Some towers aren't worth climbing

Toren is a two-hour game, and I was bored of it within 45 minutes.

To its credit, Toren has some incredible art and an impressive air of mystery. But it squanders these talents on subpar animation and modeling, and a story that just doesn't go anywhere; an obtuse fable that twists and writhes in its own nonsense.

Top that with a mess of a camera, terribly-communicated control mechanics (i.e. magical jumps and inaccurate button prompts), uninspired level design, rendering pop-in, out-of-sync sound effects, environments that clip through other environments, and - overall - gameplay that just isn't engaging at all. At its most complex, Toren asks you to wait until a timed obstacle has gone away before moving past it.

Toren would be pretty good for a student project, but as a commercial game it falls short on virtually every level. Its art is really the only worthwhile thing in here.

Better than: ... hmm.
Not as good as: Ico, Papo & Yo
And the soundtrack, while clearly a big effort: feels generic and flat. Orchestral strings do not an epic game make.