{"id":127302,"date":"2022-08-16T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-16T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/#article-135473"},"modified":"2022-08-16T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-08-16T15:00:00","slug":"review-blossom-tales-ii-the-minotaur-prince-a-cute-zelda-like-adventure-that-lacks-fresh-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2022\/08\/16\/review-blossom-tales-ii-the-minotaur-prince-a-cute-zelda-like-adventure-that-lacks-fresh-ideas\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Blossom Tales II: The Minotaur Prince – A Cute Zelda-Like Adventure That Lacks Fresh Ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/div>\n
\n
\"Blossom<\/a>
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld\/Undocked)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the first year of the Switch\u2019s life, it was relatively common to see massive indie success stories from developers who managed to get their game on the eShop before the veritable torrent of new game releases \u2014 many of them excellent \u2014 flooded the store on a weekly basis. One of these titles was Blossom Tales<\/a>, a cute action game that wasn\u2019t even remotely shy about how heavily it was cribbing from the playbook of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past<\/a>. After the enormous and unexpected success of Blossom Tales saved the development team from having to shut down, work began on Blossom Tales 2<\/a>, and we\u2019re happy to report that this sophomore effort is every bit as enjoyable as the original \u2014 although it\u2019s also just as derivative.<\/p>\n

Here the narrative once again takes place as a \u2018story within a story\u2019, as an elderly man tells his two eager grandchildren a tale that features both of them as characters, with Lily, a brave warrior, living with her obnoxious brother in a fantasy land. The two start out participating in all sorts of fun at a nearby fair, but a petty sibling squabble causes Lily to wish that the evil Minotaur King would come and take her brother somewhere far away. Somehow, this causes the real<\/em> Minotaur King to show up and do just that, which kicks off her quest across the land to reclaim her brother and defeat the evil king.<\/p>\n

\"Blossom<\/a>
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld\/Undocked)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It’s not an incredibly deep narrative, but it plays well with the premise of being a story told by a campfire and echoes with elements of Labyrinth<\/strong> and The Princess Bride<\/strong>. At many points, the children will bicker over particular details of the plot, which eventually presents the player with a choice between two options that affect the outcome. For example, when you\u2019re given the token \u2018magical instrument\u2019 item, the children bicker over what kind of instrument it actually is, and we opted for the accordion. We appreciated these moments, as they aren\u2019t used excessively, but occur often enough that they keep you from forgetting that none of the events on screen are actually \u2018real\u2019.<\/p>\n

Gameplay is similar to the classic top-down Legend of Zelda games, and by \u201csimilar\u201d we mean \u201calmost indistinguishable\u201d. Whereas the original release seemed to take more from A Link to the Past, this release feels like it\u2019s more in line with Link\u2019s Awakening<\/a>, right down to the confusing owl who occasionally visits to point you in the right direction. You start out with three hearts and travel an expansive overworld littered with enemies, secrets, and obstacles that you overcome with a slowly growing inventory of useful items. Every now and then, you\u2019ll find yourself in a dungeon filled with puzzles and enemies that are usually \u2018solved\u2019 by finding the dungeon\u2019s item, and you eventually clear the dungeon by winning a boss fight which grants you an additional heart and advances the plot a little further.<\/p>\n

\"Blossom<\/a>
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Much like its predecessor, the largest drawback to Blossom Tales 2 is that it isn\u2019t very original in its gameplay design. Minit<\/a> was clearly inspired by Link\u2019s Awakening, but it was all built around a 60-second life for your character. Crosscode<\/a> borrowed plenty from Zelda puzzle design while still blending in many elements of ’90s JRPGs. Swords of Ditto<\/a> was a roguelike where the whole overworld would reset and randomize. The point being, there\u2019s nothing wrong with borrowing from Nintendo\u2019s legendary series\u2014there\u2019s a reason<\/em> it\u2019s so acclaimed\u2014but most games simply pick and choose elements that serve a grander vision based on a more unique idea. Blossom Tales 2 is more content to copy 2D Zelda wholesale, but the execution isn\u2019t as good.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Blossom Tales 2 proves to be almost<\/em> as good as the games it\u2019s emulating and this isn\u2019t something to be dismissed out of hand. Sure, it may be derivative, but this is a release that doubles down on what it\u2019s trying to accomplish and doesn\u2019t water anything down. Even if we sighed when the exciting \u2018new\u2019 item in a dungeon was just a legally distinct hookshot, the dungeon itself still proved to be a genuinely engaging and fun place to explore. Plus, the experience of slowly uncovering the overworld while getting all kinds of news toys to subtly change up combat and movement proves to be well-paced and addictive all the way through. Both puzzles and combat are simple enough that they aren\u2019t necessarily hard<\/em>, but they remain challenging enough that it feels satisfying when you overcome them.<\/p>\n

\"Blossom<\/a>
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld\/Undocked)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As for presentation, Blossom Tales 2′ visuals look a little more advanced than its predecessor, though it still adheres strongly to a classic 16-bit retro look. Whether you\u2019re fighting evil cacti in the desert or dastardly pirates near the sea, most of the spritework features a cute, simple aesthetic that fits well with the vibe of a story being told by a loving grandpa.<\/p>\n

We would have liked to have seen a little more creativity in the environment design\u2014forests and deserts feel so<\/em> played out by now\u2014but what\u2019s here is adequate to keep sections of the game from feeling like they blur together. The music, meanwhile, is a little less impressive, consisting of a series of rousing adventurous tracks and more low-key tunes for the dungeons and villages. None of the soundtrack is particularly memorable, though this also means it doesn\u2019t get in the way by feeling too distracting or repetitive.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

Blossom Tales 2 is the kind of game that\u2019s absolutely good<\/em>, but definitely not great. The cute narrative premise, solid dungeon design, and pacing of overall progression all make this one worthwhile, but it\u2019s also the kind of game that feels like it\u2019s hamstrung by its lack of daring to try something new. In this sense, it\u2019s the epitome of a \u201cbuy it on sale\u201d game; you\u2019re not missing anything by waiting to snap it up at a later date, but if you’re a fan of the traditional 2D Zelda template, it\u2019s probably worth getting at some point when the mood takes you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld\/Undocked) In the first year of the Switch\u2019s life, it was relatively common to see massive indie success stories from developers who managed to get their game on the eShop before the veritable torrent of new game releases \u2014 many of them excellent \u2014 flooded the store on a weekly basis. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127302\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}