When comparing TowerFall Ascension vs Gauntlet, the Slant community recommends TowerFall Ascension for most people. In the question“What are the best local co-op PC games?” TowerFall Ascension is ranked 1st while Gauntlet is ranked 4th. The most important reason people chose TowerFall Ascension is:
You run, jump, and shoot arrows, which anyone can learn in a matter of minutes. To become a great player, however, there is a lot of technique and strategy to learn. This includes aiming, using cover, reading your opponent, and many other things. As a result TowerFall Ascension is accessible to casual players while also being able to keep the hardcore players interested.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Easy to learn but hard to master
You run, jump, and shoot arrows, which anyone can learn in a matter of minutes. To become a great player, however, there is a lot of technique and strategy to learn. This includes aiming, using cover, reading your opponent, and many other things. As a result TowerFall Ascension is accessible to casual players while also being able to keep the hardcore players interested.
Pro Feels fair at any skill level
Each player only has three arrows at the beginning of a match. Once they are fired, the arrows can be picked up by anyone. This way no player can build momentum that feels oppressive, allowing even new players to control the pace of a match since they can just hog all the arrows.
Pro Single-screen levels add depth to strategy
In the style of old school games like Asteroids, everything that moves outside the edge of the screen appears on the opposite side of it. Because of this you always need to remain aware of your surroundings and other player locations, so you don't get hit by an arrow coming from an unexpected direction. This adds a level complexity not found in many modern games, which is quite refreshing.
Pro Co-op mode that improves communication
TowerFall Ascension has a 2-player co-op mode where you and your friend fight against hordes of bad guys. It has friendly fire, so you need to communicate to avoid hurting each other. This creates a mode that motivates you to communicate with your friend more, leading to a lot of back and forth banter.
Pro You can easily play the PC game on a sofa with the included full controller support
Gauntlet offers full controller support that actually works extremely well for an action RPG. This makes for a good game to play on a Steam Machine or living room gaming PC.
Pro Bosses offer good bit of diversity to the gameplay thanks to requiring different strategy over the base gameplay
Different bosses require different tactics to defeat them. This creates a good change of pace from the regular hack and slash gameplay as differing tactics will need to be used.
Pro Good co-op options no matter if you want to play locally or online
Gauntlet has support for local and online 4 player co-op. Making for a game that works well for small groups.
Cons
Con Really short co-op campaign
The co-op quest mode takes around seven hours to complete. So if you're not interested in the competitive multiplayer aspect of TowerFall Ascension, you'll run out of things to do really fast.
Con Limited to just local multiplayer
As it is now, you're limited to just playing with or against your friends or not playing at all. If you could play matches against other players online, the game would've been a lot more accessible.
Con Very repetitive gameplay
With a few exceptions, the gameplay and strategy is the same for the entire game. There is very little progression and very few new abilities. The game also seems to gets easier rather than harder, although the new Colosseum mode adds some challenge to the end game.
Con Locked camera
The camera is locked in a single position. This creates confusion while playing in a busy area, as the camera does not stay focused on the player’s character. While a locked camera made sense in the arcade or on home consoles, where only one screen was needed, it really doesn’t make much sense for online multiplayer.
Con Can be rather difficult
The difficulty level is way too high especially when playing with kids.
Con Requires controllers with XInput
You cannot play Gauntlet with PS controllers.
Con Wizard is complicated to use
The wizard character is complicated to use. He has nine spells that can be cast using a number of hard-to-remember button combinations. This results in very few people wanting to play as the character. For online matches, this means there are quite a few three-player games as no one wants to take the role of the fourth character: the wizard.