Game Review: Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King (PC)
I did a preview of this game awhile back, and now that I've found the time to give Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King a full review. It's a Zelda clone action-RPG, but with loads of cuteness attached to it in the form of The Princess Bride style commentary. That's a feature that helps this game stand out from your typical Zelda clones.
Even though it goes for the retro look, and uses chiptune music that's sprinkled into the mix, the game does have some modern sensibilities. Things such as auto-saving and using a recharging magic meter for sub-weapons almost right out of A Link Between Worlds. The game itself is about a little girl who is with her brother, and they both are begging their grandfather to tell them a story. So he does just that. Only the little girl, Lily, is transposed into the story as the main character. Lily in this story is a member of the Knight of the Rose, and in some kind of homage to the introduction to Dragon Quest III, Lily is hired by the King on her birthday. However, on her first day on the job, the King gets attacked by the evil Crocus, the King's brother. This results in King is being cursed to Eternal Sleep.
The game is pretty linear, but there are some optional areas you can explore like puzzle caves that will test your mettle in various ways. These areas have your typical heart pieces to collect, as well as sub-weapon energy upgrades. Money could be found everywhere, and while this game is relatively easy, finding hearts to restore health can actually be a problem, as their frequency is considerably lower compared to money. The game also has quite a few traps to avoid as well. The game does have a map, but things like puzzle caves and dungeons could have been marked. Other games like Ittle Dew 2 do a lot better in this regard, so to see this game not do that is a bummer. And despite the game's small amount of main dungeons, it will take the player about 15 hours to get through the game. Not a long game by any means, but longer than one would expect from this genre and an indie title. At the end of the day, Blossom Tales is a fairly affordable game that fans of the genre should enjoy, and the commentary storytelling is pretty cute. I give it a solid recommendation.
The Bottom Line: A great little Zelda clone with a lot of secrets to uncover, with fun The Princess Bride style commentary.
Acquisition Method: This game's review code was provided by the publisher.
Even though it goes for the retro look, and uses chiptune music that's sprinkled into the mix, the game does have some modern sensibilities. Things such as auto-saving and using a recharging magic meter for sub-weapons almost right out of A Link Between Worlds. The game itself is about a little girl who is with her brother, and they both are begging their grandfather to tell them a story. So he does just that. Only the little girl, Lily, is transposed into the story as the main character. Lily in this story is a member of the Knight of the Rose, and in some kind of homage to the introduction to Dragon Quest III, Lily is hired by the King on her birthday. However, on her first day on the job, the King gets attacked by the evil Crocus, the King's brother. This results in King is being cursed to Eternal Sleep.
The game is pretty linear, but there are some optional areas you can explore like puzzle caves that will test your mettle in various ways. These areas have your typical heart pieces to collect, as well as sub-weapon energy upgrades. Money could be found everywhere, and while this game is relatively easy, finding hearts to restore health can actually be a problem, as their frequency is considerably lower compared to money. The game also has quite a few traps to avoid as well. The game does have a map, but things like puzzle caves and dungeons could have been marked. Other games like Ittle Dew 2 do a lot better in this regard, so to see this game not do that is a bummer. And despite the game's small amount of main dungeons, it will take the player about 15 hours to get through the game. Not a long game by any means, but longer than one would expect from this genre and an indie title. At the end of the day, Blossom Tales is a fairly affordable game that fans of the genre should enjoy, and the commentary storytelling is pretty cute. I give it a solid recommendation.
The Bottom Line: A great little Zelda clone with a lot of secrets to uncover, with fun The Princess Bride style commentary.
Acquisition Method: This game's review code was provided by the publisher.
Our Grade:
B+
The Good:
- The Princess Bride style commentary freshens up an otherwise average story.
- There is some decent puzzle solving in this game.
The Bad:
- The mechanics for bomb throwing are a bit wonky.
- The map could have used a legend to better identify places you've been to or puzzle caves you've solved.
Eric is one of the co-hosts of the RPGrinders podcast, as well as a freelance video game writer. You can follow him on Twitter @EricRPG .
