Game review: Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree (PS5)

It's always nice playing a new gaming IP, because you don't know what you're getting. When I first saw screenshots for Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree, I was expecting to play a cool-looking 2D RPG. 

To my surprise, after playing the game for the first few hours, I was totally wrong about Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree. The genre is a roguelite, and this might scare some gamers who hate this style of game. The last roguelite I ever played was Returnal, and let's just say I didn't have a pleasant experience with that game in 2021…

Before I begin talking about the gameplay, let's first discuss the positive things I can say about Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree. Arguably, the best part about the game is its 2D anime-inspired graphics. 

Aside from roaming around dungeons, there is a village in this game where you can talk to other characters to upgrade their weapons and other stats. You will probably have to visit the village often because you will die a lot of times in this game!

The game also has full voice acting for all of its cutscenes and dialogue scenes. There are lots of characters to see and meet, and everyone has a voice. The characters also banter with one another, depending on which ones you pair up with during a dungeon hunt. 

In terms of its story, the narrative in Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree is very interesting. The main character is a young priestess named Towa, and she is responsible for protecting the Shinju Village.

The big bad in this game is an evil god by the name of Magastu. He has pretty much poisoned the entire world, and Towa and her guardians have to get rid of his influence once and for all. 

Another cool thing about this game is that you can choose from eight playable characters. The eight characters are: Rekka, Nishiki, Bampuku, Mutsumi, Origami, Koro, Shigin, and Akazu. There's a cool mix of human and animal characters available here. 

The only disappointing thing about the character selection is that only two characters are available to go out on a dungeon hunt. The rest of the six will just have to stay back at the camp while the two others do all of the work. 

The main character you choose is the 'Tsuragi,' and this is the person who controls the sword. This person is an expert in melee attacks and is usually armed with two different swords. 

Your partner is called the 'Kagura', and this person is armed with a staff. The 'Kagura' is responsible for conjuring up magic and support abilities. You are still able to control them during dungeon hunts, but the 'Tsuragi' is the main person to control in the entire game. 

Alternatively, the game offers co-op gameplay so one player controls the 'Tsuragi' while the other player is the 'Kagura'. Both local co-op and online co-op is available for players, so the game has lots of options to play with friends and/or family members. 

If you are controlling the 'Tsuragi', you will attack using the shoulder buttons. If you hold the attack button for a few seconds, you will execute a more powerful sword attack. What I like most about the combat in this game is that there is no stamina system, so you can attack as many times as you want!

The only cooldown meter you have to look out for is weapon durability. Your swords will lose their attack power if their durability reaches zero. Thankfully, all you have to do to replenish durability is press the triangle button to swap to your other sword. It's sort of like reloading a gun, so weapon durability is only depleted temporarily in this game. 

While I did like the simplicity of combat in this game, the roguelite features sadly ruined my experience. Each dungeon has many rounds, and your goal is to pretty much kill all of the enemies in a room before you can move on. 

The only main problem I have with the game is the lack of checkpoints. For example, I reached the main boss of a dungeon, but my health was nearly depleted, and I died easily. I thought I was able to retry the boss instantly, but I was moved back to the beginning of the level all over again! This is the same experience I had with Returnal four years ago!

Not to mention, some people may find the combat to be repetitive and boring after the first few hours. I do like the fact that the game gives you visual guides when an enemy or boss is attacking, but the combat loop gets boring when you have to play through the same levels all over again when you die. 

Overall, Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree has excellent graphics and presentation, but the repetitive gameplay ruins the experience. The roguelite features will also annoy players like me who don't like this genre to begin with. 

Verdict: 6.5/10