Our Verdict
Bloomtown: A Different Story is a fantastic RPG, with a great core group of characters, fantastic visuals, and engaging turn-based combat. While the pacing can be a bit off, and some of the cozy mechanics aren’t as fleshed out as they could be, there’s still a great time here for any Undertale, Pokémon, and Earthbound fans.
Since I first saw the Bloomtown: A Different Story release date trailer a few weeks ago, this is a game I’ve been very much anticipating. All it took was the “from the makers of Graveyard Keeper” at the top of the clip to grab me. Graveyard Keeper ruled, and controversially, it might be one of my favorite games of the Switch era. I had to see whether the latest from the developer, Lazy Bear Games, alongside co-developer Different Sense Games and publisher Twin Sails Interactive, could live up to my lofty expectations.
So, what’s it all about? Well, you play as Emily, who’s leaving the big city of Chicago behind for the summer with her brother Chester. You’re staying in the suburbs with your grandpa, Cooper, as your mom is too busy with work and your dad isn’t in the picture. Before long, Cooper has you working for your keep, helping out with gardening, and putting in shifts in the local general store. That all sounds pretty cozy, right? It is, at first, until a local girl goes missing and Lucifer summons you by night to sign a contract.
You see, Bloomtown isn’t really a cozy game. It’s a monster-taming, dungeon-crawling RPG, for the most part, masquerading as one. The real story begins with this missing girl and your encounter with the devil, which turns into a quest to find three monsters in Bloomtown’s Underside, a.k.a. Gloomtown, a kind of spirit world that exists in parallel to the small town. This adventure needs more firepower than just you and Chester, though, so you team up with Ramona, the local police chief’s daughter, and Hugo, a talking Corgi who can handle himself in battle. Honestly, I love this game’s fab four, especially Hugo, and the interplay between the characters is one of the highlights of the whole experience.
Admittedly, it’s difficult not to rely on comparisons in this review. Bloomtown borrows from countless games, with varying subtleties. The gameworld, tone, and monsters of the Underside are reminiscent of Undertale. The monster-taming and battling mechanics are very Pokémon-inspired, right down to afflictions like freezing and poisoning. Then, there’s the cozy bits around the edge that reek of Stardew Valley. That’s without mentioning the dice roll checks, which are a constant reminder that I should really finish Baldur’s Gate 3.
I love all those games, so mixing them in a pot with a few original ideas is always going to make for something that I’ll just devour. I’m especially keen on the creature design, with everything from Castlevania-like gothic horrors to more Kronenberg-inspired monstrosities wandering about the place. The variety is fantastic, and each area of the Underside has its own nightmarish creations to encounter.
Each of the four main characters has a spirit monster that sticks with you through the game, but you can also subdue wild creatures and add them to your team. Collecting new creatures isn’t as easy as it is in Pokemon games, and what beasts you end up with feels much more random, but it’s fun adding to your team and mixing up which monsters you utilize for their abilities in battle.
Bloomtown itself benefits from some fantastic world design from the developer, with a retro art style that allows more detail than something like Stardew Valley. Detail is the key word, and the best example is how the kids can’t run on the road. You can only cross at a crossing, which, if anything, makes Bloomtown a great commercial for pedestrian safety awareness. Outside of this highway code-appropriate mechanic, though, the little town is a joy to find your way around, and while there might be a little more room for secrets and rewarding exploration, it’s hardly barren.
I’m also super keen on the companion missions you go on with Chester, Hugo, Ramona, and eventually, Ruth. The latter doesn’t team up with the gang on adventures but helps out with her communication devices. I hadn’t mentioned it yet, but this game takes place in the 1960s, so Ramona’s walkie-talkies are very helpful. Each companion has their own problem, and while none of these lore-heavy sidequests quite surpass Hugo’s tale, which I won’t spoil here, it’s rewarding to learn more about Chester’s desire to make male friends and Ramona’s struggles moving on from losing her mother and connecting with her bitter old man.
The RPG battling itself is of a decent standard, too. There’s nothing that makes it that special; as I said earlier, the Pokémon influence is very obvious, but it’s refined enough to keep you engaged. It’s perhaps a little too easy to over-level yourself by not avoiding enemies, which in turn can make battles less like a dangerous duel in a dark place and more like a stroll through Bloomtown’s park. Still, this is partly on me for taking on every encounter. That itself proves that the RPG mechanics are tight enough to keep me coming back for more.
Still, while it should already be clear to you that I’m a big fan of this game, it’s not perfect. The few ‘cozy’ mechanics that you can engage with are a little shallow. Working at Mr. Lovely’s shop is the best example of this. It’s a six-hour shift, but you can just skip through all of it and come away with $6. All you’re really sacrificing is your time; there’s no mini-game or side quest. Just interact with Mr. Lovely, watch a cutscene, and go. The same applies to visiting the gym and reading. You get a stat boost from these activities, which is always great, but it doesn’t feel like you’re earning it.
I’m also a bit at odds with Bloomtown’s pacing. For me, there isn’t enough of an indication of where you are in the game, and some of the best boss battles come early in the story, with the mid- and late-game duels slightly disappointing. There’s also a section around two-thirds into the game where things get a little fetch-questy for my liking, sending you around Bloomtown and the Underside in a couple of loops to pick up tidbits of information before piecing them together in a way that already made sense three steps earlier. It’s the gaming equivalent of a meeting that could have been an email.
While I’m not the biggest fan of the game’s pacing, sadness at the final act wrapping up must also mean that I had a good time. I think I finished the story in around 20 hours, and honestly, it could have been twice as long, and I’d still have plowed through it before writing this review. With all those borrowed mechanics I mentioned earlier, it feels almost as if the developer delved into my brain at night and made this game just for me. If DLC is a possibility, I’ll be there with bells on.
In terms of performance, I played mainly on my Steam Deck, but the Nintendo Switch version runs without issue. Admittedly, you’re not really expecting performance issues with a top-down retro-style game like this, but I’ve seen them before (I’m looking at you, Sports Story). There’s not much to say in terms of controls either, given that it’s pretty simple for both exploration and the RPG battles, but the early game tutorials do a stellar job of introducing you to the mechanics.
All-in-all, while I’m not as blown away with Bloomtown as I was with Graveyard Keeper, it’s an engaging game with just a couple of weak points. Both experiences are very different, though. The latter can almost go on for what feels like forever, while Bloomtown, by its tropey nature as a what-happened-on-summer-vacation game, is confined to a shorter length of time. The ending, like the end of summer often does, leaves a slightly bittersweet taste. You want it to go on that bit longer, just another day, running around town solving mysteries. Still, it’s better to be grateful for what you had – a great time with good friends. Isn’t that what it’s all about?
There you have it, our Bloomtown: A Different Story review. While you’re here, be sure to check out some similar adventures with our guides to the best games like Stardew Valley and the best games like Undertale. Or, if you’re looking for more new titles, see our Reynatis review and Pocket Oasis review.