WaffleDealer Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree Review

From the outset this game looks like just another Hades clone, but in reality it is much more than that. The game sets out as a Hades like experience where you go through dungeons with the twist being that you have 2 characters in your party. However every run you lose one of your characters in a special Rite that has to happen for story purposes. Fret not however because these characters aren't lost forever. Just merely unavailable for a time. The game opens up after the third successful run where the game quite literally doubles in scope and with that a sizable difficulty bump to match albeit mostly boss related. Other reviews highlight the art style, music and writing (nice pace, endearing with some darkness). But I found that the available depth and width of game mechanics has been overlooked by many. From upgrading your character base stats, to unlocking spells for your secondary character to use, crafting weapons to suit your play style, combining materials to make crafting materials to create the best possible weapon, to buying seals to give passive bonuses for each run, to eating food for temporary bonuses like in Monster Hunter, to farming dungeons to get materials to craft weapons, etc. The sheer scope of the game deserves an applause as I personally feel this is like a Monster Hunter towards a Dark Souls. While initially they might look similar to someone who doesn't know the differences, they have a distinct feel when you start interacting with it. It's not guaranteed that you will like this game if you liked Hades, especially with Hades 2 around the corner. But if you're interested in Hades but for some reason it didn't hit the sweet spot, it's worth checking the game out because it does have it's distinct feel. The only cons I can really give this game is that the game does feel shallow in some senses where untapped potential lies dormant, that being mostly in the effects that can change how you play in a run like they would in Hades; it's very focused around using your sword, spells and dashes. Hopefully with a second game, DLC or updates (fingers crossed) they can really show to what lengths their creativity goes because this really can live alongside Hades as one of the greats if so.