As a big fan of roguelikes, especially story and character-driven ones, Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree caught my eye as it evoked Hades with a unique and bright anime aesthetic.
After playing a 4-hour-long session with Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree, I can safely say that fans of both rougelikes and anime-style games should keep Towa on their radars when it releases in September. Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree tells the tale of the titular Towa, a young goddess tasked with protecting her village and stopping the encroaching evil of the Magatsu, along with the help of her trusted companions.
At first glance, outside of its gorgeous anime aesthetic, Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree may look like just another Hades clone. Although the game shares some similarities with the structure of Supergiant Games’ mega hit, Towa does a lot that makes its approach to the roguelike genre feel distinct and fun.
Chief among them, Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree features 5 (mostly) distinct playable characters, Akatsu, Koro, Nishki, Origami and Rekka, which in-game, must be selected in duos, with one character acting as the primary attacker. At the same time, the other secondary character will follow you around, dealing magic or projectile-based attacks. Characters share a pool of HP, while HP upgrades or items that can be found during runs are tailored towards upgrading one or both characters, which makes it possible to focus on one or both characters, which is rather unique for a roguelike system.
“After playing a 4-hour-long session with Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree, I can safely say that fans of both rougelikes and anime-style games should keep Towa on their radars when it releases in September. “
Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree also supports two players, which I have yet to experience. Still, it seems like a solid edition for a roguelike that places the onus on a two-character system and something I am eager to get the chance to try out in the future. On the topic of two playable characters, Towa features a dual weapon system, with each blade limited to a cool-down, which encourages the player to continually shift between their equipped blade. This mechanic also trickles down into unique upgrade paths that cater to both pieces of your equipped gear.
One of the coolest aspects of Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree that surprised me was the ability to craft your weapons. Weapon crafting isn’t anything new, but in a roguelike, it is a rather cool mechanic, one that emphasizes continual play and runs to gather materials for upgrades. Weapon crafting also isn’t relegated to a simple menu. Instead, it features a robust set of mini games with fully rendered 3D cutscenes that show Towa actually going through the process of forging her own blades.
“One of the coolest aspects of Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree that surprised me was the ability to craft your weapons.”
In fact, the sword forging mini game even allows the player to alter the curvature of the blade, along with adding tints and accents. To cap things off, you can name your sword, which adds a lot to the experience and makes crafting each weapon feel special, especially when you can then use it to overcome a boss.
Boss encounters in Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree are punctuated by other challenging room encounters, such as survival gauntlets, sub bosses, and special encounters with NPCs that lead to extra items and unique vendors and rest areas. Rest areas, in particular, offer a glimpse into the robust story beats present in Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree, which seemingly have unique dialogue options for all manner of character combinations present in the game, which add a lot to the overall world-building of the game.
Outside of story beats, while doing a run in Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree, the game offers a wealth of story content when hanging out in the village, which is the central hub area of the game. If you’re a fan of JRPGs or anime games, Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree may be up your alley, even if you’re typically not a fan or are new to the roguelike genre.
In terms of difficulty, Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree has a lot of options to tailor the experience to the player. Suppose you’re used to the roguelike genre. In that case, you can simply play the game using its default difficulty, which will require some skill to overcome some of the more challenging bosses in the game. Still, as Towa is a story-rich experience, the game also offers the option to adjust the difficulty every time you fail a run, which helps take the edge off and make the game easier to approach for newcomers.
With only a four hour window of coverage, I still have a lot to experience with Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree, but from what I did play thus far, I can say that the game is shaping up to be one of the more unique games in Bandai Namco’s portfolio and a game worth checking out for fans of the roguelike genre.
