Scarlet Tower

About

Scarlet Tower is a single player survival hack and slash game with horror and fantasy themes. It was developed by Pyxeralia and was released on March 25, 2024. It received positive reviews from players.

"Scarlet Tower" is a rogue-lite action adventure game where you climb a cursed tower to defeat an evil sorcerer. Gather resources, upgrade your equipment, and make decisions that affect your journey in this procedurally generated world. Battle a variety of enemies and powerful bosses using melee combat and magic abilities. Can you survive the dangers of the Scarlet Tower and save the worldscope?

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

82%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,050 reviews

graphics90 positive mentions

grinding50 negative mentions

The game features beautiful pixel art and stunning visual effects that enhance the gameplay experience.
It offers a solid variety of characters with unique playstyles and a deep progression system that keeps players engaged.
The developer is responsive to community feedback and regularly updates the game, showing commitment to improvement.

The game suffers from balancing issues, making it feel either too easy or frustratingly difficult at times.
Many mechanics and tooltips are poorly explained, leading to confusion about how certain abilities and upgrades work.
There are numerous bugs and performance issues that detract from the overall experience, making it feel unfinished.

graphics
160 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56%
42%
2%
The graphics of the game have received widespread praise for their stunning visuals, unique art style, and polished effects, often compared favorably to titles like "Vampire Survivors." Many players appreciate the gothic and Lovecraftian aesthetics, as well as the vibrant animations and character designs, although some note that the visual effects can become cluttered during intense gameplay. Overall, the game's graphics are considered a standout feature, enhancing the overall experience despite some minor critiques regarding clarity in later stages.
- “The graphics are truly beautiful on occasion, with some stunning visual effects that really hit the spot!”
- “Aesthetically, the game is phenomenal; everything seems to have a glow to it and it reminds me of the eye-catching aesthetics of games like Geometry Wars back in the day.”
- “The art style is immaculate, gorgeous.”
- “The maps are smaller it seems, the graphics are kinda off... everything else is a bit more stylized.”
- “Didn't work for me, felt like a worse version of vampire survivors (even though the visuals are infinitely more pleasing).”
- “Don't be fooled by the pretty visuals, this is a very amateurish bargain bin vampire survivors clone made by people who I don't think play video games (or at least not good ones).”
gameplay
146 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34%
61%
5%
The gameplay is a blend of familiar mechanics from the vampire survivors genre, featuring a mix of unique elements and a deep progression system that can feel grindy and unclear at times. While many players appreciate the addictive nature and visual style, there are concerns about balance, clarity of mechanics, and some unpolished aspects that detract from the overall experience. Overall, it offers a fun yet challenging gameplay loop, but improvements in optimization and explanation of mechanics are needed for a more satisfying experience.
- “I love the weapons, enemies, art style, and mechanics.”
- “The gameplay is smooth and rewarding.”
- “The gameplay loop is fun; love the day/night cycle and level-up mechanics.”
- “Some of the mechanics/tooltips are a bit overwhelming.”
- “The lack of a speed-up mechanic turns the game from a fun challenge to a grindfest, especially when you need to progress through 1-10 corruption stages as well as simply hoarding enough resources for the much valuable upgrades.”
- “The mechanics are very poorly explained; there is no way to know which fusions are possible, or which item will allow for a fusion. Tooltips are often useless or incorrect.”
grinding
54 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
2%
5%
93%
The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it excessively tedious and repetitive, often requiring significant time investment for minimal rewards. While some appreciate the deep progression system and enjoy the grind as part of the genre, others criticize the lack of clarity in upgrade mechanics and the overall blandness of gameplay. Overall, the game is seen as overly grindy, with a need for more content and quality-of-life improvements to enhance the experience.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “However, it's grindy and repetitive quickly.”
- “What you end up left with is very meager increases in power for an extensive amount of grinding, and that is not satisfying in my opinion.”
- “Too grindy, passive upgrades don't really do much, every run feels the same, mechanics aren't well explained, there are bugs (I once got stuck with a pop-up window, restarting the game helped).”
music
46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
48%
9%
The music in the game has received largely positive feedback, with many praising its ability to create an engaging atmosphere and memorable themes, particularly the menu music. However, some users noted issues with the title screen music being excessively loud and the overall soundtrack lacking variety, leading to a repetitive experience. While the aesthetics, including the music, are highlighted as strong points, there is a desire for more diverse tracks to enhance gameplay.
- “You did a stellar job creating the right atmosphere, music, characters, & weapons for a game like this.”
- “A fine bullet heaven with flashy effects, killer music, and some rad character art reminiscent of Astral Ascent.”
- “The art, music, and design are all great.”
- “This review is being written in all caps so you can hear it after being deafened by the title screen music.”
- “For the love of god, please balance the title screen music to match the rest of the audio.”
- “Unfortunately, while the music doesn't sound bad, it is limited and sounds repetitive fast.”
story
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
73%
15%
The game's story aspect is generally perceived as lacking, with many users noting the absence of a cohesive narrative. While there are mini-quests and environmental storytelling elements that enhance immersion, the overall plot is seen as underdeveloped, which could impact the game's longevity and player engagement. Some players express hope that with further development, the story could become a more integral part of the experience.
