Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus

TLDR: If you enjoy platforming and are versed in modern metroidvania this game will bring you fun and fairness but (THANKFULLY) no brickwalls like others of its kind This game offers a GORGOUS art and music style and pairs it with sometimes advanced but never unfair platforming and fights. I never had the feeling that dying was anything but my own fault during the whole playthrough. If i had ANY gripe it would be that it feels a little short but then again not every game can or SHOULD be a 60 - 100 hour mammoth. The world and characters left me after I beat it wanting more. More diving into who they are, more stories and more new platforming tools for harder challenges. Overall the difficulty had a fair escalation which never felt like it asked too much of me. The absence of any "brick walls" is a hugely positive aspect esp after playing silksong which offers its fair share of "♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥" not having ANY unfair or seemingly poorly made bosses or hitboxes was a breath of fresh air. I appreciate the liberally places checkpoints as well. If i had to bring up one gripe with it aside from leaving me wanting more it would be that the Daruma as well as the talisman are lacking some impact. I purchased the daruma that spawns whisps (or a big hand on lvl 3) and used it the entire game to great effect. Likewise while the things given by talisman are nice to have i rarely swapped them out or felt like another one would be better (aside from exactly the challenges with destructible targets which do not work well with the fan cloak) otherwise it was the same ones al the way through. Overall i think Bo was a great game which both showed wonderful artistic vision in combination with something INCREDIBLY rare in a lot of games FULL transparency and fairness. I am excited to see the next game of these devs

Quite cool so far, enjoying it thoroughly...

This game was a vibe from beginning to end. I loved the art style, the cutscenes and the music. This is a short game (10-15 hours), but it keeps you on track while still building in enough fun side-quests and characters you can interact with that it helps you imagine what lives and breathes outside the main story. The only gripes I had while playing this were: 1. the bosses sometimes felt too easy and sometimes take way too long! I was often able to kill bosses on the first attempt (or within the first 3-5), and it didn't feel like the difficulty increased as the story progressed. This is the kind of game where you can be aggressive. You're almost never punished for it, and if you're not, every boss fight will last 10 minutes or more. If you're into a more relaxed experience where you don't have to fight for your life, this is the game for you. 2. the midgame took me completely by surprise--there were no warnings (at least as far as I know) that the vibe was going to change before I completed the final quest that launched mid-game. It came as a complete shock when I returned to the city, and I panicked about losing some of my unfinished side-quests (I didn't, in case you find yourself in a situation like me). A little bit more warning would have been appreciated, but it didn't ruin my experience. Overall, this was a very fun game and worth a play.

It is difficult for me to judge such a game. On one hand, I absolutely hate precision platforming / platforming in general. On the other hand, this game's visuals and character design are a delectable treat and is highly rewarding in the broadness of that category together. The story is fast-paced and great for what it is. I personally enjoyed it a lot, but I do wish there was more in terms of lore scale across the different regions you encounter within this game. Music was awe-inspiring, emotionally resonant, and awesome all the way through! Each piece of music you encounter fits whatever is happening quite well, if not masterfully for certain areas (Gashadokuro in particular for me personally). And I must state again that every character in this game was so flavorfully wonderful! To me, the most important aspect of games is music, lore, and characters. Gameplay is usually secondary for me, and even though some of the platforming made me pull my hair out, I simply can't hate a game like this due to how good everything else was! I really hope more games in the future get as ambitious as this game did with its characters as I feel every game benefits with a unique setting of characters :D I haven't played the DLC yet, so this review is merely for the base game. Furthermore, I think I would have enjoyed the platforming more if I had some buddies to watch me stress over it, but I played the game alone, and so the alone-gamer syndrome of rage fills the cauldron once more lmao -- 6/22/2026 - I completed through all of the DLC. The Tunuki races were pretty fun aside from the ones in Ice Caverns. Going through and doing all five seals for each of the bosses was an enormous challenge and mental warfare that I gave up and continued sooooooo many times. It has also made me encounter various bugs, wacky interactions, and insanely tight and precise techniques in order to maximize damage. Through these methods I can confidently know, and say, which bosses I absolutely loathe and which I absolutely love. Gashadokuro and Asahi were the bosses I absolutely never had any pleasure in doing. Yokozuna is fun but kind of boring for a boss. Kitsura, Tengu Trio, Jorogumo, and Sakura Shogun remain as my favorites with Kiri Kiri Bozu and Armakillo remaining as good middle ground bosses that are fun but lack complexity within the 5 seal challenges. I did not do the guauntlet with the seals as that would take too long to become comfortable doing... and well, I'd rather not spend a hour to go through all the bosses when it took like 7 hours to learn how to beat the Tengu Trio once under 5 seals. All the cosmetic stuff and customizable room was a nice feature of the DLC that I wish more games did. Very good endgame goals and content for people who want to continue playing the game and want a incentive to do so. Gambling and RNG isn't really my thing in games so the luck pools within the machine weren't that fun but I did manage to get them all after 30k Kitsunebi. I was stuck at 76 for at least 20k, which is insane bad RNG LOL After trying to beat the game without dying, I found out I was definitely going to get an aneurism if I tried that multiple times so I was more then happy just doing the challenge of not using my teapot to heal to beat the game. I did complete that one at least lol

I really enjoying this game! beautiful art, good soundtrack, nice animation, but the boses feel to easy if we compared to Hollow Knight or Silksong. Overall i really enjoyed this game.

This is genuinely one of the best metroivanias I have ever played! I love the art style a lot and the characters are very cool. The platforming is very fun and the boss fights are the perfect skill level for me! (I suck at boss fights). This game has features within platforming that are unique which i haven't seen in any other game which i really appreciated. This game is very fun and I'd highly recommend checking it out!!

The game is good but if u want the 100% u will need to do a stupid gacha with no garantee or exchange shop or smtg you'll just get the same dolls over and over again 0 fun full grind for nothing it's just pointless and not fun 7/10 if you are just playing the game 4/10 if you want to 100% the game cause the gacha is really nonsense