Towerborne was one of the biggest surprise winners from my time at Gamescom 2024. I'm hard to please when it comes to side-scrolling brawlers, but Stoic and Xbox's new co-op game quickly won me over. Its slick, rewarding, combo-driven combat takes cues from fighting games and soulslikes to great effect, and that's only amplified by the promise of plenty of gear and class customization in the vein of Diablo or Borderlands. Out now, Towerborne's sixth major update brings it to Xbox and PC Game Pass, while also delivering a whole-new class progression system and plenty more missions and loot.
From its central hub in the Belfry, the last refuge of humanity, you (and your friends) head out across the world of Towerborne, represented by a large, hex-grid map. What really makes it sing, however, is the action. Towerborne's meaningful spacing, juggle combos, and cast of 'Umbra' assist characters draw heavy inspiration from fighting games (lead combat designer Isaac Torres has credits on the likes of Injustice, Divekick, and Killer Instinct). Those concepts are matched with soulslike controls featuring light and heavy combos, i-frame dodge rolls, and a selection of class-specific skills including magic, stealth, and parries.
The result is tremendously fulfilling, and my only real desire was to have more missions to blast through and extra ways to upgrade my character. Enter Towerborne update six, which brings all that and more to the table along with marking the game's launch on both Xbox consoles and Game Pass, and the corresponding introduction of crossplay. Now, when leveling each class, you'll unlock a huge variety of skills across five different categories: focus, weapon mechanics, moveset, advanced combat, and support.
These skills each take up a certain amount of your skill point 'budget,' allowing you to mix and match them to find the perfect build for your play style. Amplifying that is a range of new legendary gear, including weapons for every class type. These can be found when tackling missions at Danger Level five, with specific drops to be found in boss lairs. The Aspects that you can slot into equipment for additional bonuses have also been overhauled, with specific options for your helm, chest, and weapon, and there are two more Umbra to find.
Step out of the Belfry and you'll find a completely redesigned world map aimed at offering a more varied and interesting sense of progression. There are more than 50 handcrafted new missions, an improved questline with some adjusted narrative beats, lots of additional chance encounters, and more custom map art. You can also use the group finder to automatically match you with other players by current goal and Danger Level, if you want to make sure you've always got someone else by your side.
Out on the battlefield, combat has been given a fresh coat of paint. Input buffering is improved to help you chain moves together, the universal block break is faster and now allows jump cancels, and adjustments have been made to boost the Powderkeg Punch and Shadow Feint skills. The respawn and lives system has been removed, replaced instead by an item called the Mender's Flask that can be used to heal yourself a limited number of times. You'll be able to refill this at shrines, and upgrade it as you progress.
Towerborne is now available to Xbox and PC Game Pass subscribers. It's also available on Steam, where you'll currently need to buy one of the founder's packs (starting at $24.99 / £21.99) to play. The full game will be free once it leaves early access. Head here to take a closer look through everything you can find in update six, including a full list of balance changes, new additions, and fixes.
We've rounded up the best co-op games you can play right now, so grab your friends and get into the mix. Alternatively, here's our pick of the best action games on PC.
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