Sometimes there are games that simply slap you in the face with their visuals, and before getting into anything else at all there’s no question that Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus is simply gorgeous. With its distinct and colorful art style, obvious influences from Japanese folklore, and a fitting score that does a great job of accentuating both its story-driven moments and action, it's absolutely an attention-grabber. All that said, the demands of its control scheme may not be everyone’s cup of tea.

Starting with the positive, there’s no question that this is a Metroidvania that is bound and determined to feel familiar while also doing things its own way. The somewhat diminutive stature of your character feels like it allows for more fine detail overall, and bosses that can feel all-the-more intimidating with their size. Some of the equipment and abilities you’ll acquire also simply feel different in their use, in particular a bat you’ll use to aim and knock enemies around with, helping you break down barriers in an unfamiliar way. Also, while you’ll absolutely have to take on enemies in combat periodically, more often than not it feels like it’s the game’s traversal and puzzles that get the focus here.

Unfortunately, I think that also lays bare the game’s greatest overall weakness, and that’s the implementation of its controls. The good news is that you can absolutely, with some time and patience, come to grips with its quirks. Most notably, hitting lanterns to then use an additional jump, just doesn’t feel quite right in its timing and implementation. Perhaps the goal was to force you to execute this all very precisely, and up the challenge level when pairing that with an abundance of platforming challenges that will test those skills, but in my mind it’s needlessly fidgety and too often sucks the enjoyment out of what’s otherwise a well-crafted experience. If nothing else, at this point quite a number of tougher games have implemented options to help make their controls more approachable, and the lack of such an option now stands out.

Despite this pretty central issue, there are still plenty of things here to enjoy, and there can always be hope that the controls will be tweaked or that perhaps some form of accessibility options will be implemented to ease that concern. The challenge is by no means insurmountable, it just tends to be a stumbling block when you’ve built up some positive momentum, and that’s a shame. Regardless, it remains a feast for the senses, has its own approach which is often refreshing, and is still worth a long look if you’re a Metroidvania fan who doesn’t mind a challenge.