Ever since Hades set a new gold standard for the genre back in 2020, the mechanics and structure of the isometric action RPG roguelites have become somewhat staid. The maze of rooms, the choice of exits, the array of collectables, the slowly progressing unlockables, the narrative that teasingly develops after every run; let’s face it, most of us could play a new genre entry in our sleep. Sure, we’d die a lot, but it’d be doable. So, it’s refreshing that Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree attempts to do something new with the standard formula, even if it isn’t always successful in the process.
In what can charitably be described as an unbelievably tedious opening cut-scene, we learn that Towa, a priestess of Shinju, has been tasked with defeating a vile demonic entity dubbed Magatsu. She’s not alone in this endeavour, and is joined by eight guardians on her journey, the Prayer Children, and it is the addition of these guys and gals that mark the game’s first deviation from standard genre form. See, rather than a player character fighting their ways through hordes of demons solo-style, they are joined by a tag-team partner to form a dynamic duo. The first character takes the lead on movement and combat, whilst their colleague, tethered to them by a magical leash, provides defensive and offensive spells.
It’s a neat dynamic, and one that offers a vast variety of tactical options. You are given complete freedom to ally each distinctive member of your team with another, and in whatever combination you prefer. Highlights amongst the wonderfully bonkers Prayer Children include Nishiki, a buff Koi fish, and Bampuku, an enormous fluffy warrior chef cat.
Due to the variety of characters, and the tremendous quantity of build customisations each possible team provides, the loadout options prior to a run can be overwhelming. On the plus side, there’s always a new approach to try when you run up against the inevitable brick wall of a particularly nasty boss. Get the combination of characters and abilities just right – perhaps more by luck and experimentation rather than skilful intention – and it’s undeniably satisfying to wipe the floor with a previously untouchable boss. However, this delight is tempered by the confusion of never quite getting to grips with the unending variables and the complexity of character builds. The poorly designed menu screens don’t help, making even basic skill upgrades a chore to decipher, let alone navigate through.
Indeed, for an action roguelite, there’s almost too much here, of everything. Fully voiced text conversations between characters go on for an absolute age, with everyone talking a lot but saying very little. A lot of waffle then, the video game equivalent of two lovers refusing to be the first to hang up the phone. Meanwhile, the capability to forge your own swords is comprehensive, offering a level of complexity that would make Kingdom Come: Deliverance II envious. However, some of the forging system also seems… oddly pointless. Why bother tinkering with the appearance of your sword, when it ends up in the hands of an isometric character so small that you can barely even see the thing once in combat? Thankfully, you can just get the local blacksmith to do all the forging for you, benefitting from the stat boosts, whilst also saving on a lot of button bashing QTE’s in the process.
If all the mission preparation is an exhausting drag, it’s in the combat itself that Towa truly shines. Fast and responsive, your fighters look gorgeous as they dash around the environment, unleashing some spectacular screen-covering special attacks. Enemies are fairly dumb, though have enough IQ to seek to overwhelm you with their numbers. As such, controlling the space is key, ensuring you can hit as many foes as possible with every attack, whilst leaving yourself room enough to dart away from any reprisal. In a neat addition, each of your lead character’s two weapons begin to dull as you hack away, requiring you to swap over to the alternative weapon on a regular basis to boost your damage, giving the combat a satisfying rhythmic pace.
Annoyingly, despite not being able to directly control your partner, they still have a health bar and take damage, which feels particularly tight when you can’t get them out of the way of an area attack and thus lose your support spells in the process. This tag-team approach also serves to undermine the local co-op, forcing your partner to take on the role of the support character and restricting their role to casting a couple of spells. As such, they can’t take part in combat directly. This is disappointing, as a more focused co-op mode, one that stands apart from the single player campaign’s tag-team mechanics, would definitely have been welcome.
Even for a roguelite, difficulty spikes can be brutal, certain bosses are sword and spell sponges, whilst annoyingly having the ability to near insta-kill your player character. It forces you to get back to base and tinker with your abilities, settings and unlockables to even stand a chance. Thankfully, if it’s all too much, an easy mode takes the edge off the pain of the difficulty somewhat.
Visually, Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree is completely gorgeous. Charismatic character design, phenomenal use of colour, and sumptuous environments make this a real looker of a game. Whilst the dialogue remains over-written and dull throughout, the visual storytelling leads you to connect with each and every member of your team. Which makes the most memorable aspect of Towa also likely its most divisive. As you progress in each run, the characters you choose are gradually sacrificed for the greater good and removed from play. This is both emotionally gutting – Bampuku is too cute and cuddly to die – as well as adding an additional challenge to the game; forcing you to vary up your builds, even in the late game, and demanding you continue to experiment to complete future runs. This is a fascinating addition, one that elevates Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree above being merely ‘inspired-by-Hades’ fodder, into something far more demanding and – most thrillingly – unique.