The Indie Informer

Bloomtown: A Different Story is a step above. To be clear, I’m only two hours in, but in just the first five minutes I knew I was in for something special. The writing nails whatever tone it’s going for, whether that’s witty humor, sarcastic nihilism, social commentary, or out-of-the-blue references. The pixel art positively teems with life. And the battle music is impeccably kick-ass. It takes obvious inspiration from games like Persona, D&D, and indie’s best life sims, but takes these all and forges them in the cool-blue flame of hell.

So imagine, in the messy aftermath of your parent’s relationship crumbling, you get shipped off to live with a stranger who happens to be your grandfather. He likes it almost less than you do. Now, imagine the first night you sign a contract with a literal demon. It’s probably a bad dream, right?

The wild set-up seems for a while like it might just be a trick of an overwrought child’s imagination. I quickly get my bearings in the new, small, town I have to stay in for the summer. I buy butter — and don’t even keep the extra change for myself. I fix up the once-broken record player in my temporary roo. I even learn to garden in the back yard from a helpful neighbor. But when I spend the failing hours of the day in a park looking for a missing child with a group of potential friends, my bargain comes back knocking.

These opening hours work as a wonderfully subtle tutorial for all the mechanics and opens my eyes to a plethora of possibilities. A D&D nerd, I immediately fall in love with the dice rolls which govern whether I sound convincing while bending the truth and the process which sees me level up my charm stat when I return a book to a shelf rather than steal it.

Characters in this world are also weirdly wonderful. When I eventually fall back into the demon-filled Otherworld hiding just behind the sleepy town’s veil, I’m accompanied by my imagination-induced brother, a spunky neighbor girl, and a verbose corgi. All turn out to be great teammates, not just because of heir fun quirks but also because they can each command a demon guardian.

Combat and the Otherworld are almost like jumping back into the role-playing Persona series — especially with the jazzy battle beats which rapidly shot to the top of my favorite soundtrack of the year. Me and me squad take turns throwing melee or magical attacks at a barrage of demonic enemies — even taming them if conditions are right. The different elemental types and synergies create great chances for combos and smart-feeling special attacks.

Exploration in the mundane world, however, holds my favorite surprises. Newspapers lying around give me, the player, a chance to level up my character’s stats if I know trivia questions. Ridiculously good, but startling references — like a statue that strikes up an unexpected connection to an Old Spice commercial — lie around every street corner. And I even discovered the ability to sit on a bench and whittle the time away with a good book.

Obviously, I have hours of adventure left in Bloomtown: A Different Story. My mission seems to involve battling the demon’s of the townsfolks’ hearts, and three big baddies in particular. And I still have to figure out what my contract-holding devil is getting out of lend me its powers. Plus there’s a whole town to save. It’s a lot on my supernatural plate, but I’m loving the taste so far.