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Review – Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King

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Review – Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King
2.5

Platforms: Windows PC, Steam

Game Name: Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King

Publisher: FDG Entertainment

Developer: Castle Pixel, LLC

Genre: Action, Adventure

Release Date: March 28th, 2017

Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King from Castle Pixel

Once upon a time, a courageous soul by the name of Lily took it upon herself to save the Kingdom of Blossom from evil. Occupying the title of “Knight of the Rose,” Lily battles through perplexing dungeons infested with taunting enemies. Puzzles are consistent and accompanied by confusion and lack of direction. Though the charming story elements mold Lily’s environment into an endearing one, Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King had something else in store for me.

Tell Me a Story

Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King, developed by Castle Pixel, conveys a heroic story told by a grandpa to his two granddaughters. At significant events, the grandpa will comically chime in with Lily’s current state to sharpen the portrayal of her story.

Lily’s happy-go-lucky surroundings evoke enthusiasm. She is fearless and saturated with hope. Nonetheless, obstacles are laid conveniently in every which way she saunters. Thankfully, she wields a trusty sword and possesses other ordinances along the way. Chucking time-ticking bombs or shooting from afar with a deadly arrow are both advantageous. It’s recognizing what’s most beneficial when Lily’s in a pickle that’s important.

blossom tales grandpa

As Lily progresses into magical forests and wearying dungeons, attainable objects secure spots in her inventory. Coins drop from defeating enemies, slashing containers open or slicing through tall grass. The same goes for hearts, which are Lily’s form of health points.

Other miscellaneous objects can be collected, as well. Early on in Lily’s adventure, a man I wandered upon in the forest asked me to gather red feathers for him, and I would receive a prize in return. Depending on the foe or merely a stroke of luck, feathers would fall gracefully into the palm of Lily’s hand. Additionally, side puzzles and quests unlock special items. It was a pleasant way of life. Well, that is until the first dungeon Lily meandered into slapped me in the face – hard.

A Glitch of a Puzzle

I was enjoying myself. I took the reigns of a princess knight who was going to save the world. What could be cooler than that? As Lily sliced and diced enemies that were trying to ruin her life, she reached a room with four gems. Naturally, the passageway leading onward was blocked off, hinting that there was a puzzle to solve here. At first, the door I entered also conveniently locked behind me. Bombs flew across the screen and Lily’s sword vigorously slashed at the glowing gems, but nothing was happening. I tried everything. Was I really that blind?

blossom tales dungeon

After running out of plausible solutions, I uninstalled Blossom Tales, reinstalled it, and hurried through the first hour or so of gameplay with the courageous Lily once again. She approached the room of doom – as I bitterly nicknamed it – and within seconds of rapidly flinging bombs at each gem, the entrance opened. My jaw hit the floor in complete utter surprise. Glitches are common in new games, but I had never expected one to inhibit me from prospering. Luckily, this hindrance occurred early during Lily’s journey. Otherwise, throwing my hands up in surrender would’ve had to suffice.

Boss battles also occupy Lily’s time. Most of these encounters are creatively constructed, while others take only a tinge of common sense to defeat. The only negative aspect is that these powerful enemies don’t have a health bar of any sort. In retrospect, it is more suspenseful not knowing, but I don’t want to waste a valuable potion if Lily’s foe is about to croak.

Additionally, a “save your game” feature is not available. Autosave is Lily’s only safe haven, and it isn’t made clear when it transpires. All she can do is cross her fingers and hope for the best.

blossom tales tree

Every Rose Has Its Thorn

As I previously mentioned, puzzles are a huge part of Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King. Some are child’s play, and others are absolutely maddening. Granted, Lily’s adventure is portrayed as a challenging one, but it would be nice to have a sense of direction. Hints and clues are scarce, so many riddles appear to be a guessing game.

Not to mention, Lily is thrown into the brunt of vicious traps and spiteful enemies with barely tipping her toes in the water. Mastering the art of swordsmanship and shielding attacks is a necessity – or rather counting on Lady Luck to carry Lily through to her triumph. Pick your poison.

Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King is overall a good game, but its quirks and flaws are hard to ignore. Though I haven’t completed Lily’s journey in its entirety, I can only pray I don’t stumble into additional misfortunes.

Loses Its Bloom

Blossom Tales holds the utmost potential to be extraordinary with some tweaks here and there, but it’s difficult to give it that title when Lily has already encountered various faults. Maybe she just had a stroke of bad luck. Nevertheless, Lily is quite the brave little soul and with some hoping and coping, she will be victorious.

Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King is available via Steam.

[xrr rating=”2.5/5″]

Watch the official trailer for Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King below: