PS5

Published on October 21st, 2024 | by Nay Clark

Bloomtown: A Different Story Review (PS5)

Fight demons with demons in this laborious summer adventure where life lessons get cultivated in surprising ways! Bloomtown: A Different Story is a narrative turn-based JRPG developed by Lazy Bear Games and Different Sense Games, published by Twin Sails Interactive, and released on September 24th of 2024. Bloomtown mixes a lot of different gameplay mechanics like gardening, maintaining a job, and rolling dice for skill checks while having a time system that you have to keep watch of. This unique attribute of the game can be annoying at times, but in effect keeps you on your toes and feels rewarding after a hard day’s work. Keep up with Emily and her crew while they try to have fun, solve mysteries, and save the town from malignant spirits during a vacation they will never forget.

The spunky Emily and her timid brother Chester are on their way to stay with their grandpa for a while in the quiet and peaceful suburb of Bloomtown. After familiarizing herself with the localities and her grumpy grandfather, she soon runs into and becomes acquaintances with some kids that inform her of their missing friend. During the search, Emily falls into the Underside which is ruled by no other than the demon lord himself, Lucifer. As reluctant as Emily wants to be, she has no choice but to help the evil king in his crusade against an unknown benevolent force. Emily, her brother Chester, a new friend, and a strange dog must now sustain their relationships and responsibilities while fighting off hellish fiends before bedtime for the sake of the town and everyone in it rests on their shoulders.

The story stays interesting the entire way through the game just because of the odd predicament the characters are in and the swapping of environments. All of the characters show an abundant amount of emotions and attitude with their childlike behavior. I never really got into the dialogue though, especially for the main character Emily. Her stubborn attitude came off as annoying rather quickly and the way she treats her brother, adults, and other characters felt too irrational. There’s also A LOT of dialogue in general and conversations can get a bit too chatty, especially when it feels like the characters are having a competition to see which one can say the most annoying thing. I know these are kids we are playing as, but personally, I felt the dialogue was a bit too much on all fronts which in turn, dimmed down the story for me.

There are a lot of different facets to the gameplay. The main mechanic that you always need to look out for is the clock. The day is continuously moving and you have to pay attention to different times if you want to do certain things. For example, buildings will close at particular times and the library holds a book club meeting at a specified time one day a week. This all sounds good and well, but there is a lot you can do in Bloomtown. You can buy fruits and vegetables to garden and cook in the kitchen to create meals that will grant you health. You can go down to the docks with a fishing rod and some bait to fish. You can work at your much needed job to earn some money so you can actually buy some gear. Sitting down and knocking some hours off the clock to read books that you can find or borrow from the library will net you some experience in one of many skills. Pumping iron at the gym all day will increase the amount of health you have. Test your luck and gamble at the lottery to earn even more money. There’s many other things you can do and that’s all aside from actually exploring, talking to people and completing side quests, and actually following the story by playing the main part of the game.

How everything is tangled during these parts of the game makes you feel exhausted and exasperated. You instantly understand how the game will play out, but realizing that you have to disembroil its complexities is a toil within itself. The game and playing space only gets more expansive as the game goes on as well which opens up a whole slew of different problems. Often I would find myself skipping entire tasks for days just because I didn’t want to start to understand something new; that is even if I had the time to ponder that. Almost every thing you can do can become a critical part of the game somehow so juggling all of these tasks can almost feel like a burden when you have to crunch.

When you finally get a chance, you and your allies will travel to the Underside to kick demon heinie. The Underside is more or less a creepier version of Bloomtown that is covered with dark and twisted features and feels like a fever dream. Running up to and slapping the dark ghouls that roam around will initiate combat. Combat plays out in a traditional turn based fashion. Each character can attack, guard, use an item, use a firearm for a long ranged attack if they have one, or conjure up your demon guardian for a strong elemental based attack. You can even “catch” demons and mix them together to gain even more power. Fighting feels good for the most part and it’s always fun strategizing to take these monsters down.

The problem I had with combat is that a lot of the time, it can go on for way too long, specifically at the start of the game. At the beginning of the game, your characters are going to constantly be missing their attacks, not be strong enough to do any significant damage even after setting up debuffing combos, and you don’t have enough items to save yourself from any given state of affairs. Sure, that only makes your precious time to level up throughout the town crucial and in turn makes your decision making meaningful, but the gap between knowing what to do and how to do it and achieving everything correctly in a timely manner is far too wide. At one point early on, I came into an encounter where I was fighting one strong enemy with two other enemies that healed him the entire time. There was nothing I could do except constantly use all my items to heal myself because if I attacked them then they would just heal and then I was constantly being attacked. I couldn’t attack the healing lackeys either because I didn’t have a long ranged weapon and if I used my demon to attack them, they would just heal themselves anyway. RNG factors in a game like this where there is so much to do that you can’t possibly understand everything as fast as the game wants you to can be very aggravating.

Bloomtown looks clean and mesmerizing graphically. The pixel art is sublime and the animations are smooth like butter. The enemy design is top-notch and I always hoped to see a new creature whenever I engaged with an enemy on the battlefield. The environments are also great to look at. The town is detailed and feels lived in and the juxtaposition of exploring the other side is enticing for all the new things you’ll see. The audio is a hit or miss. The sound design seemed fine all throughout my playtime, but the music was pretty fickle. The music while exploring Bloomtown literally put me to sleep multiple times; the relaxing vibe may be a little too cozy. Some of the Underside music sounded straight up abysmal and it didn’t feel purposeful at all. The jazz rock that played during combat felt more in line with how the game actually wanted to feel like, but even then I don’t think it meshed well with the conundrums and overall look of combat.

Final Thoughts?

Bloomtown: A Different Story is a peculiar game in a good way. I think breaking out of the norm and establishing yourself as something different and unique is very important in this age of gaming so I applaud Bloomtown for bringing something special to the table. Unfortunately, a lot of the pieces to its formula just didn’t mix as well as I would’ve liked. Making decisions is fun and all but the way it’s implemented here feels too haphazard and aimless. Underneath the confusing gameplay design layout, awkward dialogue, combat never being in your favor, and ill-contrived OST, there is a game here that is intriguing and admirable. If you are looking for a game that brings new ideas to the table then take a step into the Underside, make a deal with the devil, and prepare for the most busy holiday you’ll ever have.

About the Author

Nay Clark Gaming holds a special place in my heart and I never stop talking about video games. I really love all types of games and have an interest in games that have complicated stories and lore because I enjoy untangling the mystery of it all. When I'm not gaming, I unsuccessfully try to control three amazing and incredibly bright kids.

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