Tower of God is essentially Korean Naruto with Bleach-swords. The entire first act is a fast paced exam-training-rescue arc hybrid, and that's pretty much how it differs from classic Japanese shonen, which take their sweet time doing each of these one at a time. The idea for the story can be figured out by reading the title: Reach the top of the tower and you will become something of a God. The motivation for our main character to attempt this very thing is to rescue a girl. The means that allow him to do so are a different deal and that deal is rather lame.
This is how it goes: Certain princess is "feeling bored" so she gives our hero a sword, and this sword is actually alive - at least in some sense - and "it" happens to be kind of a shotacon so she (the sword) gives our main character undeterminated amount of power which he can now use in certain situations when the convenience is due. And all of this happens because he is "kinda handsome", at least according to the sword-shotacon-spirit. I guess kudos for the author for not even trying to hide the lameness that exist among this work. Of course, friends are also very important and just so happens to be, this exam side of the act forces our main character to form a team consisting of two other nakama (whom he has never seen before), so naturally, Sasuke-Kurapika edgy guy - who is also a walking keikaku doori with tragic past story - joins the team along this 3rd dude who is flamboyant, arrogant, GAR and very loud - and plays the role of a comedic gag guy. Together this powerful trio do some highly predestined stuff and thingies as we, the audience, are watching them advance while the not-so-great mystery unfolds.
To more thoroughly cover the character section: Yoru -our hero- has almost no presence and his resolve is pathetic when considering his reasoning, Khun is apparently super genius but all he does is succeed at everything and anything so effortlessly that it comes off as bullshit (excluding that one scene where he can't figure out a riddle and instead experiences random PTSD flashbacks because it wasn't his time to shine due to a joke the series wanted to deliver..), Rahk's entire existence is so comedic that he has no real value as a person, and Lahel (the girl that needs no saving but Yoru still wants to save) has no personality because she is essentially a mystery element who needs to be "kind of a cold bitch" and cannot ever make logical sense, rational decisions or explain herself because otherwise the story falls apart.
What the series does well are the side characters. By no means are they very strong and fascinating individuals from stand-alone perspective, but what the author does with the side casting is smart because they end up serving the entertainment factor of the show. Many side characters have gone through thorough planning to make them appear fascinating from the first glance. Their design and small tweaks in behavior give the series heart and personality to surprising extent. This is done in a manner that were you follow these characters for a long period of time in a long journey, you'd end up realizing they aren't amazing at all, but when they have insignifant roles in small parts of the story, they are right in their element.
The animation and art style is certainly the only thing those who consume shonen series have never seen before. Most of everything else varies from copy-pasted formula and overused trope to downright macro-filling as things such as originality and fresh, new ideas are absent entirely. Naturally, that's not to say that the series is doomed to fail and cannot be entertaining. The execution among the nu-art certainly make the series stand out from majority of classic shonen titles that have come out in the recent years, but that's exactly all the newness there is to experience. Other factors massively bottleneck its art style which impact isn't given in the first place. Personally, I enjoyed the art style and art directing a great deal - even in all of its simplicity - but those who do not approve of it will have much less anything to look forward to as the story and character factors have little no praise-worthiness in them, rather, they appear very flat and contain much fewer strong points to hang onto - entertainment wise.
Speaking of entertainment, the series seems to have been build with one single request in mind: "Whoever is watching this, just please try to have some fun with it." This is the message I got. Many things are entirely forgotten, such as the main characters actually forming bonds. It just happens for some reason and by the half way mark of episode 03, these guys are already prepared to take a bullet for each other. If you ask questions like how, why and when, be prepared to receive nothing but "yeah, iunno" *shrugs* as a reply. The series doesn't seem to think that such things are of importance. It isn't afraid to cut at any corner or cop-outs its way towards whatever it wants to do next. This serves the pacing and perhaps makes the show more easier to get into and digest, after all, it asks practically nothing from the audience and 0 efford is required as there isn't much substance to follow nor are there things you need to actually wait to get. On the downside, the series only aims to be mediocre and hopes you will enjoy it regardless. There is no great reward you can get by continue watching it onward, but it will consistently give you the same level of fun that it can.
By the way, when I imply it comes with good pacing, I specifically mean the flow of the individual episodes. One massively important thing to note is that there is hardly any plot progression or character development to be seen at any point in the series. Moreover, the series doesn't really try to build anything or foreshadow the next step it's going to take. Heck, it doesn't really even seem to fully plan the current step that it's already taking. If you look at it in that way, then the pace is quite horrid. Basically, the more you zoom out, the bigger the picture you look at is, the worse the series appears. Zoom in and you might as well find at least something worth your while.
One thing the series does quite well is use its comedy to paint scenes that would be entirely stupid if taken seriously, as comedic. I already mentioned the series doesn't try to hide its lameness, but it does hide its own immaturity rather well, if you will. For example, I don't really like riddles, but it took me about 7 seconds to figure out how to solve the beginning of this part of the exam. The raw idea for that scene was entirely idiotic, but at the same time, the actual conclusion end up being that only a total idiot could figure it out. This was a real hilarious 'ouch' moment for me as I figured it out and instantly claimed it idiotic. After that, the show tells me if you knew the answer, you're also an idiot, and I actually end up laughing at it and at myself. Alas, I can't agree with the statement, but that don't mean I can't enjoy its attempt at wit. :^)
To conclude the previously mentioned: The art style leaves more room for different interpretations whereas the story and characters come as they are and they really aren't much. It's common criticism to say that anyone could have written Tower of God's story, but to be more accurate here: many already have written it. The series is such a huge deja vu experience that watching it for the first time feels like rewatching. I guess it feeling familiar and welcoming are among its pros if you want to look it that way, but overall I wouldn't give it much credit for achieving something like that.
Overall, to make my point stand out even more: This series has very limited amount of good going on, but for me personally, its pros were enough to keep me entertained for most part and actually made me care for the series on some level. It's still pretty shitty tho, so be warned, but that don't mean it can't be fun for what it is. Do keep in mind that it's supposed to be brainless fun aimed for teenagers. All things considered, I conclude this series is not as good as average anime and therefore it's bad.
