Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus Review

Every once in a while, I encounter a game that is so beautiful-looking that you know that you have to play it before you know anything else about it. That’s exactly how I felt when I saw the first screenshots and then the trailer for Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus. The trailer treats you to this beautiful 2.5D platformer with gameplay that looks very different from most games of this type. Instead of relying on only precise jumps, you will have to use your bo staff to traverse the stage and explore this world full of Japanese folklore.

Players take on the role of Bō the Tentaihana. A tentaihana, which translates to celestial blossom, is a sprite-like creature (in our case, a celestial blossom fox) who has emerged from a flower that was blessed by a kami after tragedy struck the Crimson Bamboo Forest, where we see a temple on fire in the background with a shadowy skeleton walking out from it. Even though our fox protagonist, Bō, is adorable with their cloak made of lotus petals from the flower they emerged from, they are surprisingly strong and agile.

Leading you through this mystical world is Asahi, who is stern and pretty rude as soon as you meet them. Asahi is unimpressed with the tentaihana created in this forest and says that this celestial spirit ejected from the heavens is especially egregious (outstandingly bad) and tiny. They are referring to you! They tell you to go back to the bamboo thicket you crawled out from, sparing you from an expedited exorcism. Geez, well, that was rude! I'm just an adorable blossom fox! As you turn to retreat, Asahi takes notice of your special earring and gets you to drink a special connection to unlock your earring's true form. This endows your earring with the ability to transform into an Equinox Staff, your primary weapon. Young red bamboo from the forest can strengthen it so you can break through obstacles in your way, like bamboo barriers.

This isn’t the only way Asahi will help you, which is surprising considering how much they seem to dislike Bō. They give you a tea kettle that allows you to sip tea when you are low on health. But note that you will be immobilised while drinking tea, and your health will be replenished at a slow rate, so you will need to find a safe spot where you can drink your tea without taking damage. Once you consume your tea, you will be unable to restore more health until your stock is replenished. The kettle will constantly brew more automatically when you are fighting enemies with your bo staff as it syphons energy from them, but it will take a bit of time.

With the Equinox Staff, you go on your quest to explore this world of myth and folklore to learn the mysteries of your origin. This bo staff is instrumental to your progress in the game; it is not only used to attack but needed to navigate this hand-painted world. You won’t be relying only on your basic jump, instead, you use the bo to help you glide through the level or as a pogo stick to bounce up the lanterns spread around the stage. This isn’t a normal staff however, as you progress in the game, you will unlock new mystical abilities that can be used to pass through areas that were inaccessible to you before, like a classic Metroidvania.

There is a map of the world that will show you areas that you have explored so far and mark the location of tea houses where you can replenish your health and save your progress, along with the location of characters that you meet on your travels, stores, and fast-travel locations. Unfortunately, you can’t mark the map to remind yourself of areas where you need a special ability to access like in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, but it’s pretty easy to see on the map where the path abruptly ends, which probably means that you were able to access it and go further. So once you unlock a new ability, it is worth checking out these dead ends to see if you are now able to make progress, especially if you feel stuck and have no idea where to go next. Chances are you have a quest that Asahi has assigned to you to complete. These are worth doing, as the stern fox will reward you with useful items, making it worth the effort you will put in to complete it.

Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus has a beautiful, hand-painted look to it, but that doesn’t mean the game is simple and chill to play. This is one of the most challenging 2.5D platformers I have played in a while! It takes time (and a lot of patience) to learn how to use your bo staff properly. Your timing will determine if you successfully bounce and jump up the path of lanterns placed for you to rebound off of to get to the next platform. When I started, I kept thinking that I had to time my bounce with the bottom of the staff touching the lantern. After numerous unsuccessful attempts and a great deal of frustration, I realised that there was an aura surrounding the stick. Therefore, you must time your jump such that the barely visible barrier touches the object you want to bounce off, thereby maximising the height of your jump. The controls were fine, it’s just tricky to get this timing down, especially when you have large gaps to cross and it looks like there is no way to successfully reach the next point to bounce off of, even with being able to do a second jump to give you a bit of extra height.

As you explore, you will meet a lot of memorable characters, like Yōkai, based on Japanese folklore and other fun NPCs. One of my favourites is Shimeji, a kimono-wearing mushroom who is a Kodama. This is a spirit that protects the balance of nature. They have bad luck, so you will come to their rescue multiple times, but every time that you do, you will be rewarded with items like a Daruma doll named Chomper, and they also give you a second present: Kodama Charcoal. This charcoal is inexhaustible and never runs out, allowing you to generate heat during airborne attacks. You may be thinking, why do you want heat? The more enemies you attack in the air, the more heat you will produce, which can eventually make your Tea Kettle reach the Boiling State. Once this occurs, any Daruma that you use will gain an eye, thus enhancing its ability and allowing you to unleash a strong attack against the enemy. Besides cute and sweet characters, you will run into some that just seem a bit weird, like Dodomeki, who is a traveller who has come here to collect items left behind. He wants your eyes (which sounds super creepy), but he will give you 50 fox fire and a special item called an Omamori Strap. I was a bit nervous to agree to this deal. I still need my eyes. But in the end, it wasn’t as scary as I expected, and I got a cool item that lets you equip Omamoris when you visit shrines that give you their passive effects, like one that attracts enemy rewards towards you.

Playing Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus has been a unique and engaging experience, with outstanding visuals and thematic music to match. However, I must admit that it has also been extremely challenging, requiring me to put down the controller a few times to regroup before tackling some of the trickier areas. Don’t let this scare you off, though. On the pause menu, once you are defeated 20 times, you unlock the option to have infinite energy so that you can keep making tea to replenish your health or invincibility so that Bō takes no damage. You can activate or deactivate these settings whenever you need to navigate some of the more challenging areas. If you find that the game is too easy, or if you enjoy speed runs, you can turn on the speed run timer in the pause menu if you want this type of challenge. This game, steeped in folklore, is sure to captivate you with its mystery and charm, making it a must-try title.