Botany Manor Review: An Outstanding Breathtaking Game (Switch)

I’ve had my eye on Botany Manor for quite a while. I first came across it as I was scrolling through the upcoming Nintendo Switch games and thought it looked very interesting, so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. Now I’ve finally had the chance to play it, was the wait worth it? The answer: most definitely yes! This is probably one of the best games I’ve reviewed in a long time, and I can’t wait to share my thoughts in this review of Botany Manor.

Botany Manor is available on PC, Xbox One | Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch for $24.99.

Story – Botany Manor, Home of Arabella Greene

Botany Manor is a first-person game, and you’re walking in the shoes and seeing through the eyes of botanist Arabella Greene, who lives in her gorgeous Somerset, England manor, the titular Botany Manor, in the year 1890. Arabella is looking to fill in a new botanical book that she’s hoping to get published, documenting the interesting plants that she has discovered, studied and grown.

As you explore Botany Manor, you’ll not only learn about Arabella’s exotic plants, but also about who she is, her life and her work. You’ll discover the struggles she’s faced as a female botanist trying to make her name in Victorian England. As you learn more about Arabella, her character will grow and bloom just like her flowers.

There are a lot of things I like about Botany Manor – and that’s before we’ve even got to the gameplay! I appreciate the game being set in England. I’ve played other games set in England, such as The Good Life, so it’s good to see Botany Manor located there, and in a beautiful setting such as Somerset as well.

I also like the fact that this is a first-person game. It works well for the puzzle and exploration aspect, but also for playing as the character. I think it works much better than playing in third-person. As you learn more about Arabella Greene, her character will grow so you really do feel as if you’re walking in her shoes and living her life. 

Gameplay – Excellent Botanical Exploration and Puzzles

Botany Manor has two key types of gameplay: exploration and puzzles. These are combined to make an excellent experience that will keep you going for several hours (it took me about 4-5 hours altogether in my first playthrough), but the game’s beautiful setting and easy-going nature will not make you want to rush anything and just enjoy the experience. 

How Do I Grow This Flower?

The main objective of Botany Manor is to grow the exotic plants that Arabella has discovered and brought home from her travels as a botanist. These are documented in a book that you always have on you, and this book is extremely handy. When you first start, the book is blank, and it’s down to you to fill the pages with information on these plants. This is where the puzzle solving and exploring comes in.

For each plant, you have to figure out how to grow it. It’s not as simple as putting the seed in a pot full of soil and giving it some water. That’s the easy part. It’s a little more complicated if you want to get the plant to grow and bloom.

Every plant has its own puzzle on how to get it to grow. To solve them, you need to take a look around and gather clues. You can get these from books, notes, letters, posters, and instruction pages. They may not tell you directly how to grow the plant – it’s not that straightforward – but they will give you hints on how the plant has to be grown or how to conduct the methods needed to grow the plants. I’ll use the very first flower you grow in Botany Manor as an example. For this first flower to grow, you need to set the room where the plant is grown to the right temperature using the equipment provided. You find the right temperature by reading a document in the room. 

The goal of Botany Manor is to complete every page on every plant.

Each plant has its own set of clues that you can find that will instruct you on how to grow it. Nothing is vague or confusing, but neither are you completely spoon-fed. It’s quite clever because you need to piece the clues together to get all the answers you need, and you can only get all the required clues by exploring the part of the manor where the plant’s puzzle is based. It feels good when you successfully work out what you need to do to grow the plant. In some cases, you think you’ve solved it, but then there’s one important detail that you’ve missed, but instead of feeling annoyed or frustrated, you feel more in awe at the amount of detail that went into designing the puzzle around that plant. It makes making the plant grow feel even more special.

Each section of the manor and its gardens focuses on one or more plants and puzzles. As you successfully grow each plant, you gain access to more of the manor and gardens, as well as discovering new plants to grow.

Step back in amazement as a plant blooms into life after solving its puzzles.

Any Bugs?

As with any game, you want to be aware of any bugs that might hinder gameplay. I’m pleased to say that for the most part, I had a smooth ride with Botany Manor. The only part where things got a little pear-shaped was in one instance where the book used to keep track of plants and their clues, plus the map of the manor, briefly went blank for a short period. I’ll admit I was beginning to panic when this occurred, but fortunately the issue rectified itself without any need to reboot the game or exit to the menu. It didn’t happen to me again as I continued my playthrough, so if this same thing happens to you, don’t panic!

Graphics & Audio – Bright and Beautiful

I have to admit, when I first saw the previews of Botany Manor, I was concerned that the graphics looked a bit simplistic. However, my worries quickly vanished as I started playing the game. The titular Botany Manor is simply stunning, and I thoroughly enjoyed walking through the grounds, whether I was busy solving a puzzle, finding clues, or just wandering around admiring the place. The first time the manor came into view, it took my breath away. The world of Botany Manor is beautifully rendered. Botany Manor has the sort of graphics that reminds you of a painting. The lighting was on point, none of the textures looked blurry, the colors were subtle and not oversaturated, and the objects looked smooth and realistic.

Sound and music can be hit-or-miss in some video games. For Botany Manor, it didn’t cause me any problems at all. The birds singing outside in the grounds are the perfect touch to such serene surroundings. You really feel as if you’re there! None of the sound effects were annoying. Botany Manor does feature music, but it’s very subtle and underrated, just right for this game. It’s not annoyingly distracting and is there to make you feel calm and at peace as you explore the manor trying to grow your plants.

Botany Manor was reviewed on the Nintendo Switch with a key provided by Whitethorn Games.