Explore a flowery land inspired by The Legend of Zelda.
| Blossom Tales 1: The Sleeping King (2017) | |||||
| Developer(s) | Castle Pixel, LLC. | Publisher | FDG Entertainment | ||
| Platform Availability | Switch, PC | Genre | Action/Adventure | ||
 |
1 |  |
10+ |  |
8+ Hours |
When the first trailer for Blossom Tales in 2017 came out, I was immediately interested. Everything screamed 16-bit The Legend of Zelda, and after playing it twice (in 2017 and again in 2023), it is indeed a love letter to the Zelda series. A lot of love and care was infused into this game during development, and it truly shows.
Story
The entire game is a bedtime story told by a grandfather for his grandchildren, Lily and Chrys. What is neat, during the game, they often break the story by children speaking up and changing elements of the game; sometimes, the option is presented to the player to decide which suggestion to go with. They will even do a bit of a reminder where you left off when you resume playing the game at a later point...basically like recapping a multiple part story. Back to the story overview...
Because of some evil that suddenly appeared in the land, Lily (the hero in this story) finds herself going on an adventure to find three ingredients needed to help lift a curse that had been placed on the king of the kingdom. Initially, no one believes in Lily, but she realizes none of the knights can go on this quest. Therefore, she takes up the sword, shield, and various sub-weapons collected over the course of the game to rid the kingdom of the evil shadow. Much like your typical adventure game, you come across various NPCs requesting your help. You will have encounter fetch quests, shops, and, of course, dungeons.
You will return to most areas multiple times over the course of your adventure once you have new equipment to find small unlockables like health or magic upgrades. Luckily, there are teleporters that will cut down on the world map traveling. I think as a kid, I would have preferred not having this option because I would want to thoroughly explore the world; as an adult, time is precious and so are those teleporters.
Once you collect the ingredients needed, the king awakes and leads a march against the villain for the final phase of the game. I completed the main game in about eight hours and spent an extra two hours finishing up the Steam Achievements.
Game Mechanics 
This game plays exactly as you would expect if you have played an overhead The Legend of Zelda. You will use your sword and various weapons in your arsenal to take down various creatures and overcome puzzles. I really enjoyed the puzzles in the game even if most were pretty simple.
Graphics
The graphics are fine for what they are trying to re-create. The characters definitely have a less detail than I (and most people) may prefer, but this was never something that bothered me during gameplay. The overworld and various dungeons/areas feel distinct. The creatures you encounter feel like they belong and look good.
Audio
I enjoyed the music and the sound effects. There are certain songs I do find myself humming to myself occasionally...the songs can stick around for a little while. Again, nothing amazing, but everything was very suitable for the overall gaming experience they were aiming for.
Final Thoughts
I really enjoy Blossom Tales. It may not be a perfect game, but it is very enjoyable. My favorite Zelda game has always been A Link to the Past, and this is a true love letter to that game. This game essentially feels like the Light World portion of a Link to the Past. The game is heavily borrowing elements from Zelda, but it creates its own unique world and story. The characters are fairly interesting, and the combat is very familiar. Puzzles provide some moments of analysis and problem solving. The game never felt unfair, and I personally had no issues beating the game. If you are completionist like me, you will likely add on an extra 2-3 hours to search for everything the game has to offer.
I do wonder though...how much sleep did those children get after listening to this entire story (probably a story over multiple bedtimes); at least it wasn't as long as the story the children on How I Met Your Mother had to endure. In all seriousness, it was a great game that is well price for the adventure you get. In 2017, I couldn't wait to get more, and luckily, in 2022, they delivered a sequel (which we will also be releasing a review for soon). I really hope they continue building on this series, and I am honestly fine if they keep doing more of the same. I would like to see a longer quest like a light world and dark world setup...but something of their own.
If you enjoy Zelda style games, be sure to consider Blossom Tales.