Publisher Twin Sails Interactive popped up at last night's Future Games Show to reveal that the gorgeous Persona-inspired turn-based JRPG Bloomtown: A Different Story will be adventuring onto Switch on 24th September.
Developed by Lazy Bear Games and Different Sense Games, Bloomtown looks like a perfectly cosy affair on the surface. You get to explore a slice of 1960s Americana, make friends, do a light bit of farming — it's all very sweet. But there's a darker side to the idyllic Bloomtown (literally), with a world of demons and other nasties growing beneath the surface, snatching the town's children.
Stranger Things much? Yeah, we thought so too. But there's also a generous helping of video game inspiration on display here, with everything from the life-sim elements of Persona, to the childhood mystery of EarthBound. Heck, there's even a Pokémon-style demon-catching system that lets you build a team of monstrous allies to take on the Upside Down Underside.
We first caught wind of this one at Summer Game Fest 2023 before our curiosity was piqued at last year's Gamescom. Classic inspirations? Gorgeous pixel art? Something weird going on under the surface? Yes please! The latest trailer only confirms our excitement, so we're pleased to see that we don't have long to wait.
Here's a rundown of the game's key features and a handful of screenshots courtesy of the publisher:
A New JRPG Adventure: Inspired by beloved classics like the Persona series and Earthbound, Bloomtown balances social life with demon taming, pulse-pounding turn-based combat, and a gripping story. It’s up to Emily to figure out the mysteries of mystical disappearances and save the townsfolk’s souls!
Two Worlds Collide: Enter the dark Underside which lurks upon the children of Bloomtown. Encounter the inner demons of the townsfolk brought to life as monstrous manifestations of fear and vices.
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Use your own demons’ and allies' unique abilities to defeat fiends and dungeon bosses in turn-based, tactical battles.
Capture & Tame Demons: Weaken unique demons to capture and add to your own demon-hunting squad. Level up your demons and fuse them to create powerful synergies for battling in the Underside.
A Summer Vacation to Remember: Fighting demons won’t take up all your time in Bloomtown! Explore the town, pick up jobs, make friends or take it easy - how you spend your time is up to you.
If this looks like your cup of tea, keep an eye on the eShop on 24th September.
What do you make of Bloomtown: A Different Story? Will you be picking it up? Let us know in the comments.
Comments 14
Looks great, hope Nintendo Life will review it if possible and if it ends up being just as good as it looks I'll eventually play it for sure!
It'll be interesting to see what sort of ESRB rating this gets, it doesn't look like it'll lean into the heavier themes that Persona games tend to.
Kind of interesting that the developers themselves describe the game as a JRPG, even though it doesn't appear to have any Japanese developer studios involved. Just semantics I suppose, can a non-Japanese games be a JRPG? It's probably a silly argument though.
Hmm...not bad, color me intrigued.
I have been waiting ever so patiently for this! Very excited!
Ooooh love the pixel art. This could be really good!
It looks fine but those demon designs look a bit underwhelming.
I like the art style, but I haven't played neither Persona nor Earthbound, so not sure if it will be for me lol.
Anyway, I'll keep an eye on this one.
Right up my street
Those are some really great pixel art graphics. Can't wait to see more of this and I'll keep my fingers crossed for a demo version!
@Coversnail JRPG tends to refer to a turn based, mostly linear story RPG, with set characters; opposed to something where you create your own characters and make your own choices; or an Action RPG. Strangely, Square, one of the old giants of JRPGs, make a lot less JRPGs these days, and more Action RPGs. Another way to think about it, is in some RPGs, you create a role to play, and in others, you’re playing an already established role, almost akin to reading a book. JRPGs tend to refer to the latter. Some JRPGs have some choices, but not on the level of, say, Fallout or Mass Effect or Dragon Age. Or BG3.
Does anyone recognise the narrator’s voice? It kinda reminds me of the old man voice one of the players in Tales from the Stinky Dragon does? I don’t think it’s them, but I’m still curious.
There’s a demo of this on Steam if anyone wants to give it a go before release. I very much enjoyed it and am definitely picking this up next month. Gonna be an expensive month with Zelda, Ace Attorney, Age of Mythology, Demonschool, Ara History Untold, The Plucky Squire and this!
I smell a certain kind of artist on the concept art team.
Made by the Graveyard Keeper team, one of my favorite life sims ever. It was definitely the most historically accurate take on medieval graveyard keeping.
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