Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree was my first appointment at Summer Game Fest 2025, and I was pretty happy to start off with something light and genuinely fun. The appointment was “unannounced roguelite” until the SGF showcase, which is always a gamble, but Bandai Namco never steers me wrong, so I jumped in head first, and I am pretty excited to see more.
The game follows Towa, the “Child of the Gods,” who must gather eight Guardians to protect Shinju Village from an evil god named Magatsu. While Bandai Namco gave us the world’s quickest rundown on the gameplay and a bit of the lore, being thrown into a lesson and a demo all within 30 minutes left me with more questions than answers. But here’s what I do know: Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree has the potential to be a fast-paced and in-depth roguelite that keeps you coming back for more.
As mentioned, I got the fast-and-dirty version of Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree, and I was launched straight into gameplay, which is surprisingly complex. At first, it felt like one of my runs in Cuisineer, with cute but busy animations and a beautiful landscape. That said, learning the fighting mechanics will definitely take longer than my brief playthrough allowed.
Towa selects two of the eight Guardians to go on each run, rather than entering the fight herself, and the health mechanic looks like it’s shared between them. I couldn’t figure it out during the few minutes I had, but I did manage to make it through without dying—so that’s something. I’ve since watched gameplay footage, and while the health bar appears to shrink on one side and grow on the other, the actual number for the character with the bigger bar doesn’t increase. So it seems to be a visual effect, though I’m not sure why it’s displayed that way. Hopefully, it’ll make more sense in the full game.
“Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree has the potential to be a fast-paced and in-depth roguelite that keeps you coming back for more.”
Your Guardians play two roles: Tsurugi, your main fighter, and Kagura, who takes on a support role. It’ll be fun to experiment with all eight Guardians to find the perfect combination for your playthroughs. I’d bet there will be some must-haves if you want to survive or deal enough damage on harder difficulties.
During your run, you have access to two swords, each with two abilities. Over time, you build up what I’d call fatigue and need to swap weapons while the other recharges. If you don’t, you’ll do reduced damage and likely take a few hits, so it’s a smart mechanic that keeps you engaged in combat beyond just hacking and slashing your way through each area.
“Developer Brownies inc. and Bandai Namco have a game worth learning about, and one that I think is going to be a lot of fun.”
After each zone, you can claim a “Grace,” which gives a buff to either the Tsurugi or the Kagura. These boosts could include anything from extra damage with certain moves or weapons, to slowing enemies, to improving durability. I’ll say it again: I only had a short time with Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree, but I’m really looking forward to jumping back in, seeing how far the runs can go, and just how powerful the Guardians can become.
There seems to be a lot to do in the city in Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree, but that wasn’t part of the preview. I’m curious to see how much changes with that access, how the city evolves throughout the game, and what role it plays in the overall story. There’s also a time-travel mechanic I can’t speak to yet, but I’m interested to see how that element unfolds as well.
If you can’t tell, a lot of this preview for Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree is me saying “I need to see more!”, which is absolutely true. I can say that developer Brownies inc, and Bandai Namco have a game worth learning about, and one that I think is going to be a lot of fun. I just need to spend a bit of extra time with Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree to really figure out what it is all about.
