As games reviewers we get to play a ton of games that wouldn’t have necessarily been taken in during our leisure time. And that means we get the chance to play some brilliantly unusual experiences. Potato: fairy flower on Xbox Series X|S – just from the name alone – is most definitely in that category of games that I wouldn’t have given a second look. A gently out of shape, middle-aged man is not the target audience for this game. But Potata: fairy flower conjured up memories of games that I’ve been playing since the early 1990s. And that is not a bad thing.
This colourful platformer puts you in the shoes of a young apprentice witch called Potata. It all starts in her home in the village where she finds that her pet fox is quite poorly. Her mother – a fully-fledged witch – tasks her with finding some ingredients, helping cure the fox. But Potata soon finds herself going into a portal and then upsetting a fairy by picking a magical yellow flower. To make things good with the fairy she must go on an adventure around the fairy woods, gathering up petals and restoring order.
It’s a nice simple setup and there are some lovely characters to have fun with. But mostly it is all about the gameplay and while Potata: fairy flower may look like a child-friendly game, in reality, it’s bloody hard. It’s an old-fashioned platformer firstly, with all the control systems you would expect from games of this ilk. There are all sorts of hazards and enemies that you have to overcome, perfecting your timings and jumps to the exact second. You have three hearts (three lives) to help get you through, but once those have gone it’s back to the checkpoint. Luckily that checkpointing is generous – but still, expect to be doing more than a little bit of backtracking.
Blue crystals are scattered around levels and you collect these; both from simple places and hard-to-reach areas. In return, you’ll get currency for saving points and solutions to certain puzzles. You also get access to a little sword which adds another tool, letting you attack some enemies from your pathway. The journey is a tough one, taking you through the different areas. And then there are boss battles to be had. I found these to be a lot of fun, even though it is all very much a case of just remembering their moves and countering.
The puzzle elements of Potata: fairy flower appear in two ways. It’s about finding items in an area, unlocking progress or moving things in the way; like boulders or pulling levers in the correct order. The other kind of puzzle invokes a Tetris style, whilst light puzzles also come to the fore. Both of these allow the option for you to use your collected crystals as currency to buy the solution to the puzzle. I’ll admit to using that many times.
Potata: fairy flower comes to Xbox Series X|S after previously being present on older generation consoles. And that means that the art style is a delight, with a hand-drawn cartoon look that works wonders on the eyes. The colours from the world pop out from the screen. The cutscenes are nicely drawn too, but are certainly not as effective as the rest of the game graphics.
Sound-wise and whilst this is one of those games where the sound score does a good job, it’s not something that will embed itself in your mind.
There is a lot to love about Potata: fairy flower as it gets optimised for Xbox Series X|S consoles – from the family-friendly visuals to the setup of a young witch going on her travels, hoping to find a way home. The platforming side of the gameplay is exactly what you would expect from an old-school game like this; there is nothing surprising about the gameplay loop and your muscle memory will kick in fast. But it’s also a game that requires patience and skilful precision, coming across as very hard at times, maybe too hard for a family game.
The puzzle elements give a welcome respite from the constant platforming and dying and it must be said that the option of buying a solution is a good one to have. Ultimately, Potata: fairy flower has plenty to enjoy; a solid platformer that is both challenging and fun in the same breath.
