First Impressions – The Potential Is Easy to See

After only a few floors in Phantom Tower, it becomes clear what the developers set out to achieve. This action RPG blends classic hack-and-slash combat with roguelite progression, drawing obvious inspiration from games like Diablo and Titan Quest. Instead of exploring a vast open world, however, your entire adventure takes place inside a mysterious tower where every new floor introduces stronger enemies, better loot, and greater challenges.

Although the game is still in Early Access, it already offers enough content to showcase its potential. At the same time, it's equally clear that there's still plenty of work ahead before Phantom Tower can stand alongside the biggest names in the genre.

Loot and Progression Keep You Coming Back

The game's biggest strength lies in its gameplay loop. Every expedition into the tower rewards you with equipment, crafting materials, and valuable resources that can later be used to forge stronger weapons and upgrade your existing gear.

The sense of progression is handled particularly well. Even when you fail to reach a higher floor, you almost always return with enough resources to make your next run more successful. That's exactly what creates the familiar feeling of saying, “Just one more run.”

A major part of this comes from the Tower Blessings system. These powerful upgrades can significantly change the way your build plays, allowing you to combine different blessings, weapons, and effects to create a variety of playstyles. As a result, the game manages to stay engaging even after several hours of climbing.

Combat Is Fun, but There's Still Room to Grow

Combat is fast, satisfying, and rewards good positioning, especially when you're surrounded by large groups of enemies. Different weapons and build options encourage experimentation, making it easy to find a playstyle that suits you.

However, after extended play sessions, the game's current limitations begin to show. Enemy encounters eventually become predictable, while some boss fights lack the scale and excitement you'd expect from a game centered around conquering a massive tower.

The progression system does a good job of keeping players motivated, but a greater variety of enemies, abilities, and memorable boss battles would significantly improve the overall experience.

Smart Progression Systems Respect Your Time

Unlike many roguelikes that force you to restart completely after every defeat, Phantom Tower introduces several welcome quality-of-life features.

The ability to teleport directly to previously cleared floors eliminates unnecessary repetition, while the save system makes shorter play sessions feel just as rewarding as lengthy ones.

These additions make the game much more accessible for players who don't always have hours to dedicate to a single run.

Visual Presentation and Performance

Phantom Tower makes a solid first impression visually. The tower environments are detailed and varied enough to keep exploration interesting, while combat effects are flashy without becoming overwhelming.

Performance is another highlight. The game runs smoothly even on modest hardware, making it easy to recommend for players with older PCs.

The mouse and keyboard controls also feel far more comfortable than the original mobile version the game was based on.

That said, the user interface still feels like a work in progress. Combat is occasionally interrupted by chest interactions or upgrade menus, some HUD elements could be easier to read, and certain key bindings don't always feel intuitive on PC.

The Early Access Status Is Still Noticeable

The biggest issue with Phantom Tower isn't its gameplay—it's the amount of available content.

Some builds currently feel noticeably stronger than others, balancing still needs work, and after several hours it becomes apparent that the game could benefit from more enemy variety, additional bosses, and a stronger endgame.

The good news is that the developers have been actively supporting the game with regular updates, introducing class balance changes, summon improvements, bug fixes, and various quality-of-life enhancements. That ongoing commitment gives players confidence that Phantom Tower will continue to improve on its road to version 1.0.

What I Liked

• Addictive loot and crafting system.
• Constant feeling of progression between runs.
• Flexible build creation through Tower Blessings.
• Smooth performance even on lower-end PCs.
• Active developers delivering regular updates.

What Could Be Better

• More content and greater boss variety.
• Better balancing between builds.
• A more polished and intuitive user interface.
• Combat can become repetitive during longer sessions.

Final Verdict

Phantom Tower may not be ready to compete with the biggest names in the hack-and-slash genre just yet, but it already has a strong foundation. Its rewarding loot system, satisfying progression, crafting mechanics, and flexible character development make every climb feel worthwhile, even when you don't make it much farther than your previous attempt.

Of course, its Early Access status is still apparent. Limited content, occasional repetitiveness, and an interface that needs further refinement remind you that development is still ongoing. Fortunately, the developers’ consistent update schedule and willingness to improve the game inspire confidence that Phantom Tower will continue evolving into a much stronger experience.

If you're a fan of hack-and-slash ARPGs with roguelite progression and don't mind jumping into an Early Access title, Phantom Tower is definitely worth keeping an eye on. It hasn't reached its full potential yet, but the foundations for a great game are already in place.

Score: 7.5/10

Phantom Tower successfully combines hack-and-slash action with roguelite progression in an enjoyable Early Access package. While it still needs more content and refinement, its addictive gameplay loop and active developer support make it a promising title to watch.