Our Verdict
While Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus plays it too safe with its gameplay, its engrossing setting and large cast of charming characters help it stand apart in the ever-crowded Metroidvania genre.
Starting in the mid-2010s, we’ve seen a steady flow of excellent 2D Metroidvanias, from the Ori series to Hollow Knight. Just this year alone, I’ve enjoyed Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Animal Well, and Nine Sols. But with so many great genre entries landing so regularly, the latest releases like Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus can very easily get lost in the mix.
Thankfully, this stunning new Metroidvania makes a strong first impression with its vivid, hand-drawn art style and setting inspired by Japanese folklore. You’re cast as Bo, a spirit born from flora and fauna, and you’re tasked with exploring a gorgeous forest of crimson bamboo. As I delved deeper into the opening area, a thundering boom heralded the arrival of a skeletal creature far off in the background. It shook the earth with every step as it lumbered across the screen – a foreboding tease of what Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus has in store.
It was quite the opening, and it didn’t end there. I also met Asahi, a rude and more experienced spirit who gave me a combat staff and left behind a teapot I could use to heal myself. “Obedient to a fault like a dull puppy,” he says after I complete a short, tutorial-like quest for him, causing me to laugh aloud.
The next screen over, I met a two-headed bird that broke the fourth wall. Later, I found myself racing across a sprawling bridge as Hashihime, a giant, narcissistic demon woman, tried to drown me. Each of these encounters was memorable, charming, and often hilarious. I greatly anticipated meeting more denizens of the Strange Garden. Speaking with adorable villagers in a city of cherry blossoms or a duo of childish monkeys deep beneath a freezing mountain went a long way toward setting the Teal Lotus apart from its contemporaries.
On the other hand, Bo plays it too safe when it comes to perhaps the most important parts of any Metroidvania – platforming challenges and unlocking traversal mechanics. As you’d expect, you’ll earn a new ability after defeating a boss or completing a specific quest, but it’s hard to get excited about unlocking something as familiar as a dash or glide power-up. The lack of a fresh way to explore often makes the platforming challenges fall flat. Not once did I have to use my abilities in a way I hadn’t seen before in another game.
The closest it gets to a unique traversal method is your ability to stay airborne as long as there’s something to whack with the staff, thereby resetting Bo’s jump and dash abilities. As staying airborne also allows you to attack faster, the Teal Lotus has a ‘the floor is lava’ meta-game. Combined with 32 collectible amulets with passive boons and eight Daruma that grant special abilities to cycle between, there’s just enough variety to the straightforward combat to stave off a sense of dullness through the 14 hours it’ll take you to roll credits.
The boss battles are a real standout, skillfully straddling the line between frustratingly difficult and enjoyably tricky, and require you to make smart use of Bo’s growing abilities. I needed no more than a few tries to memorize the correct rhythm to leap over the deadly feathers of a Tengu warrior duo, yet I still got that dopamine rush from overcoming the adrenaline-inducing challenge they provided.
The Japanese-inspired music – full of traditional instruments like shakuhachi, shamisen, and hyoshigi – ramps up to a crescendo during these battles. It also does a great job of setting each of the eight biomes apart, though music can’t do much to alleviate hit-and-miss visual design. The Forest of the Crimson Bamboo, for example, had me in awe, while the proceeding area was a largely nondescript cave. Later, I walked through gorgeous rolling tea fields enchanted with rainbows before entering an uninspired forest I couldn’t wait to move on from.
Despite this, I enjoyed almost every minute I spent in Strange Garden. While it doesn’t set itself apart mechanically from the best Metroidvanias, Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus gets by on the charm of its cast, its engrossing setting, and its deliciously satisfying boss fights.