A boring summer turned into a brilliant but different form of Persona in Bloomtown.
There comes a time in every gamer’s life when you just want something different, but different to the point that it almost seems impossible. Different Sense Games went above and beyond to make that ‘want’ a reality when co-developed their first release with Lazy Bear Games.
While not much is known about Different Sense Games, this Lithuanian studio definitely dreamed of making the mother of all impacts with Bloomtown: A Different Story, which was released on 24 September.
To give a little background on the world of Bloomtown: A Different Story: Ever heard of Persona? Y’know, the crazy and somewhat whacky game franchise known for its interesting gameplay and bizarre twists.
Bloomtown: A Different Story follows Emily and her brother, who were sent to live with their grandfather for a summer holiday in Bloomtown. However, while things start cozy and seemingly harmless, it changes very quickly when she learns that a girl has disappeared. This only escalates further when she meets Lucifer, who gives her a quest.
Emily is tasked with defeating three great demons who trapped Lucifer, and they’re hellbent on causing as much chaos as possible. Luckily, you’re never alone, and you’ll have some help from an immortal Corgi and several friends as you battle it out in the Underside while solving the mysteries behind the missing children in Bloomtown: A Different Story.
Unfortunately, there are other factors to keep in mind, such as time, and you discover early on why you need to be careful with what you do and how much it affects your time.
Your adventure starts as you’d expect, with your grandfather giving you chores, doubling as the tutorial. Bloomtown: A Different Story is a little slow to get off the ground, but the build-up to the chaos is worth the wait. So, aside from the chores, the first thing you’ll need to get the hang of is the map and journal combination.
It’s not exactly your normal layout. You’ll need to navigate around the map, and only then can you see each area’s corresponding quest. Unfortunately, this can make figuring out where you want to go a little tedious.
Getting better acquainted with the town and its people will help in the long run since you never know what you’ll find. Loot goblins will love this because there’s always an overabundance of items to pick up all over the place, and you’ll need all of them.
Luckily, if you’re not up for scavenging for items, you can also buy them from several shops around Bloomtown, but you’ll run into the eternal issue that every JRPG lover faces… Money, but we’ll touch on this real soon.
Sooner or later, things will progress enough to the point where you can start exploring the Underside. This is essentially a mirror dimension of Bloomtown, and you’ll be spending a lot of time there.
Bloomtown: A Different Story takes you on an adventure through two different worlds. While one is cozy and somewhat normal, the Underside is where the real action takes place. You’ll need to equip your party with weapons and armor to survive the many battles ahead.
Now, your party members aren’t exactly the usual bunch of heroes you’d expect, and you’re instead getting Emily and her friends, all kids. It’s odd, but it works a little too well. Their weapons might seem like simple playthings back in Bloomtown, but they become quite formidable in the Underside. However, each party member also has unique sets of weapons, and you can’t necessarily swap gears between party members.
Remember the issue involving money? Picking up new gear is great, and it can get you pretty far; you’ll eventually need to buy new gear. This brings us to an interesting twist: when you’re not battling it out against demons, you’ll need to earn some coin.
Lucky for you, there are a few ways to get some money, Loot being the most obvious because selling what you pick up or make can fetch a nice price. The alternative is working in Mr Lovely’s store, which will also get you some cash in a pinch.
There is still the other side of Bloomtown: A Different Story to consider: the unrelenting flow of time. Time will always move forward when you’re exploring the town, but certain things like working in the store will cause a decent chunk of time to rush forward. This is easily managed since there’s no real-time constraint on quests, but it can leave you at a bit of a loss if you don’t make the most of each day.
Taking a trip to the Underside will essentially cost you your whole day, even if you just want to go for a minute quickly. However, there is something even more important to keep in mind when you’re going off to battle demons. No RPG or JRPG would ever be complete without the ever-present stats such as HP (Health Points) and SP (Spell Points). Granted, there are other stats that play a massive role, too.
Going a little deeper into battle when it comes to Bloomtown: A Different Story, Lucifer doesn’t send you and your friends off to fight without some help. Each party member comes with a guardian demon, and they all level up independently, too.
A little farming for experience goes a long way in this regard. Taking a few pages from Persona, you’re not stuck with just melee or ranged attacks; you’ll also have spells you can use, and you’ll need them to balance your party.
However, Bloomtown: A Different Story doesn’t play into the generalized archetypes of DPS, Support, and Tank. The roles are more balanced and spread throughout the party with subdued demons, and you can freely change things up as needed, giving combat a lot more versatility and some extra flare.
Life in Bloomtown: A Different Story takes a more technical turn with the extra demons that can alter each party member’s stats and resistances. However, it also adds so much extra flexibility that you can easily build a dream team.
Taking a look at actual combat, you’ll have your usual options between a melee and ranged attack, items, guarding, and spells. The attacks are self-explanatory, and the same can be said for items. However, combat takes an interesting turn with SP, its recovery, and spells.
Making the most of any fight will mean using your enemy’s weaknesses against them. The best way to do it is with spells, but that cost SP. Luckily, recovering them is easy with Guard, which essentially makes that character nearly immune to attacks.
Aside from the combat, one thing stands out in Bloomtown: A Different Story: the character relationships. It’s an odd thing to point out, but it’s only natural to want to know more about your party members.
Choosing the option to spend time with them gives you some insight into their lives while strengthening the bonds you share. However, you’ll also need to raise your traits to have the best chances at better outcomes during conversations.
On the visual side, Bloomtown: A Different Story is far from what you’d expect, but it’s not every day that we get a game with so much detail in pixel art. There is a literal mountain of unique character designs, and it goes without saying that it’s definitely a sight to behold.
Although the town itself might not have much of a visual story to tell if you’re after visual detail, the character details (especially with the demons) are where you’d want to stop and admire the view.
Now, the real star of this show is with the music in Bloomtown: A Different Story. There have been many games that took inspiration from Persona, but most of them fell flat because they lacked one key aspect: epic music.
That’s right. Music is what pulls it all together, and Bloomtown: A Different Story has exactly that in all the best ways. It’s not just a generic background song; you can hear that the music was made for this game, and it’ll keep driving you forward while being catchy.
Overall, Bloomtown: A Different Story is a brilliant spin on Persona with a different perspective and narrative that’ll keep you coming back for more. Some people come for the story, some will love it for the battle, but a select few will absolutely adore it for everything it is. You’re in for a hell of a ride with this adventure and the chaotic goodness from the demonic side of things.
