Taken for a Quickie | Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King

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If you were around for the early nineties and happened to own a Nintendo console, then chances are Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King will feel instantly familiar. Join us as we take Castle Pixel’s retro-inspired PC title for spin.

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by
Liam
Andrews

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@pass_controller

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So what is Blossom Tales?
 
It’s an open-world adventure with old-school visuals and a top-down perspective that takes inspiration from early Legend of Zelda titles, particularly A Link to the Past.
 
You play as Lily, a Knight of the Rose who endeavours to find a cure for the titular slumbering monarch after his evil wizard brother places a curse on him. Throughout her journey, Lily must learn new skills and find new weapons to overcome dungeons, puzzles and bosses to save the Kingdom of Blossom.

Dungeons? Evil wizards? Kingdoms in peril? Seems awfully familiar.
 
It’s true, the medieval setting and evil-wizard-done-bad storyline is ground already well-trodden by Link and co. in the past, but Blossom Tales boasts more than enough character, humour and alternate takes on classic gameplay tropes to ensure it’s more than just a simple homage.

Blossom Tales is packed with charm, colour and wonderful locations that any Zelda fan, or, indeed, fans of adventure games in general, would love to explore

What exactly sets the gameplay apart?
 
Useful items like the bow, bombs and boomerang all draw power from a regenerating energy meter, instead of a limited stock of ammunition, so you’ll never be found wanting for the right tool when you need it most. The input of Grandpa and his attentive audience can also introduce gameplay-altering twists on the fly.

Wait. Who’s Grandpa?
 
While gameplay takes place from Lily’s perspective, the whole story is in fact being told by a grandfather to his two grandchildren, who will occasionally interrupt their narrator with a different take on how the story should proceed in order to make it more entertaining.

Sounds interesting, but I don’t have a gaming PC.
 
That’s fine, you won’t need a supercomputer. It played well on a basic laptop, but weaker models may struggle to hold a steady framerate during the more intense action sequences.

Is it coming to consoles?
 
There’s no news of a console version just yet, but considering its source of inspiration we couldn’t help but feel that Blossom Tales would be a perfect fit for the Nintendo Switch; something the game’s publisher suggested could potentially become a reality when we reached out to them.

Would you recommend it?
 
Absolutely! Blossom Tales is packed with charm, colour and wonderful locations that any Zelda fan, or, indeed, fans of adventure games in general, would love to explore. When you also consider the modest price point and lengthy runtime (~15 hours), it’s definitely worth a go.

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Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King is available now on Steam for £10.99/€14.99/$14.99.