Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree is Bandai Namco’s Answer to Hades

A few years after a defining video game release, you start to see in an influx of copycats and games inspired by its innovation. Most recently, I think of all the Stardew Valley-likes that emerged just a few years after ConcernedApe’s game took the world by storm. Now, the same thing appears to be happening with Hades. Lots of new and upcoming games seem to be taking cues from its isometric action-rougelike setup. This year alone, new games like Reignbreaker, Lost in Random: The Eternal Die, and Windblown all come to mind as Hades-likes. Now, Bandai Namco Entertainment and Japanese developer Brownies are throwing their hat in the ring with Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree.

Announced during this year’s Summer Game Fest kickoff livestream, Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree is a brand new IP from Bandai Namco Entertainment. It feels a lot by Hades, although it stands on its own by making the weapons players use unique characters of their own and by encouraging players to constantly swap between them. I played Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree at Summer Game Fest Play Days, and think it stands out in a crowd of Hades-likes with its memorable character designs and approach to combat.

Everything relevant to Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree’s plot is right there in the title. Players are fighting to protect their village from an evil being named Magatsu. While players technically are inhabiting the role of the priestess Towa, they fight to protect their village and the sacred tree using those guardians. Essentially, your weapon characters are also character choices as you determine who to play as.

The fight to take down the Magatsu takes place over repeated roguelike runs. It follows the Hades model fairly closely, as players have to clear out a room, choose between multiple run-specific power-up boosts, and carry on until they reach the final boss. I was not able to reach the final boss during my brief playtime, but I felt invested in the core gameplay just as I had with Hades. 

But whereas Hades infused characterization into the power-ups players picked up in order to make those choices more interesting, Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree instead makes the weapons players choose the characters. Technically, you don’t fight as Towa herself wielding a weapon, but as the characters she recruits to fight with her beforehand. 

One character utilizes the Sacred Sword called the Tsurugi, while the other wields the Kagura staff. Depending on who you pick, your primary and secondary attacks differ. The true fun of Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree looks like it will coming from mixing and matching all of these different characters and finding which ones you find both endearing to play as and useful in battle.

The Tsurugi character also attacks as they switch weapons. The game encourages players to do so because each weapon wears down over time, and needs to be recharged once depleted. Essentially, you have to reload your swords, and doing so by constantly switching weapons is the most effective way to do so. All of that creates a solid combat that keeps Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree’s encounters fresh from room to room. And after clearing a room, players are able to upgrade one of those abilities.

That’s standard roguelike fair, and I’m sure Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree will be at its most entertaining once I find that perfect combination of primary and secondary weapon characters, as well as upgrades, to take down enemies easily.  It’s not the most original roguelike out there, but features enough of a unique flair to be an appealing alternative to Hades if you enjoy that game but are tired of playing it over and over.

Thankfully, you won’t have to wait too long to play it, as Towa and the Guardians of Sacred Tree will be released for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch on September 19.