Towers of Aghasba Preview – Explore, survive and rebuild in a Withered ecosystem

thesixthaxis.com:

Towers of Aghasba is a fascinating melting pot of ideas, both novel and new, and borrowed from other games, movies and anime. It’s one of those games that feels almost impossibly ambitious, Dreamlit inc. crafting a truly gorgeous game world that you’ll shape as you fill it with life.

The game will take you to the desolate landscapes of Aghasba, a region that was once home to huge amounts of vibrant life, both in nature and with the Shimu people settled there. That civilisation and the balance of ecosystems was torn apart by the Withered, forcing the Shimu to flee. Now you, as a junior architect for your people, are returning to restore Aghasba to something of its former glory.

Dreamlit inc. CEO and game director Khang Lee is refreshingly open about how he came to the core concept of Towers of Aghasba, and how it’s morphed over time. Minecraft, Shadow of the Colossus, and the films Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Labyrinth were all amongst the early inspirations for this game – essentially, looking to harness the creativity of Minecraft within a much prettier art style and world – and Towers of Aghasba actually started out as a 2D side scrolling game. But then came Breath of the Wild to push the studio’s ambitions further – you can see it in the free climbing and glider – and Animal Crossing: New Horizons to refocus the game in a different direction. What was a survival game in 2019 has had some of the edges of that genre sanded back to morph into more of a building and exploration game.

You’ll naturally need to start off small as you plant your first Colossal Tree – it starts off relatively small, but will grow to live up to its name over time – a life-giving tree that will instantly spread grasses and other plant life in the immediate surrounding area. It will define the biome of the region, bring creatures back to the area and create a little pocket of vibrant life for you to live in. There’s some really fantastical creature designs here, that blend the