Whether you’re traversing collapsing bridges with high-flying acrobatics, taking tea breaks with tengu, or probing bamboo forests for secret passages, there’s more than one way to go with the flow in Squid Shock Studios’ upcoming action-platformer Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus. Let’s take a closer look at five facets of Bō’s gameplay, and explore what’s in store over the course of your mystic journey.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1614440/B_Path_of_the_Teal_Lotus/
Airborne Agility
As a fox tentaihana, a spirited blossom from the Celestial Realm, Bō is right at home flying through the air. Aerial acrobatics are a core part of Bō’s gameplay, as you leap up, pogo off an enemy or environmental element to enable another mid-air jump, and navigate to the next foothold to continue the cycle. There’s art and rhythm to staying airborne—not too tricky to learn, challenging to master, and supremely satisfying when you find your flow.
The Amazing, Transforming Equinox Earring
The source of much of Bō’s celestial power is a teal-and-vermillion earring capable of taking on some extraordinary shapes. As the Equinox Staff, it allows Bō to attack enemies and pogo off their backs. As a Bamboo Bat, it allows Bō to smash glowing blue enemies into barriers to reveal new paths, or hurl a projectile back into a yokai’s unsuspecting face. It can allow Bō to Dash across the air on a trail of blossoms, granting access to areas that were previously unreachable. It can grapple objects, smash through the earth, or unfurl hovering wings.
Each form adds new options to your combat arsenal and allows Bō to explore areas previously unreachable. But first Bō will need to discover these forms—and some secrets are more closely guarded than others.
Tea and Tranquility
Bō’s harrowing battles with yokai and monsters are balanced out with moments of serenity—often accompanied by a steaming cup of tea. Sip some at a shrine as you save your game. Take advantage of a few seconds of calm in a hectic boss battle to replenish your health. Sit down with a spirit to hear its tale (and perhaps even earn a mysterious power). But tea has other purposes too….
Tea and Troublemaking
Bō carries an enchanted kettle that fills up with each enemy strike, and heats up when Bō maintains airborne combos during combat. A “gift” of sorts from Asahi, this kettle fuels certain abilities…including ones provided by the curious Daruma Dolls that Bō collects during your journey.
Daruma Dolls can turn your fortunes in battle, as they fly across the battlefield chomping foes, surround you with shields or thorns, or release a blast of flame from their painted faces. They love boiling hot tea, especially—and as Bō’s kettle heats up, the dolls’ powers gain steam along with it, unleashing up to three levels of Daruma devastation. Some even say that if you paint in a Daruma Doll’s missing eyes, you might even unlock their full potential.
Collect and Customize
Over the course of Bō’s journey, you’ll discover and purchase a wide variety of Omamori, amulets and charms that grant unique bonuses. Vigor, for example, makes your tea boil faster. Ingenuity fuels Daruma Dolls with Fox Fire (the main currency of Bō’s world) rather than tea. Intuition shows the location of collectibles you might have missed. Over two dozen play-changing Omamori are available to choose from, but Bō can only wear a select few at a time based on how many straps you’ve discovered. Make finding them a priority, and you may gain the edge you seek.
As for what Bō does with these powers? The places Bō goes? The yokai Bō battles? The answers Bō seeks? That’s a tale for another day.
Until then, brew up some tea, and get ready to find out for yourself when Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus arrives July 18!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1614440/B_Path_of_the_Teal_Lotus/