Too much fun to die here. Lucky Tower Ultimate Review

An Unusual Trip to the Toilet

The protagonist of both games is Von Wanst — a popular archetype of a silly, handsome blonde, like Johnny Bravo from the cartoon of the same name. One day, Von Wanst was relieving himself when he was teleported to the top of an ominous tower. The hero needs to descend, grab all valuables, and, if possible, not anger the tower's owner.

The tower is divided into floors, with three doors on each. Behind the doors can be anything: a broom closet, a toilet, traps, treasures, monsters, companions, or a transition to the next floor. You can skip several floors, but you'll have to jump precisely and calculatedly. If you immediately find a descent, you ask yourself: "Should I go down now or search other rooms?"

Von Wanst has two friends: his left and right hands. He can carry one item or potion in each. Items are needed to beat evil goblins, witches, trolls, and wizards. Everything comes in handy in battle: trash, weapons, a rat on a stick, a monster's corpse. Enemies are not fools and gladly use equipment, potions, and magic in battle. Everything that drops from them is legitimate loot. You can also shake out valuables from companions, but they won't like it.

The most dangerous are the numerous traps. If you get caught on a hook, spikes, under a falling column or anvil, you will die instantly. And then you'll have to start the descent from the very beginning. Only a helmet will save you from a guillotine, and armor — from spikes and falling into an abyss. You can impale monsters on spikes and hooks to secure your passage.

Towards the end, the obstacles are especially insidious. In the general commotion, you might not notice and slip on a banana peel or step on a rake several times and die. The insane scream of a dangerous monster with a hammer makes you nervous and causes mistakes. It's a shame to die at the end, but all deaths are silly and comical.

Over time, you don't get stronger, but you do get bumps and bruises. You learn to activate levers from a distance, skillfully use monster bodies, scare away bats, bees, and creatures of darkness with a horn. You start to believe in your abilities. And then the game puts you in your place, reminding you that it's more about luck than skill.

Pleasant and Not-So-Pleasant Encounters

Von Wanst is remarkable in himself. He comments on what he sees, often jokes, and mourns the death of friends and enemies. The lanky fellow puts all sorts of nasty things in his mouth: vegetables, eyes, monsters. Instead of health, he has teeth — broken ones are replaced by monster teeth or better quality ones.

The companions he meets are just like him:

• Peasants are gloomy dolts. They know how to use weapons and armor, and also check what's behind the door (sometimes with fatal consequences).

• Hubert: a good-natured turtle with a club who collects money for his parents' treatment.

• Soba: a half-mad fortune teller. Can point to the door with the descent.

• Healer Alva. Explodes enemies with potions and cures the hero of poisoning.

• Meeting the princess will be remembered forever. She is a monster in princess's clothes who devours everyone in her path. But without food, Von Wanst will also be on the menu.

In some rooms, a goblin sorcerer lives, who rewards for guessed riddles. You have to run around like a monkey in Von Wanst's head to find the right answer. The game has excellent localization of characters who use rhymes and wordplay in conversations. The translator deserves special praise for their work on the riddles, which are full of complex rhymes and wordplay.

Most often, you'll meet Evelius — the tower's owner. He is an accomplished villain who is completely in control of the situation. He can poison the hero, set monsters on him, give an item, demand food or a sacrifice, or give a task. If you indulge Evelius's whims, he will let you leave the tower in peace. If not, he will turn you into a monster or attack — he is a very serious opponent.

Life Outside the Tower

Sooner or later, you'll escape the tower, and then life in the nearest town will begin. Here, your ill-gotten gains will come in handy. For money, you can open a bank account, become a citizen, buy and expand a house, or cast your own statue in gold. You can interact with locals or companions who have escaped the tower.

But the tower calls. You want to return there to loot more, fix the plumbing, find tools for the musician, help Hubert's parents. The tower holds many secrets, and to uncover them, you'll have to use the enchanted toilet many times.

Diagnosis

The essence of Lucky Tower Ultimate is simple: rely on luck and die amusingly. But the game doesn't feel unfair, because with the acquired skills, you can get out of any situation — the main thing is to react in time. And the huge number of unusual mechanics leads to unique and comical events in each run.

The game is very addictive. You always want to do one more run, try your luck again. I had a hard time tearing myself away from Lucky Tower Ultimate to start playing Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era. That's how good it is.