The Legend of Bum-bo | Another Man's Trash Is ...

Nicalis, in the not so distant past, has moved from their traditional dungeon crawling formula presented in 'The Binding of Isaac' to a more stylized 3D puzzle matching game in the prequel that is "The Legend of Bum-Bo'. This prequel of sorts which was originally released on PC comes complete with a new protagonist, and a new plot alongside turn based RPG mechanics. We are introduced briefly through animated cutscenes to the crudely spoken Bum-Bo who is actually a literal bum. He is a squatter living in a cardboard box outside of a house on a hill with nothing but a bag of trash, and a coin to his name. As fate would have it the monster residing in the house comes calling for Bum-Bo's coin. Making a dive into a nearby hole in the ground with Bum-Bo in hot pursuit. As with Isaac's descent into the demon plagued basement of his home Bum-Bo too faces similar foul fiends in the deep down below. From the decrepit turdlettes to the bigger and badder bosses he must use his trash bag contents to deal with the deadly, and devious denizens.

From the introductory tutorial it is explained in hands on fashion that this is a match 4 and match 5 type of puzzle game at the core centered around Nicalis' brand of dungeon crawling. Having each 3D cardboard cutout room, and it's cardboard cutout competitors duking it out with their own brands of damage, and defense dealing. Bum-Bo having the gross contents of his trash bag, and the enemies their usual methods of attack. It is a turn based affair wherein Bum-Bo takes turn matching a select number of item types for either attack or defense while building up mana for bonus special attacks. The turns transitioning after two match attempts, and a special skill use. These encounters act as the rooms within the dungeons leading to rooms with additional skills to obtain, and a final boss room. The deciding factor of failure or finish being Bum-Bo's three heart containers. A health commodity that when exhausted spells GAME OVER!

As Bum-Bo's progress is determined by heart health so too are the disgusting demons that block his path. To deal with these roadblocks to Bum-Bo's lost coin you'll find the garbage bag he carries in tow is the answer. Within it are boogers, poop, urine, teeth, bones, and hearts. Each of which, when matched in pairs of four or five by sliding them into place will reward Bum-Bo with either one or two actions, respectively. Boogers delay an enemy's turn. Poop blocks enemy attacks. Urine gifts Bum-Bo an extra turn/s. Teeth offer heavy damage. Bones deal lesser damage, and hearts refill Bum-Bo's heart containers. Beyond this doing attacks builds up different kinds of mana that can be used to apply skills that will either aid in attack, defense, or other useful things such as garbage reshuffling. These skills are acquired after successfully completing a set amount of rooms, and come in choices of two. Each with detailed perks.

While the tools for turns are fairly straightforward it's the approach to battle that Bum-Bo must closely mind. Enemies are lined up on three rows. Each row getting closer to Bum-Bo, and his garbage collection. Choosing which enemies on which row to target, stop, or defend against is crucial, and this is made easier known by exclamation marks above the enemies along with their flashing states. While the lesser enemies are easier to deal with it is the bosses though that require strategy as their implementation of minion elements often times requires an alternative approach.

As it is, being a Nicalis brand game, 'The Legend of Bum-Bo' does come with it's alternative characters that are unlocked through completed playthroughs, and feats rendered. However all additional characters are variants of Bum-Bo with their own unique underlying looks, perks and bonuses. There's Bum-Bo the Stout, Bum-Bo the Nimble, Bum-Bo the Weird, Bum-Bo the Dead ... so forth and so on. Unlocking, and playing as these alternative Bum-Bos is part of the fun. An incentive for the grind. 

The Verdict ...

While this take on 'The Binding of Isaac' is innovative, and inventive with it's matchmaking mechanics it makes progress much more random, and difficult than it was in "The Binding of Isaac". In the former series progress was more up to actions taken or not taken than the randomization of the contents of Bum-Bo's garbage bag. Thus it's more up to the luck of the draw than actual skill applied. With limited health, and health regen limited to the ability to line up hearts on the puzzle playing field the problem is made worse.

Stylistically it is a cool take on the Nicalis brand name genre, and I loved Bum-Bo as a character as well as his gross take on combat, but the likeable features are held back by unfair progress hurdles that should not be an issue in this type of experience. I think the game fell a little short, and missed it's mark. As I said, it's innovative, and inventive, but I don't think turn based strategy plus matchmaking puzzles makes for proper mechanics within "The Binding of Isaac" universe.