Anime NYC is upon us and things are heating up! Most notably at the Tower of Fantasy booth! Tower of Fantasy, which blew up in popularity around its release in August, has not been in the news recently but its fan base turned up in force this weekend. We have been busy in the trenches at the con and noted the intense hubbub and happy buzzing around their booth.
Originally compared to the incredibly popular anime video game Genshin Impact, Tower of Fantasy was originally released in China and tried to establish itself as a worthy competitor and clone. Genshin Impact itself is heavily inspired by Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Both Genshin and Breath of the Wild share near-identical mechanics and the same ideas around unlocking buildings, collecting underground treasure, and even the same balloon mini-game. And while the storylines are very different, much of the animation is extremely similar, if not down-right identical to each other. The main difference of course is that Genshin Impact is free, which led to its surge in popularity when it was released in 2020.
It’s only natural that other gaming companies would attempt to follow suit and Tower of Fantasy might be its closest competitor. The two games have a near identical aesthetic, but while Genshin Impact is mostly a single-player game with some co-op capabilities, Tower of Fantasy is an MMO more akin to Lost Ark. It has a constantly scrolling chatbox, guilds (or “crews”), different servers, and in-world opportunities to team up and fight the huge bosses.Even when interest died down following Tower of Fantasy’s release, it never completely died off. The proof was evident at the convention this weekend when fans and attendees lined up en masse to visit the Tower of Fantasy booth and get some free swag. Genshin Impact might still have a larger and more impressive presence but Tower of Fantasy is definitely a worthy clone to keep an eye out for.
(Image: HoYoverse)
