Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King

Genre: Top-Down Action-RPG

Players: 1

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Review:

Blossom Tales is a Top-Down Action-RPG that very clearly wants to be Zelda. Everything from the game’s level structure to the weapons you can wield screams out “Zelda”. Heck, even the game’s opening introduction clearly hints at it in a tongue-in-cheek way. So the question is, how does it shape up to those lofty ambitions?

Right away, the game sets itself apart with its main story conceit – you are playing the heroine in a tale told by an old man to his young grandchildren. The story is narrated by the grandfather (and actively commented on by the kids), and this does quite a lot to add a charm and sense of humor to the game that elevates it above its otherwise routine “evil wizard usurps the throne” plot.

Visually, the game has a charming, cartoonish style that works well for it, and the game’s soundtrack is equally charming. This game’s visuals probably fit somewhere between the first Zelda game and Link to the Past, to give you an idea.

As for the gameplay, what’s here is good, on par with what you might expect from any Zelda game, save for two issues. First: this is shorter than your average Zelda game, with only five dungeons total, so don’t expect a full-on Zelda-like experience but something a bit shorter.

Second, this game has an identity crisis here, because it’s often mimicking Zelda a bit too good. In addition to your sword, you’ll get a shield, bombs, a bow and arrow, boomerang… starting to sound familiar? To the game’s credit, its dungeons find interesting puzzles to make use of these items, and the bosses are pretty inventive too, but even so, one of the charms of the Zelda games is that they usually come up with fun gameplay ideas to surprise us, and this game seems stuck in the past in that regard.

Still, if you own a Switch and are aching for a classic Zelda experience (and can’t wait for the impending release of Link’s Awakening), then Blossom Tales will absolutely quench your thirst for a Zelda game. It’s charming, it plays well, and even if it suffers a bit from being a copycat, it copies a good game series well.

tl;dr – Blossom Tales is a Top-Down Action-RPG that does a phenomenal job of copying the Zelda formula, looking and playing much like a long-lost Zelda game. It’s short and a bit lacking in originality, but what’s here is still top-notch.

Grade: A-

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