Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree Reviews
Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree is a captivating roguelite thanks to its narrative concept and artistic style, but it struggles in terms of pacing, variety and difficulty balance.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree is a roguelike where the more you play it, the better it gets. With so much variety in its combat thanks to an awesome cast of characters and flashy unlockable spells, those who love to experiment will be downright hooked.
A soulful journey marred by punishing peaks and shallow progress. Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree dazzles with painterly visuals, rich sound design, and heartfelt voice acting, but its roguelike loop wears thin fast. Combat starts strong but suffers from brutal difficulty spikes and clunky twin-stick controls. The emotional twist of losing a guardian after each run adds weight, yet limited progression and muddled combat feedback dull the impact. Gorgeous, soulful, but often frustrating.
Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree offers a lengthy campaign, consisting of single runs that are perhaps too long by roguelite standards. The plot has some memorable moments, but the narrative based on time jumps makes it chaotic and difficult to understand, especially as it skips some secondary dialogue. It's still an enjoyable story that alternates between funny and sad moments, accompanied by a truly impressive Japanese voice acting. Combat is fun and dynamic, with many possible combinations thanks to the eight available characters. While village management is much more complex, the forge in particular could have been better managed with fewer steps to make it more straightforward.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree leans on its emotional story about the passage of time to stand out from the crowd, but its gameplay rarely matches that level of quality. Instead of the indie gem many hoped for, we got a solid experience that falls short of the greatness it might have otherwise achieved.
Review in Unknown | Read full review
Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree works best when we allow ourselves to be drawn into its narrative and world. Its mechanics are not always surprising, but they manage to make many runs matter, thanks to its permanent progression, its sacrifice system, and the emotional connection with the characters.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree is far from being a perfect game. It's repetitive and a little too simple, but when it hits, it hits hard. It's the kind of experience that may not be your favorite, but you'll potentially grow fond of it if you play with the right expectations.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
There is no doubt that developing a Rogue-lite game is one of the most difficult challenges for developers in terms of design philosophy, trying to convince players to continue after losing, but Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree has succeeded in overcoming this obstacle thanks to the different play styles available for playable characters, gathering the necessary resources in each run to develop them, opening dialogues for side characters and completing their stories in Shinju Village even when losing, addictive gameplay accompanied by attractive graphics, and finally, a superb music album, all of which contributed to creating a unique experience.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree isn't perfect, but it is one of the closest representations of what the action roguelike genre can achieve that I've seen since the likes of Hades. A few pain points aside, what Brownies accomplished here is impressive, dense, and above all, fun. If you like deep character bonds, snappy action gameplay, and chasing that "one more run" mentality, Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree just might be for you.
If “Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree” gets one thing right, it is easily it’s great cast, good combat and visuals. Sadly, metaprogression blockers diminish what could’ve been a wonderful roguelike. It is still worth it for the story alone.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree is gorgeous and creative, but ultimately held back by its core mechanics. Fun characters, great art, and a unique minigame fail to elevate this title beyond its stiff and below-average-for-the-genre gameplay.
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Review in German | Read full review
Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree is a lackluster roguelite, taking the variety the genre is known for and creating systems that minimize how different each run feels. It’s overstuffed with systems and currencies that don’t feel meaningfully different from one another. The art looks quite nice, and the story is fine, but placing the story in the middle of a run wrecks the pacing. The biggest issue is the two-character system, which creates an unnecessary punishment in single-player and a Nintendo-style co-op mode that doesn’t offer a complete experience to the second player.
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Review in Turkish | Read full review
Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree is a roguelite that feels alive at every turn. Dungeon runs push you to experiment with guardians and swords, while Shinju Village grows and changes, revealing stories that make the world feel personal.
Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree is a roguelike adventure that takes players on a mythical journey with a collection of memorable warriors.
It draws attention with its similarities to Hades but also has its own unique aspects. A fun game that fans of the rogue-lite genre will enjoy.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
After spending several hours with the Children of Prayer, we've come to the conclusion that the Japanese developer hasn't figured out what exactly a roguelite needs to perform as well as its direct competitor.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree is a visually charming and narratively ambitious roguelite that explores themes of sacrifice, time loops, and divine responsibility. While the world-building and character interactions show genuine heart, the gameplay struggles to support the story’s weight. Repetitive run structures, a tedious weapon durability system, and emotionally flat consequences undermine what could have been a standout experience. It’s a game full of good ideas, but one that ultimately lacks the cohesion and polish needed to make its ambition truly resonate.