Eight Samurai And A Time Machine
The presence of the word ‘Japanese’ usually means that the game will have at least two things: an anime vibe and the genre’s characteristic eccentricity in the plot.
Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree has both, but the story is particularly noteworthy. It seems standard enough — we play the role of a divine guardian (the titular Towa), called upon to protect an important and almost sacred village from another deity, only a very evil one, spreading miasma and spawning monsters that are taking over the land.
To this end, our guardian gathers eight brave villagers (called the Children of Prayer) to work together to stop the approaching demons.
This brings to mind classics, including Japanese cinema classics such as Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece Seven Samurai. Especially since the defenders of the village in the game are not faceless warriors, but personalities who, as the game progresses, reveal themselves in amusing or sad conversations with each other.
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The writers of Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree have added mysticism and flirtations with the space-time continuum to this classic plot. The guardian miscalculated something — all eight samurai were sent by an evil deity to the end of time and are now forced to constantly fight monsters in a purgatory-like place.
Towa herself constantly destroyed the fabric of space-time, resurrecting chosen warriors and thus creating multiple timelines. All this only strengthened the demons.
In the end, the guardian performs her final manipulations with time, returning everyone to the moment and state when they are ready to fight the villains.
But in return, after each important victory, one of the chosen defenders must sacrifice themselves. And it’s a shocking and unpleasant discovery to learn that I won’t be seeing this character anymore. The game immediately took on a different, rather dark tone.
This is despite the fact that our divine guardian resembles a 12-year-old schoolgirl cosplayer, and among her chosen defenders and villagers are upright dogs, birds and other animals, who in their conversations can talk about how they enjoy watching Towa eat. The result is a mixture of cringe and real drama, typical of many Japanese games and anime.
Atmospheric, But Slow
In any case, this attention to the plot sets Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree apart from many other roguelikes.
However, the writers of Hades managed to tell an interesting story and reveal the characters without losing the rhythm that is so important in this genre. Here, the abundance of long shots, cut scenes, and dialogues about food, typical of many Japanese games, quickly becomes annoying.
