Every now and then, a developer decides to take the blueprint from another game to create their own. It’s certainly not out of the ordinary for developers to take similar ideas and implement them into their own games, nor is it strange for them to create homages for things they love. Castle Pixel decided to go the adventure route after their last title Rex Rocket, and made a game based on the one that has become synonymous with the genre on SNES.

There have been an assortment of games (we’ve even covered a few) that take heavy inspiration from Nintendo’s huge IP Zelda. The series has seen many different approaches, although many would argue that A Link to the Past is one of, if not THE best. And it’s in this iteration that we see Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King takes most of its inspiration.

The game puts a fun twist on the way that it’s told, as two children wake up their grandfather and demand he tells them a story. When asking if they heard of the elf that saves Hyrule, they say he’s told it a thousand times and that they want to hear something new. And so begins the story of Lily, a newly knighted girl that must save the king from his evil brother that casts a spell on him to rule the kingdom. While the grandfather serving as a narrator means he can give directions to the player, there are also interjections from the children that change the way the story is told, and while there isn’t any voice acting, the writing made me chuckle much more than I anticipated. Both the characters in the story as well as the grandfather with the children are well written and worth the time to read.

While the game starts off simple enough for you to get your bearings, the game doesn’t waste any time in providing your new tools for exploration and daring. Soon after you complete the first dungeon (which will no doubt seem familiar to many), you head to the first actual dungeon to collect one of three ingredients you’ll need to save the king. Yes, you’ve probably done this before, and if you didn’t like it then, you likely won’t enjoy it now. But for those that did, you are in for a treat. Only an hour into the game and you’ll have your sword, shield, bomb, as well as a bow & arrow. Depending on how much you explore, you may have more than that at an hour deep.

The game is generous in allowing you to learn the abilities you’re given, and fairly lenient with life that you’ll lose often. There’s a certain unhinged feeling that surrounds this game, as the controls don’t feel as pristine as you may remember. Sooner rather than later you’re asked to pull off some quickly timed tasks that you’ll no doubt be attempting again and again. The game holds your hand to begin with, but does decide to toughen things up a bit as you progress. Certainly, this isn’t the hardest game you’ll ever play, but when compared to what inspired it, and with how it starts off, it has the potential to end in manner much more difficult. And this is a good thing.

One of the nicest things I found while playing this was the lack of inventory for your abilities. By that I mean you don’t need to worry about finding or purchasing bombs and arrows – they all come from your energy bar that refills over time. And it’s pretty quick about it too – I found myself throwing bombs and shooting arrows almost exclusively in the first real dungeon, as it allowed me to take out multiple enemies at once while not having to be up close and personal with the sword. Sure, the sword has the classic spin move and even a jump attack, but as I mentioned before, this is where things feel a bit less polished. I found myself taking damage when I shouldn’t have been – attacks being interrupted at times when they weren’t at others. I still enjoy the occasional sword fight, but the energy system allows for a lot more experimentation without the frustration of wasting your items.

There are a lot of secrets to find in the world, and extra life and energy if you find the game becoming too difficult. This is more or less a way of choosing the game’s difficulty, as the game likes to throw huge mobs of enemies at you – quantity over quality in some instances – and more life will let you simply walk through without a care in the world. Perhaps its greatest strength is also its greatest weakness – while it makes some minor changes to the source material, it’ll at times feel like another country’s version of the same game. Chances are you’ll enjoy the remake, but prefer the original.

It’s always strange reviewing a game that so desperately wants to recreate something the developers loved growing up. Fans of the original will no doubt find kinship, and people that never played it may find this to be their original love for the style of game. But it won’t change the minds of anyone that didn’t like the genre before. What the game does, it does well – in particular the writing. Perhaps the best part of the game is the grandfather and his grandchildren – without that, the game would lose a lot of its heart and be nothing more than a clone. Suffice to say, his storytelling won me over.

8 out of 10

Pros

• Energy for Items
• Narration
• Lots of Secrets

Cons

• Weird Hit Boxes
• Deja Vu

Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King was developed by Castle Pixel LLC and published by FDG Entertainment. It was released on the PC March 28th, 2017 and NS December 21st, 2017 for $14.99. The game was provided to us for review on NS. For more on Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King, check out the game’s official site.

 

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