Had I not recognized upfront that I used to be going to be taking part in Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree at Play Days final weekend, I might need ignored its trailer throughout Summer season Sport Fest. The announcement itself was lower than two minutes lengthy, and what we noticed largely regarded like Hades, however with character choice. Nonetheless, after taking part in quarter-hour of the recreation at Play Days, I am way more than I initially anticipated to be in Towa’s tackle the roguelite style…although I’ll want waaay greater than quarter-hour to get good at it.
Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree stars Towa, the guardian of Shinju Village and a baby of the gods. When a darkish god begins consuming the land round Shinju with an evil miasma, Towa rallies eight villagers to combat again. These “Prayer Youngsters” head out into the subject, two at a time, to combat towards the minions of darkness, with one taking over the position of “Tsurugi”, or sword, and the different taking over the supportive workers position, or “Kagura.”
At the begin of every run, you decide which of the eight characters you need in every position, with all characters having totally different skills relying on which position they took on. In my preview, I chosen the solumn Rekka as my sword, who assaults with quick, fast slashes and a lingering spin assault. My workers was Nishiki, a Koi-inspired fish one who can summon lightning orbs to encompass the participant and shoot a wave of water in any route.
Instantly, I struggled a bit to adapt to the twin-stick controls. Nishiki mechanically adopted Rekka, who I managed with the left stick, however it was clear that for optimum play I wanted to interrupt Nishiki free of Rekka and run him round with the proper stick concurrently as I fought enemies. Simpler mentioned than completed. I feel this can be a actually attention-grabbing twist on what I am used to for top-down video games, nearly reminiscent of the authentic The World Ends With You having you management two characters on two totally different screens. However I do assume I wanted greater than quarter-hour in a demo to get used to it. Apparently, it’s also possible to play Towa in co-op, with one particular person controlling every character, and that is an interesting prospect, too.
A second distinctive factor that I actually, actually needed extra time to grasp was Fast Draw. In Towa, your sword wielder carries not one, however two swords, however solely has one outfitted at a time. Every sword has a unique capability, with Rekka having her quick slashes connected to 1 and her chargeable spin assault on the different. As you employ one sword, it begins to uninteresting till it is unusable, and it’s important to use a Fast Draw capability to swap to the different one so the first can recharge. Profitable fight in Towa revolves round easily swapping between the two swords so that you’re by no means caught in a state of affairs the place you want one assault prepared, however have a uninteresting blade and are caught with an inefficient capability. It is a cool system in precept, actually a singular one, and I am curious as to the way it will play out at greater ability ranges.
All the things else I noticed in Towa will probably be acquainted to your common Hades-lover. You may clear all the monsters in a room, and get a selection of a “Grace”. Graces improve your energy in all types of methods, from straight energy will increase to altering how totally different skills work and work together with each other. Doorways to the subsequent room might denote enemies or shopkeepers or different room varieties, and you will smash stuff as you go to gather foreign money for upgrades at retailers and particular ore that may be improve your characters’ skills while you take it again to the village.
My time with Towa was lower quick simply as I walked right into a boss battle, so sadly I can not converse to how that may have performed out. However this preview completely succeeded in making me need to play extra. I need to muck round with the totally different character configurations and see what different upgrades can be found, and I need to apply my twin-stick recreation so my workers person does not die on me earlier than I even hit the midway level (oops). I do not know if Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree can reside as much as the lofty legacy of Hades essentially, however I do assume it has the potential to carve out an area in the roguelite style all its personal.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Yow will discover her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Received a narrative tip? Ship it to rvalentine@ign.com.