Review — Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree

Save your village from destruction and defeat an evil god as you embark on a time-bending adventure in Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree.

Once in a while, a game is released that takes the world by storm and manages to climb its way to the top of its genre. 2021 was such a year, when Hades was released and met with immediate critical acclaim, becoming one of the — if not the — best game in the roguelike genre. It seems that ever since, countless developers have tried to add to that ever-growing roster, some with more success than others.

Brownies Inc. tries to do just that with Towa and the Guardian of the Sacred Tree, a top-down roguelike that sees the player take control of the titular character Towa, in her quest to defeat the big bad evil known as Magatsu, who has flood the world with dangerous beasts causing havoc everywhere they go. With publisher Bandai Namco the game is certainly set to receive some attention, but in a saturated genre that is dominated by a few masterpieces, Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree won’t have an easy time impressing the audience.

Three’s a Crowd

Towa is not alone in her quest, as she is aided by the also titular “Guardians of the Sacred Tree”. The game doesn’t drop you into the action right away, but starts with some small cut-scenes and character narration over static background. Don’t expect any flashy graphics here, but one of the game’s strong points is certainly its world-building and its vibrant colors and cutesy vibe. But don’t get too comfortable, because behind this beautiful looking world lurks the evil god Magatsu, who has made it his life-mission to bring chaos upon the world. Opposing him is the god Shinju, creator of Shinju Village, and creator of Towa as well.

Brought into the world to defend Shinju Village, the player takes control of Towa, with the ultimate goal to defeat Magatsu. In order to do so you’ll have to guide her through a series of isometric maps while defeating enemies and evading their well-telegraphed attacks. You’ll start of at the edge of Shinju Village, and before each run you’ll see your primary target, a kind of mini-boss you’ll have to defeat in order to progress. The gameplay loop will feel very familiar for Hades enjoyers, as you’ll guide Towa through multiple chained isometric maps all the while attacking enemies and dodging their attacks. What makes Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree unique is the ability to select two companions at the start of every run, known as “Tsurugi” and “Kagura”, who will allow the player to perform melee attacks and other action. The Tsurugi is the main attacker of the group, while the Kagura can provide support with spells.

Plenty of Power

Before selecting your characters you can see some details on their strengths and weakness and decide whether to appoint them as Tsurugi or Kagura. Throughout the run you will actually manually control the melee character, which possesses two separate weapons that each degrade the longer you use them. You’ll have to manage these gauges and swap accordingly, discouraging smashing the attack button at will. You’ll have to dodge out of the way of enemy attacks as well, but at the same time you will be supported by your Kagura character, which has access to two spells that can be used on a cool-down. You’ll notice each character has spells corresponding to five elements: fire, water, earth, wind, and — quite unexpected — metal. Each element has ten spells which will unlock as you progress, and you’ll eventually be able to swap them out among your characters, providing a huge array of customization.

As you progress through your runs, you’ll get access to “Graces”, which are buffs that can add additional damage or elements to your characters or weapons, and are active for the duration of your run. These Graces come in varying rarities, and higher rarities of course provide better buffs. Choosing the correct buffs that synergize with your current characters’ ability will obviously make your run a lot smoother. And of course, as is typical with roguelikes in the vein of Hades, the first few levels will not be too challenging, but at some point the opposition will be to much to handle. After ending a run, whether by defeating the final boss or by being defeated, you’ll end up in Shinju Village again, where you’ll be able to interact with the various characters, and even upgrade their individual stats.

Each individual character will earn experience points individually, and you’ll be able to enhance their stats at the hub location, making future runs a little more manageable. Giving your characters a “Base Attack Boost”, “Base Health Boost” or an “Attack Speed Boost” are obvious upgrades, but Towa and the Guardians goes a little further beyond that. At the blacksmith you’ll have the ability to craft better weapons, and while this sounds fairly straightforward, the game ups this mechanic to the nth degree by having you go through all the individual steps of the smithing process, up until deciding what shape you want your new sword to have.

The Verdict

Towa and the Guardian of the Sacred Tree is a neat addition to the roster of roguelikes, rivaling the content of something like Hades, but having the misfortune of being released at about the same time as Hades 2, which was — as probably to be expected — received with a lot of acclaim. This unfortunately took away a lot of attention from Towa, but don’t let this dissuade you from giving the game a try. There is a lot of stuff to do, with the Shinju Village to rebuild, the variety of characters to upgrade and weapons to smith to aid you in your runs, and the wonderful characters to get to know better. But while the world is genuinely well built with wonderful characters rendered is a cute anime style, there is a lot — and I mean, a lot — of exposition. Nevertheless, Towa and the Guardian of the Sacred Tree will provide a lot of fun and content for fans of the genre, even though it will evidently be compared to Hades 2, which is a very tough competitor.

4/5

Reviewed on PlayStation 5.
Download code provided by the publisher and PR agency.