I’ve been going through a bit of a metroidvania phase and Bo is a game that hits all my buttons.

Metroidvania – check.

Beautiful and eye-popping art – check.

Inspired by Japanese folklore – check.

Basically it sat right at the top of my wishlist until its release, when it was immediately snatched up. Which is all to say that I had pretty high hopes for Bo. And for the most part, it held up pretty well.

First – the art is gorgeous. Absolutely. Breathtaking. I loved every detail, every character, every background, every item, etc. It works.

Now I played right after the game came out and before some, let’s say, balances were patched into the game. So a few of the boss fights were slightly frustrating to say the least. But nothing worse than the pain of Hollow Knight so I can’t complain (too much anyway). I did get stuck for a while at Jorogumo, I guess the tree stump mechanic just wasn’t my thing. But for the most part the game was challenging but rewarding, not quite the rage inducing struggle of Hollow Knight but not a cake walk either.

I loved all the Japanese folklore included in the game, and based on my limited knowledge it at least seemed respectful of its origins. I’m not an expert by any means on that score so I’ll leave it at that.

To be honest this ‘review’ has taken me several months to write and looking back now I wish Path of the Teal Lotus had been longer, it really was such a fun time. And if that’s not a recommendation I don’t know what is!