Distant Bloom

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In "Distant Bloom" , you and your crew arrive on an alien planet with the mission to create a new home. This once-vibrant world now appears desolate, and it's up to you to restore its former glory by nurturing varied alien flora. As you explore and uncover the planet's history, turn your harvest into useful items, build and improve your homebase, and help your scattered crew become a thriving community.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

82%

Audience ScoreBased on 110 reviews

story17 positive mentions

stability15 negative mentions

The game features beautiful graphics and a charming art style that enhances the overall experience.
It offers a relaxing gameplay experience focused on exploration and environmental restoration, making it perfect for casual gamers.
The story is sweet and carries an important message about nature and sustainability, with engaging characters and a cozy atmosphere.

The game suffers from numerous bugs and glitches, including issues with character movement and quest progression, which can disrupt gameplay.
The map is largely ineffective, making navigation difficult and leading to frustrating backtracking.
Gameplay can become repetitive and tedious, as the core mechanics lack depth and innovation, leading to a feeling of monotony over time.

story
59 mentions
29 % positive mentions
66 % neutral mentions
5 % negative mentions
The story is generally described as sweet and simple, focusing on themes of environmental restoration and sustainability, with some unexpected twists that keep players engaged. While the narrative is linear and occasionally lacks depth, it is complemented by charming visuals and a cozy atmosphere, making it enjoyable despite some minor gameplay frustrations and bugs. Overall, players appreciate the story's message and the leisurely pace it allows for exploration, though some found it a bit short and occasionally confusing.
- “The story is really sweet, starting with unraveling a mystery and conveying a very important message about nature and sustainability.”
- “The plot twist and story honestly surprised me.”
- “The story is simple and straightforward, centering on environmental restoration, recycling, and community solidarity.”
- “Additionally, I've missed whole sections of the story, including important reveals because the game skips the cutscene entirely by entering me into a conversation with one of the people in the cutscene.”
- “The storyline is entirely linear.”
- “The story is cautionary about environmentalism, but lacks real depth.”
gameplay
33 mentions
15 % positive mentions
76 % neutral mentions
9 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by a simple and relaxed loop focused on planting various plants in hexagonal grids, which many players find repetitive and lacking in depth. While the game features charming graphics and a compelling concept of ecosystem restoration, the mechanics become stale quickly due to minimal innovation and shallow progression. Overall, it offers a casual experience but may not hold long-term interest for those seeking more engaging or complex gameplay.
- “Game is excellent if you are looking for relaxed and simple gameplay with very minimal pressure.”
- “It's a well-done product, the art is beautiful, the music is nice, the core idea of helping a dying world recover is really compelling, but there's not much to the gameplay.”
- “The mechanics are established early on, but you receive tool upgrades and additional plants as you progress which open up the world and give you a reason to revisit previous areas.”
- “The concept and story is kind of interesting, but the gameplay loop is so boring.”
- “50% of the gameplay is putting 5 different plant types into a hexagon grid, and you have to do this hundreds of times, which is very uninteresting.”
- “The main mechanic of planting the correct kind of seed for an area and making sure that each plant is surrounded by other kinds of plants is good, but it's really shallow and there's no progression in the mechanic, which makes it kind of boring after a while.”
graphics
27 mentions
41 % positive mentions
48 % neutral mentions
11 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally described as cute and engaging, with a charming art style that enhances the overall atmosphere. However, some players noted issues such as fuzzy visuals, lack of crispness, and occasional glitches that detract from the experience. While many appreciate the aesthetic and find it relaxing, there are calls for improved graphical options and clarity.
- “The art style is incredibly cute and I cared for a lot of the different characters you meet.”
- “The graphics are fantastic and so beautiful.”
- “It's a cute little game, very engaging, with fun graphics!”
- “This game starts off okay, cute art style, but it very quickly becomes annoying and tedious, totally tanking its 'cozy game' intention.”
- “The graphics are fuzzy and lack the crispness that I would expect from a game with this art style.”
- “I found the graphics fairly alright and figured that it would be even better in the actual game, but it somehow felt worse.”
music
20 mentions
60 % positive mentions
25 % neutral mentions
15 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its calming and atmospheric qualities, enhancing the overall experience with a stunning soundtrack that complements the beautiful graphics and exploration elements. While some players note issues with gameplay responsiveness, the relaxing and dynamic music remains a highlight, contributing to a pleasant and immersive environment. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a significant strength, adding depth to the game's aesthetic and emotional appeal.
- “And the soundtrack is stunning.”
- “I'm really enjoying the deliberate slow pace, incredible dynamic/adaptive music, dialog is sparse and respects my time, and one of the characters is named Chorein and that's just a fun name to say out loud.”
