Following the game’s launch on PC and consoles, I had a chance to send over some questions to the team behind Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus to discuss the reception, soundtrack, a potential Western physical release, Switch optimization, Steam Deck, and more. Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is a gorgeous platformer that I enjoyed playing quite a bit on Switch and Steam Deck despite a few issues with the port on the former. I even bought the Japanese physical edition. This interview was conducted before the unfortunate news broke of Humble Games being gutted and the team not having clarity on future updates for the console versions. The responses are all from Squid Shock Studios’ Art and Design Director Christopher Stair.
TouchArcade (TA): What were the inspirations behind the traversal system and locomotion in Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus?
Christopher Stair (CS): At the beginning of development I really got into a game called Dustforce. I really fell in love with the flow of that game. In particular, I really enjoyed their jump/dash refresh mechanic in which you can hit an object and reset your jump and dash. I found that really fun and wanted to base Bō’s gameplay around this reset mechanic. Ori and the Will of the Wisps was also a very huge inspiration behind the movement. It felt so good to chain traversal abilities in that game and that is something I wanted to capture in Bō as well. At the highest level, Bō’s mobility has super high skill expression once players engage with the nuances of the controls.
TA: The aesthetic is gorgeous, and I noticed a lot of interest in the game when I was in Singapore on holiday. I also saw it get a retail release there on Switch and PS5. Are there any plans to do one for North America, Europe, and Australia on PS5, Xbox Series X, and Switch?
CS: We would love to do physicals for all platforms in the West! The physicals and deluxe set that Marvelous INC. put together were absolutely gorgeous and I just recently got to hold it in my hands for the first time in Japan. It was a super memorable experience. Although we currently have no plans for physical distribution in the West, it is something that would like to explore if there is enough demand.
TA: Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is Steam Deck Verified and it plays amazing on the system. Did the team do any additional work for the platform?
CS: The biggest challenge with the Steam Deck is its slight difference in resolution. We made the game for 16:9 aspect ratios. That little change in resolution was so annoying! We actually had a tough time adjusting once we saw it on the Steam Deck. That was the main thing, other than that it was a fairly smooth experience.
TA: I also like Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus quite a bit on Switch, but it has some performance issues. Are there any plans to optimize the game further on Switch?
CS: The Switch was always a looming presence in my mind while we were making Bō. Honestly, its performance limitations actually really limited me creatively throughout development. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised that once the first port booted up, most of the game ran pretty well on Switch. There were some big problem areas that our porter, Josh Regan, did a great job of smoothing out, but there are definitely still a few frame drops that we are aware of. They will be adjusted easily enough in a future patch. The Switch is super tricky, but I think it turned out pretty well all things considered.
TA: Humble Games brings many of its titles to mobile. Should we expect to see Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus on iOS in the future?
CS: This is something I never really thought about. I think getting the control scheme of Bō to feel good on a touch screen would be a herculean feat. I do think that there could be some clever things down with swiping and such, but that is a whole rabbit hole that I haven’t even begun to conceptualize. If someone wants to help tackle a mobile port, we will welcome them with open arms!
Note: This interview was done before the unfortunate news about Humble Games broke.
TA: Are there any plans to do a vinyl soundtrack? The music is amazing.
CS: I am a HUGE fan of vinyls and making a vinyl for the Bō soundtrack was always very very much in the cards for me. Whenever we find the right partner we will make it happen. There are just a few things that will take precedence. As part of our Kickstarter we are also working on a chiptune and LoFi EP that will include remixes of the music from the OST. These would also make great vinyl opportunities.
TA: How has it been for the team seeing the reviews and reactions from players across all platforms?
CS: It’s interesting, Bō is a bit of a divisive title. You see this in the variance of reviews. The people that the movement clicks for absolutely rave about it, saying that this is the game that they have been waiting for. I think there was a little bit of a disconnect with others because it’s kind of a cute colorful “easy-looking” game at first glance. But it is actually kind of nuanced and sophisticated in a way some people might not have expected. So reading some reviews we wish that reviewers would have engaged with some of the mechanics a bit more like we intended. In the end, I think some of the tutorialization could have been better, which is something we plan to make clearer in future patches.
TA: Also how was it working on so many consoles and PC at the same time for your launch?
CS: Working on multiple ports alongside development on the PC is not something I would recommend. I honestly can’t believe we pulled it off. We are a small team and I can see why a lot of titles opt to do PC releases first and porting later. It just complicated the whole process. If I had to do it again I think we would have just kept working on the PC version first. Things just get so much more complicated and stressful when worrying about multiple platforms.
TA: How do you like your coffee?
CS: Iced Americano. No sugar or cream. Iced Mocha if I am feeling naughty.
I’d like to thank Christopher Stair and Mel Karimzadeh (fortyseven communications) for their time and help here..
You can keep up with all our interviews here including our recent ones with Shuhei Matsumoto from Capcom about Marvel Vs Capcom here, Santa Ragione here, Peter ‘Durante’ Thoman about PH3 and Falcom here, M2 discussing shmups and more here, Digital Extremes for Warframe mobile, Team NINJA, Sonic Dream Team, Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, and more. As usual, thanks for reading.