Crystal Towers 2 XL

I have a soft spot for games that could only have been made by a single person who refused to let a personal project die, and Crystal Towers 2 XL is exactly that kind of artifact. David Newton originally released this platformer back in 2011, then spent years reworking it into this XL edition, adding widescreen support, tightening mechanics, and folding in Steam achievements before pushing it out in 2015. That trajectory, a developer revisiting and genuinely improving their own work rather than shipping and abandoning it, already tells you something about the care invested here. The structure borrows a page from the hub-world playbook. You access stages through portals, each containing a set of distinct objectives to clear, much like a compact 3D collectathon flattened into 2D. Bernard the monk moves, stomps, and blasts his way through kingdoms, and the combat loop rewards chaining enemy stomps into combos while picking up crystals and riding springs without breaking your streak. Some missions will gate progress on hitting a specific combo threshold, which adds a layer of intentional mastery beyond just surviving the level. The spell system gives Bernard elemental offensive options and a double-jump ability that, in the XL edition, runs on a sensible MP meter rather than a timed toggle, which is a small but meaningful quality-of-life improvement over the original. There is also a Synthesizer that lets you craft magical artefacts from item drops, giving grindy players a rewards loop to pursue between stages. The boss themes carry genuine energy, which is not surprising once you know that Newton composed the soundtrack himself alongside handling design and code. That musical dimension bleeds into the game's theme too: the whole quest exists because someone stole eight sacred instruments and the world's music is fading. It is a premise that could read as thin but functions here as a tonal anchor, keeping things light and slightly whimsical in a way that suits the pixel aesthetic. Rock Paper Shotgun once called it "totally endearing," and that phrasing lands accurately even years later. Where the game earns honest criticism: it is niche in the truest sense. The community is tiny, the review count on Steam barely registers, and there is no hand-holding to speak of. Certain progression gates require grinding specific resource counts, like Glowing Rocks or Metal Gears, before story-locked portals will even open. Players expecting a breezy linear platformer may bump into that friction and bounce off. The approximately seven-hour average playtime suggests most people complete it, which implies the pacing lands for those who are in the right headspace, but completionists chasing all 34 achievements will spend considerably longer. The self-aware, dry humor woven throughout, including achievement descriptions that openly mock the concept of achievements, signals that Newton knew exactly what kind of game he was making and committed to the bit.

Kai · Scout Team

Indie & narrative

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