- “It's cute and cozy and low pressure and the music is wonderful and atmospheric.”
- “All animations keep playing and the music keeps playing, but the game no longer responds to the controller.”
- “The area goes from grey and lifeless, the music barely audible, to full of color and sound.”
- “But then games such as Grow: Song of the Evertree and the recent Lightyear Frontier just don’t quite click with me.”
stability
15 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The game exhibits a range of stability issues, including frequent glitches that can disrupt gameplay, such as character movement locking up, collision detection problems, and missed dialogue moments. While these bugs are generally low-impact and do not break the game, they can lead to frustrating experiences, particularly for players reliant on dialogue and smooth progression. Overall, the game's charm shines through despite its rough edges, but potential players should be prepared for a somewhat unstable experience.
- “Unfortunately, there are also tons of glitches. Nothing I encountered was game-breaking, but there are things you have to be overly careful about with the scripting of dialogue with NPCs and collision detection.”
- “The downside is that every 15-20 minutes I get stuck and have to restart (there is no 'unstuck' button), glitches where monumental moments in dialogue are missed (I missed the entire conversation at one point for a turning point in the plot), and I've frequently fallen off the world into a grey-brown void until the game either glitches and I need to restart, or it drops me somewhere nearby on the map.”
- “The glitches and bugs in this game are low impact aside from two major points, but they do increase your gaming time and slow your progress in a noticeable manner, which may put off some who are heavily reliant on dialogue and speed.”
grinding
14 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game is characterized by a mix of enjoyment and frustration, with players noting that while the initial experience is charming, it quickly devolves into tedious backtracking and repetitive tasks. Many find the navigation cumbersome due to a lack of clear shortcuts and a monotonous world design, leading to feelings of being lost and overwhelmed. Despite these issues, some players appreciate the beautiful landscapes and soothing music, which can make the grind feel more bearable at times.
- “The game 'tries' to reduce the tediousness of traveling all around by creating shortcuts... that only result in the player becoming more lost because now there are more places where one can take a wrong turn...”
- “The world is fairly same-y after a couple of hours and the winding paths combined with the restricted view makes exploration and traversal extremely tedious.”
- “This game starts off okay, cute art style, but it very quickly becomes annoying and tedious, totally tanking its 'cozy game' intention.”
atmosphere
7 mentions
86 % positive mentions
14 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its beautiful graphics, relaxing music, and cozy, immersive environments that enhance the exploration experience. Players appreciate the game's focus on atmosphere over combat, with many finding joy in the serene and picturesque settings, particularly after restoration elements are introduced. Overall, the combination of light puzzle elements and a charming ambiance creates a delightful and low-pressure gaming experience.
- “After realizing the core gameplay was in the exploration, I was happy to shift gears into immersing myself in what had already established itself as a relaxing and atmospheric environment.”
- “It's cute and cozy and low pressure, and the music is wonderful and atmospheric.”
- “If you enjoy exploration style games with no combat and an absolutely beautiful atmosphere, then get this.”
humor
4 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is generally appreciated for making NPCs feel more engaging, with dialogues that are often funny, though some players feel the pacing disrupts the comedic effect. While initial exchanges may have been funnier in the demo, the charm of the environment and cute animals adds to the overall humor, even if it becomes more noticeable after a couple of hours of gameplay.
- “Dialogues aren't super deep, but often funny and make the NPCs feel like more than random quest dispensers.”
- “What I really loved about the game was the environment changing as you planted more vegetation, and the few animals there were were super cute and funny.”
- “This point didn't come up until after the 2-hour refund mark though... funny that.”
character development
2 mentions
50 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
While the game features appealing character designs and a vibrant world, players have found the character development to be lacking, leading to a sense of repetitiveness that detracts from the overall experience.
emotional
2 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its wholesome and emotionally uplifting experience, allowing players to transform a desolate wasteland into a vibrant world through relaxed gameplay and light puzzles. It evokes feelings of positivity and satisfaction, making it a standout choice for those seeking a heartwarming adventure without combat.
- “It's super wholesome and one of the loveliest games I've played.”
- “If you want something wholesome and mostly relaxed, with no combat, some slight puzzle aspects, and a journey from a desolate wasteland to a lush world, this is a great contender.”
replayability
2 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The game is generally perceived to have low replayability, with users expressing doubt about the desire to start over or experience it again after completion. However, some still find it worth the initial investment.
- “Not sure it would have any replayability, but very much worth my $.”
- “-zero replayability; I can't see myself replaying this game from a fresh start.”