar looking "tower environments," "Super Metroid" must mean "find an assault rifle." It just reeks of bad game design from the word go. It sets up a "story" by showing some cryptic stuff surrounded by heavy BROMS, as you're...

It's pretty clunky. Repetitive samey hallways. I've seen enough.

Технически игра сделана довольно плохо, и это постоянно чувствуется во всех анимациях и если вы не переносите кривости в играх, то эта игра точно мимо. Но задизайнена она хорошо. Приятная мистическая атмосфера, хороший левел дизайн, неплохая прогрессия, хотя как будто бы можно было сделать ещё какую-то абилку на передвижение где-то во второй половине игры, ну и как-то пораньше открыть центральный связующий коридор, хотя большого смысла в бектрекинге все равно нет. Боевка по началу кажется какой-то ультра плохой, в том числе из-за анимаций и пл...

Cool psx aesthetic, and some decent worldbuilding and atmosphere, but some really bland and repetitive level design and combat with a pretty barebones story make this not worth your time imo.

really like the style, atmosphere and enemy designs but the gameplay and combat is abit rough, spamming evade is faster then walking and combat feedback is lacking. But i would still recommend as those shortcoming aren't that major and the game is still quite fun

I got this game after playing the demo and almost immediately I sat down and played 4 uninterrupted straight hours of it. I did not expect to love the experience as much as I did. At first it seemed like the scenery was repetitive but it just kept the same theme. All the rooms and areas looked very similar but as you progressed they still had enough to keep them cool and entertaining - whether it be random enemy encounters for the first time or bossfights or a little bit of new props or enemies or a different layout. The different enemy designs were all pretty awesome and there's enough enemies that you don't feel like it's the same thing on loop every time! the combat seemed iffy at first but when I learned it and grasped the mechanics of it, it really REALLY grew on me. Suddenly everything didn't seem as bad and the dodge was super cool to see too. When I learned that you could crit after a successful dodge I was ecstatic!!! that's so cool !!! I really enjoyed the combat even with...

"The Tower on the Borderland" wears its influences on its sleeves (and references them in the credits) but it's its own thing. A haunting, morose game with spectacular atmosphere. A search action game focused on exploration, "...Borderland" is incredibly stylish and haunting. It's one of those experiences I had gone through as a child, because its imagery, tone, and atmosphere would have followed through those very impressionable years (just like the Metroids and Zeldas did for me). World building is interesting and after all was said and done I would definitely want to see more of this universe. The biggest issue with the game is that it's really clunky. The exploration is satisfying on a basic, intrinsic level but the combat has no weight or fun to it. It's just there. Yet in spite of that I still pushed through the game because of how interesting and engaging the world is. I also love the use of a certain piece by Maurice Ravel. I hope the developer hones their craft ...

"The Tower on the Borderland" is an intriguing survival-horror action-adventure by a single dev, where you play a rookie military-techie that gets trapped in a nightmarish in-between realm by an eldritch ritual. You scour the desolate building, searching for answers, spare ammo and first-aid-kits (you get full refills of both of them during save-spots, which is nice but not quite on par with typical survival-horror) and battling the occult-spec-ops that went feral. The atmopshere and presentation is quite unique and the biggest selling point in my opinion: It has a very distinct feel to it. The retro-look is also spot-on. Combat can be a bit wonky, but it gets the job done (and is better than some old genre-classics this game tries to emulate). Also I found some bugs: Bosses can get idle for no reason giving some nice free shots, also I clipped trough a floor and stuck on a transitionary staircase, forcing a restart. Luckily the game saves often. All in all not a perfect but a n...