As extra metroidvania video games come out, we’re seeing fewer of them resemble the originators of the subgenre–Tremendous Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Evening–and extra that clearly take inspiration from people who got here after. Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is one such instance, with tons of clear parallels to Hole Knight when it comes to each gameplay and narrative. In a number of methods, this works extraordinarily nicely for Path of the Teal Lotus–if you are going to take inspiration from a sport, do it utilizing one the place there’s numerous great things to construct on. Nevertheless, Path of the Teal Lotus pales compared to its inspirations by making mechanics and options that had been already issues in Hole Knight, like an unclear map and irritating platforming gauntlets, worse. It makes for an altogether decent-enough sport if based mostly solely by itself deserves, however one that does not stand out in any respect when held up in opposition to its juggernaut contemporaries.
In Path of the Teal Lotus, you play because the titular Bō, a celestial blossom charged with fulfilling an historical prophecy and defeating a terrifyingly massive monstrosity after falling from the heavens. Armed with a bō employees, Bō should traverse and combat their means by means of picturesque locales, assembly characters and preventing monsters impressed by Japanese folklore. It is an unimaginable narrative tee-up, however one which comes after hours of coy character dialogue and never a lot in the best way of route past “go get this means to get to the following space.” Path of the Teal Lotus’ story takes a very long time to get going, leaving the primary half of the sport feeling directionless. And as soon as a narrative does begin falling into place, the sport is already heading towards its conclusion, culminating in an general narrative tempo that originally feels far too gradual earlier than changing into rushed and troublesome to comply with.
And I wished to get misplaced on this sport’s world. Path of the Teal Lotus is a gorgeous sport, that includes a colourful, hand-drawn 2.5D type that comes with vibrant greens, electrical blues, somber purples, and shining reds. Character and enemy designs are assorted and pop in opposition to the backdrop, with particulars serving to to focus on NPCs you wish to speak to and enemy weak factors you wish to bash. The world depends on the tried-and-true technique of associating a selected colour with every location after which counting on mentioned colour to depict the identical location on the map, reinforcing every distinct locale and the distinctive challenges you may encounter there, whether or not it is the icy blue of a snow-covered mountaintop or comfortable pink of a sakura-filled forest.
Composer Moisés Camargo brings these locales to life with an unimaginable musical rating that comes with conventional Japanese string devices. The general sound design is nice, too, and pairs with distinct visible indicators to assist discern what’s taking place to Bō throughout particularly hectic scenes–a sharp clang and small kickback burst letting you already know that Bō is attacking impenetrable armor, for instance, or a satisfying boing and temporary launch of white particle results indicating that Bō efficiently bounced off an enemy’s head.
However for as lovely because the world is to take a look at and take heed to, it is too tough to get round. Path of the Teal Lotus makes an attempt to straddle the road of a standard motion sport’s linear development and a metroidvania’s looping exploration, and it would not fairly succeed at both. Every of its areas is generally self-contained, the spokes of a wheel connecting again to at least one hub. In a completely linear sport, a construction like this would not be an issue as you’d deal with every spoke one after the other. However Path of the Teal Lotus leans onerous into these metrodivania trappings, with the primary quest and a number of non-compulsory facet quests requiring you to backtrack to different areas. Although a fast-travel system helps, you continue to must journey to particular factors as a way to use this method and the rarity of such factors means you spend numerous time simply attempting to succeed in them. Backtracking will get tougher the additional into the sport you get because the spokes of the map get longer and longer, distancing themselves and going in opposition to the mandatory interconnectivity to alleviate the frustration of aimless exploration.
Worse, Path of the Teal Lotus’ map is not excellent. A number of instances, I might take a look at it and surprise the place I used to be purported to go subsequent, with the formatting suggesting I had explored each space. Ultimately, I might encounter an NPC or hallway I had missed–Path of the Teal Lotus marks a room having been absolutely explored even in the event you’ve solely simply walked previous it, however it would not put markers for added discoveries in that room except you truly absolutely discover mentioned room. The result’s a map that generally says you have absolutely uncovered a nook of the map when, in truth, you might have truly not gone into one of many areas the place a pathway results in the place you subsequent have to go. An goal tracker graciously alleviates a lot of the guesswork, no less than pointing you in the suitable route so you already know which locale to discover, however this solely lessens the unrewarding guesswork of exploration, fairly than outright eradicating it.
On the flipside, fight in Path of the Teal Lotus is nice. Bō swings their employees with acrobatic grace, knocking again enemies with a satisfying thwack. Whereas within the air, the employees can be utilized to bounce off enemies, including a level of aerial finesse to Bō’s dance-like actions. It is easy to choose up, however there is a remarkably excessive ability ceiling, particularly within the latter half of the sport when the movesets of the tough-as-nails yokai boss fights construct on Bō’s further abilities–like a splash and spider ball-like wall roll–to ramp up the strain of every confrontation. Bō’s rhythmic actions assist in mastering the patterns that underlie every fight encounter; there is a dance to be taught right here, and every counter you grasp ensures you lead the efficiency. A number of of the boss fights pissed off me sufficient to place the sport down for some time, however my qualms had been by no means with the mechanics, simply my very own incapability to maneuver by means of the enemy’s assaults in the best way the sport was clearly indicating.
I do have qualms with the platforming, nonetheless. Bō’s floaty actions could add to the dance-like sensation of the fight, however they remodel the platforming segments within the sport into horrible slogs. One second in particular–in which you must navigate two back-to-back frustratingly lengthy platforming gauntlets in an icy cave–almost satisfied me to place the sport down for good. The construction of the sport merely doesn’t permit for Bō to carry out tight jumps and exact actions, resulting in a handful of missed jumps that may be rage-inducing throughout sections of the sport the place one-too-many errors can ship you again to the final spawn level initially of the sequence of spikes, shifting platforms, crushing partitions, and Bō-tracking bats. Fortunately, most of the platforming challenges within the sport are non-compulsory, hiding secret shortcuts or collectibles. However the handful of instances that the obligatory ones pop up stalls the momentum of development to an irritating halt.
Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is a beautiful sport, that includes an unimaginable artwork type and sound design that strengthen an already colourful world that I wish to discover. However getting round within the sport is frequently a chore, and Bō’s floaty, dance-like actions too usually result in irritating deaths throughout platforming gauntlets. The sport no less than shines by means of its fight, and the story is thrilling as soon as it does truly get going–but there’s simply an excessive amount of in the best way to completely get pleasure from what the sport does nicely.