Path of the Blue-Green Lotus from igamesnews.com

Death Leap

Under the glowing petals of a celestial flower that takes on the appearance of a young fox, the player ventures into a cursed kingdom. His mission? Fend off a gigantic threat capable of destroying a village with its gigantic foot. This tone – which is, after all, common – serves to make the explorers understand that we are in a universe with multiple branches, where threats are innumerable. Deliciously inspired by Japanese folklore, Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is a 2D Metroidvania that focuses more on platforming than combat. Whether in the bowels of dusty caves or on the bumpy peaks of snow-capped mountains, it requires constant precision.

The gameplay of the title designed by Squid Shock Studios relies above all on the good management of jumps. Unlike other titles in the genre, there is no basic double jump here. However, Bō has many opportunities to jump a second time by hitting enemies as special objects in flight. Mastering the technique of spinning in the air by hitting a monster or object with a stick is crucial. Despite its cute and accessible facade, the game requires skill. It forces the player to systematically assess the opponents, who sometimes have to dodge, sometimes strike to regain a jump/sprint, in a turbulent waltz that is anything but easy to tame.

Of course, as the journey progresses, Bō gains characteristics that allow him to become more efficient and gain access to previously inaccessible places. The fox is able to launch enemies/objects into the air and then use a bat to blow them up. It attacks, grabs, hovers, runs along walls…

Nothing is too much trouble to face the dangers posed by fauna and flora. The nice thing is that the right stick is used to move the camera around the hero. Useful for checking that the hole below us is actually a hole and not an entrance to a deeper level.

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Is happiness in seeking it?

In terms of level design, Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus consists of large labyrinth-like areas. The return journeys are regular and The card quickly becomes our best ally… but also our worst enemy. The latter is satisfied with the union minimum with a fog of war that disappears in whole blocks, which is annoying when you know if the area is 100% explored or not, zoom, a few legends and then that’s it. Unlike Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, it is not possible to scribble on the map. This wouldn’t be too annoying if you didn’t regularly have to find hidden objects all over the world.. Rabbit roses, cauldron fragments, vermilion crystal… the NPCs take great pleasure in begging for trinkets scattered everywhere. The names of important characters are not even mentioned on the map, which drives you crazy when you have to return an item to an NPC and no longer know where it is waiting for you. It should be said that if you want to complete Bō, you must do so without a break of several days.

Another controversial point about quests is that they do not distinguish between “primarily” and “secondary“. Progress therefore becomes frustrating because we never know whether we should not do something that seems totally irrelevant to us in order to finally recover an obligatory element in advance.like that moment where you have to collect magic roses requested by a protagonist (a quest), but to get your hands on the last one you have to participate in a tournament that seems completely expendable (another quest). Add to that a level design that is not always perfect and can lead to softlocks or wrong calls, and you will understand why we sometimes grumbled during the 15 hours of the campaign.

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Sharp as a fox

Although Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is more focused on exploration/platforming than combat, that doesn’t mean there’s no action. Along the way, the player will encounter friendly yokais, but also less friendly creatures. There are many enemies and it’s important to summon Darumas – powerful allies equipped with magic spells – for life-saving support. It’s a pity that their powers are only used in combat: Fire spells do not light torches during exploration phases, nor do bombs cause cracked rocks to explode. The bosses are huge and require mastery of the unlocked moves/powers to defeat. The good news is that their attack patterns are clear.

Unlike Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown or Ori and the Will of the Wisps, combat-related movements are based on a single button. Although there is a hit counter (the higher it is, the more destructive the Daruma is), there are no devastating combinations or impressive sequences that can be reproduced. Bō hits straight with his stick, no more, no less. Life is regained by drinking tea, tea infused by hitting enemies. In desperate situations, therefore, the best solution is attack! Those who don’t like puzzles can rest assured: there are no puzzles in Christopher Stair’s software. And it’s no worse.

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Heavenly flower on Fleur de Sel

With its jumping system that takes time to get used to, its inconvenient map that doesn’t clearly indicate where the objectives are, the healing spell that immobilizes the hero (if he isn’t equipped with a special enhancement), and its drawer quests that are confusing as to what they grant access to, Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus can be irritating. Still, it knows how to lend a hand to Sunday adventurers. The checkpoints are extensive, the save points heal, and there are a whole host of amulets to equip to provide support (both defensively and offensively). Will you die when the fourth of five mechanisms is activated? Then you’ll be taken to a save point where you don’t have to do everything again. The bosses, on the other hand, must be defeated in one go: to die at the end of the final transformation, the entire fight must be repeated (except for the final boss). Beneath its cutesy appearance, “Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus” hides a very muscular challenge that borders on frustration, when combos must be pulled off with perfect timing and the slightest mistake is fatal.

If, despite everything, you keep coming across a sequence that is more difficult than average, the options provide access to a setting that slows down the scrolling speed, which is particularly useful in scenes where dexterity is put to the test. Have you been struggling with a complex fight for many minutes? Die 20 times and the game offers you invulnerability in its options. Frankly, we think that thanks to the availability of these accessibility options, the developers did not hesitate to neglect the difficulty of certain bosses

. You must have said to yourself:If the player eventually dies in a loop, he can always activate invincibility to bypass challenges that are too difficult and he will not blame us“. On the other hand, if you don’t know where to find an item important for progress, there is no clue you can buy from a merchant or activate a special legend: you have to search everything yourself. means The Being As we said, fans of 100% will be pleased to learn that there is an item they can equip to find all the collectibles to be found.

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Bō like a heart (bleeding)

As you can see from the few images that adorn this review, Squid Shock Studios’ Metroidvania looks very similar to Hollow Knight. The sophisticated artistic direction of simple shapes, pastel colors and black lines that draw the contours of the assets enables stylized special effects. Hand-drawn and stop-motion animated”using traditional 2D techniques” We are promised that Squid Shock Studios’ title is pleasant to look at without standing out from the game. The readability of the plot is only marred by a few rare elements in the foreground. As for the soundtrack, it mixes traditional Japanese instruments and orchestral music for an enchanting result.

Diploma

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