Hades Clones: Just When You Thought You Were Out, Towa Pulls You Back In With a Bloody Brilliant Twist
AI Gaming News Author · Polygon ·
Forget your typical Hades-clone, mate; *Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree* is shaking up the roguelike formula by letting you dive into runs with a dynamic duo of characters, transforming repetition into a wild experiment in team synergy and character discovery, as first highlighted by Polygon.
Right, so you know that feeling, don't you? The one where you've spent countless hours in a certain mythological underworld, perfecting your dash-strike combo, arguing with a sentient sword, and generally having an absolutely smashing time. And then you see another game pop up, looking suspiciously familiar, and your cynical gamer brain immediately goes, 'Oh, *another* one? Is this just Hades, but with more anime hair?' Yeah, me too, mate. We've seen a fair few 'inspired by' titles that felt less like inspiration and more like… well, a copy-paste job with a new skin.
That was my initial reaction to *Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree* when it first popped onto my radar. Developed by Brownies Inc. (the folks behind *Doraemon: Story of Seasons*, which, incidentally, is a delightfully chill change of pace), *Towa* looked, at first glance, like *Hades* for, shall we say, a slightly more 'weeby' audience. And honestly, with *Hades 2* still kicking about in my rotation with its frequent, glorious updates, I didn't reckon I needed another roguelike that was just a ‘smidge’ different.
But here’s the kicker, the bit where the digital tea leaves started showing something genuinely fascinating. As Josh Broadwell over at Polygon discovered in his recent deep dive, and as I’ve since tinkered with myself after trying the demo, *Towa* is surprisingly daring. It takes that foundational *Hades* formula – you know the drill: rooms, fights, treasure, Graces (their version of Boons), a mysterious shopkeeper, a roving chef, and a home base for upgrades and chit-chat – and then blows a hole in it with one rather clever, character-driven mechanic.
Bloody hell, it's wilder than it first appeared.
See, the gist of *Towa*'s story starts with a scion of a god protecting her village from evil spirits, aided by eight trusted allies called the Prayer Children. You kick off with a few introductory fights, which, to be fair, are a bit… sedate. But then, as any good roguelike should, things go absolutely sideways. After the initial boss fight, the Prayer Children get yeeted into another dimension, and the village itself is stuck in a time bubble. And this, my friends, is where *Towa* truly diverges from its inspiration and embraces its own chaotic brilliance.
From that point on, you don't play as the divine scion. Nope. You play as the *Prayer Children*. And not just one of them. Each run, you pick *two* of the eight. Think of it like this: your usual roguelike loop is about learning to wield *one* weapon better, or mastering *one* set of skills. In *Towa*, every single run becomes an opportunity for wild, unbridled experimentation with team compositions.
Each of these Prayer Children can slot into one of two roles: the Tsurubi, your frontline sword-wielder, or the Kageru, the magical support unit. And here’s the truly juicy bit: any child can be *either* role, and their fighting style or spells will change based on their elemental alignment and personality. This isn't just picking a different weapon in *Hades* or a new path in *Dead Cells*; this is fundamentally altering the core combat dynamic with every single expedition. It’s like being a mad wizard in a lab, constantly brewing new, potentially explosive concoctions.
Take the example from Polygon's report: initially pairing the snobby witch Origami as the Tsurubi and the beefy koi monk Nishiki as the Kageru. On paper, perhaps, a quirky choice. In practice, a bit of a disaster, as Nishiki’s spells needed a more mobile partner than Origami's slow attacks. Most games would make that feel like a dead-end run, a frustrating setback. But in *Towa*, it's a learning opportunity – not just about combat styles, but about the characters themselves. That failed run wasn't just about bad synergy; it was a chance to see Origami resolve to be less selfish (briefly, anyway) and Nishiki comically misinterpreting her newfound humility as a religious conversion. The player's journey isn't just about getting good; it's about getting *to know* your bizarre, dysfunctional team.
Then comes the 'A-ha!' moment, the truly busted combo. Broadwell mentions putting Nishiki (the monk) as the Tsurubi this time, and the hyperactive shonen hero Shigin as the Kageru. Suddenly, the slow, ineffective spells Nishiki had as a Kageru transform into deadly precision with Shigin's speed. Nishiki becomes a whirlwind of blades, setting up enemies perfectly for Shigin's air spheres. It's the same spell, but its effectiveness is entirely dependent on the interplay between the two characters. That’s clever observation, mate – spotting how a minor adjustment can create a devastating digital dance.
This dual-character focus even trickles down into your upgrade choices. Health pools make you choose: one character fully healed, or both a little? Graces (those boons) aren't just standard buffs; some have conditions, like powering up the Kageru if the Tsurubi takes damage, or adding elemental effects to the Tsurubi's attacks based on the Kageru's spells. You can stack these for ludicrous results. Imagine: a Tsurubi slows enemies, a Kageru casts fire, and then the Tsurubi's next attacks trigger shock damage. Boom. Absolute chaos, but the *good* kind of chaos.
It’s inevitable that when a game like *Hades* smashes it out of the park, a swarm of 'likes' follow. We've seen it with Soulslikes, with ARPGs, you name it. But what *Towa* appears to be doing, as keenly observed by Polygon (seriously, go read Josh Broadwell's full piece for the juicy details!), is taking those clear inspirations and then genuinely, inventively, turning them into something wholly unique. It’s a roguelike that embraces its genre's core loop of repetition but redefines its purpose – not just as a path to mastery, but as a playground for strategic, character-driven experimentation.
So, while my initial skepticism radar was buzzing, *Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree* looks like it's brewing up something genuinely special. It's a reminder that even in a crowded genre, a little ingenuity can blow the doors off your expectations. I, for one, am keenly looking forward to seeing what other wild pairings and busted combos I can conjure when the full game drops on September 18th (or 19th, depending on your platform) for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.
Tags: Roguelike, Indie Games, Game Design, Character Synergy, Nintendo Switch
Original article: Polygon