- “Mini-quests, activities, and other environmental storytelling events make some unlocks more immersive in-universe.”
- “Re-rolls and other perks can be found during runs in the environment, another in-universe bit of storytelling that sets it above others in the genre.”
- “Very interesting and promising game, the plot and the beauty of the game are impressive; with work, it can be consolidated very well.”
- “The story aspect is something that's lacking from a lot of these types of games, and yet I think it's just as important for the longevity of the game as the fun gameplay, as it gives you intrigue about why you're doing what you're doing.”
- “I wish the variety of mission allies you were able to have join was a lot larger.”
- “- missing some sort of story”
optimization
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
59%
27%
The game suffers from significant optimization issues, with players reporting frequent stuttering, frame rate drops, and crashes, particularly after unlocking new maps. Despite its appealing art style and potential, the overall performance remains poor, leading to frustration with weapon balance and gameplay experience. Many reviewers suggest that, given its extended time in early access, the optimization should be more refined.
- “I love the action-survivor genre, but if you're looking for something new that is still in development, I would recommend Rogue Genesia, which has a wealth of options and builds even if it also has late-game optimization issues.”
- “While there are still some big performance issues, the visual polish of the game is undeniable.”
- “The game has a lot of bugs and performance issues, but I see a lot of potential.”
- “I'm assuming this is terribly optimized.”
- “As others have mentioned, the game seems to be poorly optimized for having been in early access for over a year.”
- “Massive performance issues, crashes, and full-stop hitching.”
character development
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game features impressive character development through unique and stylized designs that are visually appealing without being over-sexualized. Players appreciate the variety in character abilities, customization options, and the overall aesthetic, which enhances the gameplay experience. The combination of solid character design and diverse weapon choices contributes to a fun and engaging roguelike experience.
- “The game features great character design, awesome looking abilities and spells, and tons of customization.”
- “The character designs are unique and stylized, but not over-sexualized.”
- “The characters themselves offer good variety with their main weapons, enhancing the overall gameplay experience.”
stability
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
The game's stability is a mixed bag; while the latest release (0.0.5) is reported to be stable and bug-free, many users have encountered significant bugs, including freezing enemies and miscalculated damage formulas. Additionally, there is a notable lack of communication from the developers, leading to concerns about the game's future. Despite these issues, players remain hopeful for an upcoming patch and DLC that may address these problems.
- “Release 0.0.5 is stable and bug-free as far as I can tell!”
- “Fun game, pretty buggy and huge lack of communication from the devs to the point where people think it has been abandoned.”
- “Others range from damage formulas being in raw code, numerous misnumbered % per talent point errors, boss/elite enemies just freezing up, and my favorite...buggy chests.”
- “Upgrades are buggy.”
replayability
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
The game attempts to enhance replayability through achievements and progression mechanics, but ultimately falls short compared to similar titles like Vampire Survivors, offering significantly less content. While it features new characters and improved graphics, it requires further updates and changes to attract casual players and boost its replay value. Overall, the current replayability is limited and needs substantial improvement.
- “The game introduces new characters, which positively affects the number of online players and enhances its popularity, contributing to its replayability.”
- “The addition of new enemy types, boss fight variations, and improved map visuals can significantly enhance the game's replayability.”
- “The game is receiving updates, and while it needs some changes to attract casual players, these updates will ultimately increase its playability and replayability.”
- “Although this game is graphically better than Vampire Survivors, and includes some cool features such as being able to turn off auto aim, it offers less than 1/10th of the content and replayability of that game.”
- “All in all, the game is getting updates; however, it needs some changes to attract casual players, which will increase its playability and replayability.”
- “New characters, new enemy types, boss fight types, and improved map visuals could significantly enhance the game's replayability.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviewers praise the game's atmosphere, highlighting the effective integration of music, character design, and weaponry that collectively enhance the overall experience. The attention to detail in these elements contributes significantly to immersing players in the game world.
- “You did a stellar job creating the right atmosphere, music, characters, and weapons for a game like this.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted by the absurdity of using the Bible as a weapon, particularly as a paladin's tool for physical damage, leading to amusing scenarios like "bible bashing" enemies. This clever juxtaposition of religious elements with combat mechanics adds a layer of comedic charm to the gameplay.
- “The Bible is a paladin weapon, not a priest weapon (though it doing physical damage is hilarious— I guess you're literally Bible bashing your enemies).”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization aspect of the game appears to be tied to visual updates, with promotional material highlighting that the forest map will feature four distinct visual changes based on the time of day. However, the reviews do not provide further details on how these changes may impact the overall monetization strategy or player experience.