A universe teetering on the edge of oblivion has never looked as inviting as it does in Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus.
The premise of the story is that Bo, a fox tentaihana—or, to put it in equally complex terms, a tiny celestial fox-shaped photosynthesizer—blooms in these vibrant, Japanese-inspired locations. Armed with herbal tea and a magical weapon-shifting earring, you defeat hand-drawn, one-eyed paper lanterns and adorable turtles. Everything from the game’s art style to Bō’s publisher, Humble Games, a respected company known for cozy titles like Rolling Hills: Make Sushi, Make Friends and Coral Island, suggests that Bō will be a relaxing experience.
That’s a lie.
Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is hard. I often found myself sighing, scoffing, and groaning so loudly that it drowned out the game’s beautiful, traditional Japanese score.
Key Details
- Developer: Squid Shock Studios
- Platform: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X and Series S.
- Price: N/A
- Review Copy Provided: Yes
A Tale with No Fairies
This 2.5D platformer tells a story that is both simple and profound.
Your celestial tiny photosynthesizer, Bo, blooms in a place marked by tragedy and sorrow: the Strange Garden.
You learn of this tragedy not through cutscenes or narration, but by sensing the looming, threatening aura of an ominous giant creature in the background.
This world is woven from Japanese legends and traditions. Some figures, like Kitsune, are more familiar, while others, like the Vermillion Stranger, are less so. There are even cheeky nods for genre fans, like the ramen cook named Naruto. The story feels satisfying to uncover, never interrupting the gameplay you’re eager to dive back into.
In fact, Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus skips voiced dialogue entirely and sticks you with a silent protagonist. The few times you get to signal Yes or No to another character, it feels like Bō’s just giving a nod or a head shake.
As you take in the beauty of The Crimson Bamboo Forest, Uzumaki Cave, Sakura City, and other locations, along with the kindness of its people, Bō becomes determined to fulfill his prophecy.
Every NPC you run into exudes a wholesome aura. They either advance the story, provide a relevant side task, or offer a tidbit of lore for me to digest. There’s no filler; nothing is there just for decoration.
While the minimalist storytelling is intriguing, it occasionally veers into ambiguity. The Japanese setting and folklore have a lot of potential, but at times, the narrative feels quite thin.
Less Rage, More Mindfulness
Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is a platformer, so to move from one place to the next, you’ll have to get creative — and gud.
You slowly pick up skills as you tackle quests and explore. You start with just moving and jumping, but soon you’ll get a dash and a grapple. Now you can zip over to that far-left platform and check out spots you couldn’t reach before. Feeling lazy about leaving the forest? Just grapple your way out.
You’re constantly learning, so the game never gets dull. Just when you think you’ve mastered a skill, it tosses a new one at you to keep things interesting. Navigating these areas requires more skill than thinking. I found myself getting killed by thorny paths way more often than by any boss
You’ll die a lot. But don’t worry, Bō isn’t out to make you suffer—you respawn instantly at a nearby checkpoint.
The instant respawning doesn’t really ease the frustration of thinking, “But I was so close!”
At first, I thought it was ironic—maybe even hypocritical—that a game centered on drinking herbal tea and meditating at shrines could make me so furious. Every time a spike, thorn, or one of those ruthless bosses sent me back to the last checkpoint, it sparked an orchestra of rage. A symphony of frustrated sighs and angry puffs, only calmed by my eventual surrender.
But then, something magical happens. Bō features a mechanic called the Tree of Blessings—a cherry blossom offering an inspirational quote before diving into a tough section. This pause from mindlessly charging into boss battles can give you the focus and strength you need to win.
While I struggled in the early stages of Bō, I found myself breezing through the late-game challenges, calmly maneuvering through an area’s obstacles or a boss’s attacks, treating it more like a practiced routine than an emotional battle. In a way, you can’t save the world if you’re bursting with anger.
Final Score 9/10
At the 40-hour mark in Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus, I was hit by a sense of generosity and love. It’s not that I never appreciated the game’s beauty before — the cherry blossom pink hues in the streets of Sakura City and the watercolor orange sun setting against the indigo sky in Sencho Bridge are a sight you don’t easily forget.
In my first few moments with the game, I was swept up in the thrilling platforming mechanics and the addictive progression system. This time, though, I focused on the elements that didn’t have to be there. The backgrounds are packed with detail; each building and NPC reacts as you pass by, and the canvas uses space generously. Those tiny details we might overlook add so much richness to the story of a hero saving the world.
Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is a delicious pastry of a game. It’s a lighthearted fantasy in which a winsome hero overcomes all evil, be it a one-eyed paper lantern or the legendary nine-tailed fox Kitsune, and grows to bring peace and cheer to all citizens of the Strange Garden.
If you are curious about the status of the game following Humble Games shutdown, you can read about it here.
**A PC code of Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus was provided to Bonus Action for the purpose of this review**
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