Distant Bloom

Distant Bloom is a game for granola girls. Its saccharine character designs and Roger Dean-style vistas make the visuals a mixed bag, but it’s never an ugly game. At times, it feels like Temu Okami. The gameplay will either relax you or bore you. Either way, you’ll fall asleep after prolonged play and reading the dull dialogue.

Distant Bloom enchanted me with its peaceful world, accessible gameplay, and charming characters, just as the PC demo had promised. Unfortunately, the Switch version suffers from serious technical issues—framerate drops, awkward loading, and lighting problems—that overshadow the game's potential, leaving me hopeful for a patch to let its true charm shine through.

Distant Bloom beams you up to the cosiest alien planet you could dream of. It has minor issues, but they don't detract from the cute, relaxing experience as you revitalise a wilted world.

Distant Bloom is a fantastic cozy management game for those who just want to sit back and relax while going through a heartwarming story. The game plays a big part in the environmental theme without making it stressful or frustrating.

Distant Bloom has a lot of elements that attract me to a video game. Exploration, crafting, managing seeds and turning a barren landscape into a lush environment. Giving your crewmates little gifts ups their friendship levels. All of this is set against an unusual scene of an alien planet and an alien crew. The Assistant and KEi.Ki are busy bees and it’s very satisfying to make the sick planet, plants and animals healthy again, just by sowing seeds. Collecting strange-looking seeds that produce interesting plants adds an extra incentive to Distant Bloom, as well as unraveling the mystery. I am really loving my time in the game, and I love the little humorous touches in the conversations between the crew mates and quirky things like adding a trademark sign to the Exomulti. Oh and…. did I tell you you can pet the animals?