Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus Review

The Metroidvania genre has always been prominent in gaming for decades. Because of this, we’ve started to see some beautifully artistic titles like Ori and the Will of the Wisps and Hollow Knight. The latter has undoubtedly made a huge impact on the Metroidvania genre with its visuals, atmosphere, platforming, and combat.

A little over a month ago, we got an excellent Metroidvania inspired by Hollow Knight, and Sekiro called Nine Sols, and it was a joy to get through that game. Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is another Metroidvania with vibes of Ori and Hollow Knight in its presentation, but once you play it, you will realize that the similarities end with just the first impression.

Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus was developed by Squid Shock Studios and published by Humble Games. It seems that this game is Squid Shock Studios’ first game, which is surprising considering how good it looks and plays.

The world of Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is heavily inspired by Japanese folklore. In the story, you play as Bo, a fox-like character emerging from a lotus. You are known as Tentaihana in the land of the Strange Garden. You are given a bit of time to learn about the combat in Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus. Your earrings turn into a staff that can slash foes in front of you.

Shortly after, disaster struck. A magical skeletal titan crashes into a castle in the background, and that sets the scene for what you must uncover. With such a quickly imposed threat, you may think the tone of the game will be all doom and gloom, but in the world, the NPCs you encounter, along with the way everything is drawn, feel lively, and they appear carefree.

While the story isn’t anything to write home about, it serves as a backdrop to Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus and works well with the theme of the world. There are side quests here that I enjoyed taking part in like you can grant favors to the people here and earn their respect. This is something I actually did not expect, given that my last metroidvania was Nine Sols, which was quite raw and gruesome in many aspects of its story.

In a quest, I helped a fox bride and groom make each other a wedding by escorting them through a path as they gleefully followed me to their venue, and even competed in a flying sumo tournament where I had to show off my platforming skills.

Speaking of platforming, this is what sets Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus apart from most of the other games like it. Platforming plays a major role in the gameplay here. Even in the boss fights, I would say about 70% of your focus would be spent worrying about where to jump or dash next. You are given access to your abilities quite early on. You can attack with your staff, jump, dash, and double jump only after you hit something.

You need to have some considerable spatial awareness in any and all combat settings to get past the challenges put out by Squid Shock Studios. When I was able to pull off dashes after double jumps after hitting objects around the map while also keeping note of attacks and projectiles around me, I felt pretty cool.

Although getting to the point where you can pull these off can be frustrating in Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus. Sometimes, the screen can just be too populated with so many things flying around, and if you get hit even once in a while while you are in the air, it is over for you.

Usually, you will either die or fall into a position that will eventually get you killed if this happens during a boss fight. The checkpoint system can also be a hit or miss. Sometimes, you can be sent a little too far back after dying, which can add to the frustration of the difficult platforming.

In the way of combat, you also gain unique abilities from Daruma and passive abilities from Omamori talismans. You can gain access to a flamethrower or passive effects like making your healing more effective.

Visually, Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is picture-perfect. Everything is hand-drawn, and you can see the love put into each frame. The colors pop out at you, and there is a lot of variety in the biomes of the map, which is decently large but not as big as Nine Sols. The movement and animations of the characters, which appear as sprites, seem lively and go well with their carefree attitude in the world.

The position of the sprites plays around with the depth of field and parallax effects that make the world pop out at you. The visuals sort of remind me of Chinese Shadow Puppetry, where little sprites put at the end of sticks are moved around and interacted with to tell a story.
As for the bosses, they sort of have this Cuphead vibe to them with the way they move in Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus.

The bosses are all massive, taking up a large portion of the screen, and they peer over at you like they are breaking the fourth wall, messing up a toy set in front of them with their attacks. I could not take my eyes off the bosses. The designs were unique and represented the yokai and other Japanese myths they were based on well.

The music in Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus, once again, is heavily based on Japanese tradition, with traditional instruments making up the entirety of it. The sound feedback for things like hitting objects, jumping, dashing, and getting hit was crisp and felt appropriate.

A problem I encountered while taking part in the boss fights in Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus was that they were just too big. I understand the desire to create a sense of scale, but if you cannot see where your character is, trying to keep up with the platforming obstacles thrown at you can begin to feel impossible. The screen is just too zoomed out during boss battles.

Luckily, Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus offers some accessibility options in the settings. You can slow down the game speed as well as turn on invincibility. This can be done at any point in the game and the changes are not permanent. Accessibility is always welcome, as it opens up the game to a larger audience.

Sometimes, you just feel like playing a game for the story and vibes and less for the gameplay. It is nice that Squid Shock Studios have added this for those who need it. This isn’t to undermine the gameplay, though. There is a lot of fun to be had in the complex platforming and combat here.

Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is a beautifully crafted Metroidvania with hand-drawn animation that pops with its vibrant colors, based heavily on Japanese folklore and culture. The game has a distinct focus on platforming which sets it apart from other games in the genre, and it brings good vibes with the carefree NPCs and sidequests.

The story was nothing to write home about, and there are some hitches with the size of your character and checkpoints, but overall, Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is a solid Metroidvania that exudes the love and care it was clearly made with. If you are previously a fan of the Metroidvania genre, this game is worth checking out.