Tower of Time is an Early Access title on Steam that calls itself a “new take on classic RPGs”. It takes place in an ominous tower with a party of player-created heroes who decide to venture within. The game has been in development for some time, with its original release window aiming for a Q4 2017 release, which it missed. However, developer Event Horizon has officially announced that it will be ready for full release in April.
Tower of Time promises an estimated 30 hours of gameplay with over 100 enemy types and a massive 500 possible upgrades on the skill tree. It features something called an “Arrow Time” system, which Event Horizon describes as “bullet-time for CRPGs,” allowing players to slow down or pause combat to enable strategic decision-making without feeling like you’re being torn out of the action.
Games like Neverwinter Nights, and more recently, Pillars of Eternity had a pause feature, but Tower of Time’s Arrow Time seems to be a new balance of real-time and tactical that developers have been trying to perfect since the days of Baldur’s Gate.
Another interesting concept in Tower of Time is the leveling system. Simply put: There is no XP. Instead, discovering ancient knowledge within the tower will unlock new skills and level heroes up. Crafting is another important feature used to hone your heroes’ strengths and weaknesses.
Event Horizon hasn’t given an exact date for the full release of Tower of Time, but April is the goal. The pre-release trailer can be seen below. In other CRPG news, Obsidian is currently working on Pillars of Eternity II, set for release sometime in 2018.