Bloomtown: A Different Story caught my eye immediately when I first saw it at last year's PC Gaming Show. Beautiful, smooth sprite animations and a clear Persona influence interested me enough to finally pick up the demo yesterday when I was browsing Steam's Next Fest.
It has a somewhat slow start, but I'm sure Earthbound fans will dig the the game's Americana setting with a dash of whimsy and humor as you poke around town. Of course, things take a turn and you end up fighting demons.
There's more than a little Persona 5 in the game's battle system, with familiar music, UI, gameplay elements, and concepts like companion demons. Some of it is parody, such as slapfights to determine who gains the initial advantage in battle. Some might feel outright borrowed, such as the battle music (which is nonetheless excellent).
Like many early demos, there are bugs and rough elements I'd expect to get smoothed out. However, the overall experience was far better than I was expecting. I'm excited to get my hands on the full game.
The demo is available on the game's Steam page if you'd like to try it yourself.
