Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree: Anime Hades With a Hunky Fish-man

Behind the closed doors at the Summer Game Fest, I sat down to play a new game published by Bandai Namco who is tailor-made for Hades fans: Towa and The Guardians of the Sacred Tree, who has his own vision of the hack-and-sash Roguelike genre. And, yes, a man of hot hybrid fish playable.

Towa’s isometric fight is very similar to Hades at first glance and shares one of the same basic structures. The players start in a hub area and start to cross a series of closed battlefields filled with enemies. After being defeated, you obtained a boon – an upgrade of your skills, weapons, the reward for money, etc. Hades players can easily recover it when Towa is launched on September 18.

Towa, developed by Studio Brownies, Inc., has its own anime style and a diverse group of combatants who distinguishes him from Hades. In this document, holder Towa, a priestess of the tranquility of Shinju, accuses eight guards of defeating the Magatsu Maleficent and his servants. With different combat styles, the players choose one of these heroes to control and another for backup that launches spells (that a second player can also pick up and control) to send in combat.

By putting aside, it is clear that Towa is inspired by a lot of Hades in his gameplay, that Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree Director Shuhei Yamashita have recognized.

“Of course, we have respect for Hades, and I had an early access to that, and when I played it, the maneuverability was interesting, so that’s something we referenced,” said Yamashita. “And the Roguelike system, you have a unique handling and you can really incorporate a unique element, so that’s something we have put in our game.”

Towa is visually striking, with an anime look and vibrant colors – and even if the players handle two swords like Samurai, the game is distinguished from the recent vogue of period titles like the Creed Shadows of Assassins and Ghost of Tsushima with its decor in a peaceful village.

“Rather than going with samurai and historical days with a more realistic style, the brownies have created this game that we wanted to be more fantastic – not necessarily Japanese, but the kind of works of art of fantastic oriental type that would be more attractive,” said Yamashita.

Apart from the aesthetics of the game, Towa stands out for his different vision of the fight. The two swords of the players – a Honzashi Main -Main and Wakizashi out of hand – are quickly worn with each oblique bar, a bit like the sustainability counter of the Monster Hunter World weapons system. You will have to exchange between the two swords to refine them (a movement that comes with a short dashboard), which adds a rhythm in combat when you switch back and forth.

But the advantages and unlockable upgrades will add variety to your play style. Some are direct damage, others add effects to your swords such as returning or triggering things like shock waves when using a spell. The developers seated alongside my demo have suggested that you can even find advantages that encourage unorthodox strategies, such as keeping your dull blades to release different attacks. There is a depth in combat that I did not scratch the surface during my short time with the game.

I also did not look in depth how the eight fighters differ – apart from the Nishiki of Fish -Man, there is a rotunda Shiba Inu and six other heroes of anime. I chose the Hunky Fish-Man as my main while selecting the origami, the fighter covered with folded paper armor, like my spellbinding launcher and plunging into a race.

With a mixture of mixed and enemies from a distance, the latter shows the path of their attacks, Towa has some overlap with the design of Hades. But the weapon switching mechanic is a notable difference, just like spells – my acolyte Origami had one with an area of ​​attack mechanic with which I could splash groups of enemies.

In practice, remember to switch between weapons when they took time to learn, and I continued to forget to use my spells. It also took me a while to sort that my health bar at the bottom of the screen was divided between my main fighter and my backup launcher. But the game can become overwhelming with all attacks in the region and the effects of flashy skills, so it is easy to lose your hero in fireworks.

After several enemy rooms, I competed against the mid -term boss and I defeated it, then I moved to a shopping room where I could spend money in improvements – any familiar territory for fans of Hades. But just before progressing on the main boss, I entered a quiet room overlooking a view with a campfire. This is where your heroes will take breathing and discuss to share their stories and more details on the world, settle the characters and the tradition of the game.

“Towa is a very story -oriented game, so you can find as many history as you would normally find it with RPG games,” said Yamashita, noting that the characters you bring races with you deepen their relationships while you converse to these camp fires.

Overflowing with confidence – a little too much, unfortunately – I made myself in the Boss room and I gave it everything I had, including the ultimate capacity of Nishiki for the massive damage of the AOE. These charge attacks and certain upgrades can accelerate their recharge rate. Despite some agile tips and damage, and reducing the boss to a quarter of his health, I succumbed. (Later in the weekend, I was told that only seven players at the Summer Game Fest had eliminated the boss at the time.)

Players will not have long waiting for their own chance of trying a unique turn on the Ruguelike fight. Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree is released on September 18 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X / S and Nintendo Switch for $ 30.