This Metroidvania craze is happening, and I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but we’ve got a renaissance on our hands. Particularly in the indie space, where I’ve lost count of how many are coming out. Standing out in a flooded market is challenging, yet Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is unique enough to do that.
Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus was launched on Kickstarter, which amassed $175,000 in funding. Its beautiful hand-drawn animation style is immediately noticeable and stuns on an OLED screen.
Squid Shock Studios draws inspiration from some incredible games, and you can see that from the outset with Okami, Hollow Knight, Paper Mario, and movies like Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, which inspired the look, feel, and sound of their debut title. Thanks to some beautiful influences, Squid Shock Studios made a game filled with adoration for the medium and media.
Walk the Path of the Teal Lotus
You play as Bō, a celestial fox known as a Tentaihana. You emerge from a bamboo forest, where you are met by a Kami who has blessed you and is immediately armed with a legendary staff. You are tasked with first stopping a hulking presence from destroying the world around you while also restoring the innate power of your staff.
The story is a bit vague in a Souls-esque way as you piece together a lot of the elements by talking to characters, and it isn’t until later stages that I found the entire picture coming together.
It’s hard not to begin this review without discussing the eye-popping visuals, which are front and centre from the outset. Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus begins in the Crimson Bamboo Forest and moves through some of the best environments I’ve seen this year.
Unlike typical platformers, where jumping is the primary move, Bō can glide effortlessly through levels and obtain new skills and items, which not only help grow more potent but also find new places on the map ready to explore. However, as great as playing as Bō feels, the abilities you unlock limit how well traversal flows. Some abilities are limited, so it often breaks momentum. Later levels do a brilliant job of showcasing each tool and remixing them to deliver engaging platform sections.
The gameplay showcases Bō’s acrobatic combat abilities and introduces a shapeshifting earring that unlocks mystical skills as the player progresses. The fluidity and smoothness of these movements differentiate it from other Metroidvania titles. If you’ve played any Metroidvania game in the last year or two, you’ll know exactly what you’re getting from Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus. There is an expansive map you’ll explore with areas sectioned off until you’re equipped with the right abilities to proceed, secrets to discover, and more.
Sakura City, 3 AM
The central hub area is Sakura City, where you’ll interact with the locals. It is easily a highlight of the team’s dedication to hand-drawn details, with many sights and sounds flourishing with exuberance.
A lot of the movements you unlock are lovely to use as well, and I found myself smiling when unlocking them; having the ability to glide through areas is a godsend. Meanwhile, the dash comes in a clutch and even a roll that helps save time later. There are a few more surprises to discover, and all are equally appealing as the earlier moments bring to the player.
Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is complex, with occasional frustration due to backtracking. Save points are frequent, and the game features a healing system where the tea kettle heals you and can be refilled by engaging enemies. It’s a fun spin on an already great idea, so I had a lot of fun with it. However, the downside is that healing is time-consuming, with the animation used to heal taking time to complete.
I initially found combat too difficult, but it began to click for me once I understood that Bō is an agile creature rather than a brute. So, learning that moving about and being nimble with the staff is the key to success. With every hit from the bo staff, you gain one extra jump, so you can keep moving by timing your attacks with jumps.
The boss battles are a highlight, each offering a great challenge of everything learned up to that point. You are required to make clever use of Bō’s abilities. With a few tries, players can memorize the correct rhythm to leap over the deadly feathers of a Tengu warrior duo, and they will still experience that dopamine rush from overcoming the adrenaline-inducing challenges provided.
To make combat more manageable, you’ll find Omamori throughout your journey. These equippable charms are excellent ways to diversify your character, like increased damage against enemies or passive bonuses. They are primarily unique items you’ll have fun discovering and equipping, like trading stronger attacks while receiving more damage. There’s a great sense of finding the right build to tackle the map and enemies here. Finding the right build with various available materials takes some time.
There isn’t much else I can say to persuade you to play Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus. A demo is available, and I hope my review has given you an idea of what to expect—a solid Metroidvania with a lot of heart and a story that may not resonate with everyone. However, it has some great mechanics and ideas I found worth experiencing.
Verdict
Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus excels at its goal of delivering a commendable and exciting title. It is a unique title, one that I found to be charming and breathtakingly beautiful. It also wears its inspirations on its sleeve as it looks to replicate that same emotion from the player. Using Japanese folklore as a basis is clever, with the excellent levels and exploration worth a look at despite a few stumbles. In a summer when droughts were constantly occurring, the shift to game releases happening at all times of the day and months, Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus launches at a great time.
[The publisher provided a copy of the game for review purposes.]
Reviewed on: PC
