Small, Swift, Smooth, Serene

HIGH Exquisitely designed and beautifully crafted. 

LOW Basic mobility is a little funky towards the beginning of the game. 

WTF Didn’t expect the baseball bat…

When Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus (Bō) first appeared on my radar, I rushed to request it. With my personal interest in Japanese folklore and visual art I was keen to jump right in, and I must say that I was not disappointed. 

Bō is an adventure that draws from Japanese folklore and legend. Players must navigate Bō — an adorable lotus-shaped creature called a Tentaihana — through different worlds, meeting and helping other spirits and creatures along the way. 

Bō is visually captivating, and exploring the worlds that Bō encounters is a treat. Bō’s landscape contains two and three dimensional elements, which Humble Games describes as 2.5D.

When playing, I felt as if I were gliding, jumping, and running through a painting. Every location is more beautiful than the last, but I was particularly enamored with the creepy, bruise-hued Kitsune Burrows. They provided a satisfying change in scenery in an otherwise pastel colored environment, and I found myself lingering there a bit longer than necessary just to look around. The crystalline Ice Caverns are also a favorite of mine, though the icicles are a bit tricky to maneuver. Everything looks so lush, and the accompanying musical score makes it feel all the more immersive.  

While exploring, players can equip Omamori, little tabs that help Bō in a myriad of ways, and each tab triggers an effect that becomes increasingly more complex as players collect more of them. Because Bō is very combat focused, I found the health centered Omamori tabs to be the most helpful. I almost always had Vitality equipped, which heals Bō’s health based on the amount of enemies they defeat.

Shrines serve as spaces where Bō can refill their teapot — an important tool that helps Bō regain their health. It can be used both in and out of battle, and can be accessed in a pinch (which players may find themselves in, more often than not). The teapot also helps Bō during combat and contains a heat gauge that works in tandem with Daruma dolls. Daruma dolls each have specific effects and attacks that can be used to help take down difficult enemies — as the heat gauge rises, the Daruma doll’s attacks increase in damage. I will almost always choose ranged battle if I can swing it, so the doll which shoots homing orbs at enemies near Bō became a necessary part of my arsenal.

Players can also update their weapons as they progress. Bō has an earring that doubles as a staff that players access early on, which eventually evolves into other items when needed. I was amused by the baseball bat, and while it did feel a bit out of place it made for a quirky game mechanic. While it’s mostly used as a weapon that allows players to parry and attack enemies, it’s also necessary when completing certain quests for the spirits Bō meets. In one such quest, Bō must collect Armapillos (armadillo like creatures) for a spirit named Shimeji, and the only possible way to corral them is to hit them with the bat. Hitting the Armapillos felt a little mean! (And punting them back and forth required more precision and dexterity than I thought necessary…)

It’s a good thing that Bō gives the player these options, as it’s actually quite challenging to play! While the side-scrolling adventure genre is an undeniable part of Bō’s DNA, the amount of items, buffs, and weapons players can access make it so that Bō fits just as comfortably within the soulslike genre. Boss attack mechanics aren’t extremely complex, but can be quite difficult to dodge or counter, which can lead to silly mistakes. One awkward or poorly-timed jump and players might find themselves having to restart a tedious battle from the very beginning. 

The first major boss battle, which takes place in the Uzumaki cave, was a bit of a pain for me. A lot of this had to do with the basic mobility control system, which ended up being my biggest gripe with Bō.

While the mechanics are simple in theory, players are often expected to push many buttons at once to perform a mechanic as straightforward as jumping. Jumping is a necessary part of gameplay and some of the Daruma dolls require that Bō be airborne to be effective in battle, so struggling to perform these actions might be a bit frustrating for some. I initially had the most trouble with a sequence of lanterns that Bō must hit in order to ascend towards their next location, but they must be hit perfectly. Otherwise, Bō will fall and the sequence must be started over. I quickly learned that patience was perhaps the most necessary tool for success in Bō, which is kind of lovely.

As Bō progresses their actions and attacks become a bit more effective, and when that initial roughness is left behind, the worlds that players encounter afterwards are so beautiful that any early game hiccups are forgotten. Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is exceptional. With its visually stunning worlds and exciting battles, Bō has all the elements of an indie action classic. 

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed by Squid Shock Studios and published by Humble Games. It is currently available on PS5, Switch, PC, XBO/S/X, and iOS. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher, and reviewed on PS5. Approximately 7 hours were devoted to the game, and it was not completed. There is no multiplayer mode. 

Parents: This game is rated E by the ESRB and contains Alcohol and Tobacco references, Mild Fantasy Violence, and Mild Language. There is no blood, and no gratuitous battle sequences. Gameplay mechanics may be a bit complex for really young players, but not completely inaccessible. 

Colorblind Modes: This game does not have colorblind modes, but it does have a high contrast filter. 

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: The game offers subtitles. Subtitles cannot be resized. I was pleased to see that there are many audio accessibility options. Players with dyslexia can change subtitle and game font, game speed can be modified, action cue icons can be added, controller vibration can be modified, camera shake can be adjusted, and players have the option of making themselves invincible, or provide themselves with an infinite supply of mana. Therefore, the game is fully accessible. 

Remappable Controls: Yes, the game’s controls are remappable.