Its always kind of interesting how the time frame of a game's release impacts its success. Blossom Tales was struggling on Steam during its initial 2017 release and the studio was likely to close. But the Switch was still in its infancy and starved for games. Blossom Tales's switch sales saved the indie team from disbanding.

The issue with Zelda-likes is that its hard to say the genre has really evolved past what Zelda has already done. Maybe that's a tall order for the indie scene, but its hard not to think of how Hollow Knight and similar titles evolved the Metroidvania genre to new heights beyond its source inspiration. And Blossom Tales' default state is "cute." It doesn't quite hit the emotional highs of Lenna's Inception or Anodyne. No character particularly sticks out and the framing device weakens the story rather than elevates it.

Still, the incredible polish in this game is worth noticing. The gameplay gradually ratchets up the difficulty without being unfair. It never feels like the game's design is poorly programmed. While the game is a bit too linear at times, the art design and overall layout is really impressive. It makes me excited to see what the team's second outing could look like. I want to see them grow and develop more as they hone their craft. Even if it isn't a lifechanging game, its created by a team that knows their strengths and commits hard to those talents. Sometimes, that's enough when you're just trying to spend a few easy hours.

TL;DR: Cute premise, lacking in gameplay.

The game is framed as a grandpa telling a bedtime story to his grandchildren. That's the best part of the game, you get a lot of silly dialogue when the kids butt in and argue something was too easy or whatever.

Gameplay-wise, it's rather...repetitive. It constantly reuses the same four or five puzzle types, and they don't ever get thought provoking enough for the repeating puzzles to be satisfying. Combat doesn't fare much better. Enemies die so quickly and easily that they often supplement harder enemies for DROVES of enemies absolutely filling the screen. Bosses provide a moderate challenge, but I'm fairly certain most of them are seizure-inducing. Items you acquire are almost exclusively combat-oriented, further trivializing the combat. I hardly ever used the sword at all once I got some of the midgame items.

Charming little Zelda clone that offers exactly that experience again, but with enough to offer at least a moderately unique experience that doesn't feel like just A Second Link to the Past, though that would probably have been fine too. If you agree that there aren't enough indie Zelda clones, you'll be happy with this one.

Special mention to one of the most clever and fun new little ideas I've seen in a while, and one of the dumbest.

Fun idea: the game is a story told by a grandpa to his kids, and the narration, from both gramps and kids, plays over the game and the kids even get to interrupt the story and change it at points, with the best such moments offering the player a choice of what happens next. Excellent idea!

Dumbest idea: the game has a traveling salesman that offers some forgettable loot, but that isn't the problem. No, the developers for some utterly baffling reason decided that his presence should be time-gated, locked to your device's clock, and he is only available between the hours of 9AM and 5PM. Really, 9-to-5? When 99% of your playerbase is at work? That is just remarkably stupid.

Story completed; 100% of items/upgrades and collectibles obtained (48/48 heart pieces, 16/16 energy fragments, 20/20 scrolls). More than a little inspired by classic 2D Zelda games, especially A Link to the Past, Blossom Tales does an excellent job of recreating the gameplay and style that makes the Zelda games so great. Both the overworld and dungeons are well-designed and satisfying to explore, though the puzzles and item selection never quite reach the heights of the best of Zelda. At around 10 hours for a first playthrough, the game is a decent length for its price, though with only four full-size dungeons it does feel that it's over all too quickly. Of course, it's perhaps testament to how much I enjoyed my time with the game that it left me wanting more!

Joguinho charmoso mas que erra tanto em level design que me deixa realmente confuso com a quantidade de review positiva que eu vejo.

O overworld é gigante mas tão vazio. Metade dos mapas podia ser eliminado e compactado pra ter uma experiência mais concisa, você passa tanto tempo andando e matando os mesmos inimigos entre telas que não tem nada ou tem 1 ponto de interesse que mal tem valor.

As dungeons então, que que aconteceu ali, Jesus. Salas gigantescas com dezenas de inimigos e os mesmos puzzles chatos copicolados pra todo lado. Cheio de salas com pisos caindo e coisas tentando te acertar e se você cai num buraco sempre volta lá no começo da sala. Parece que o jogo ativamente se esforça pra ser o mais chato possível. E o pior é que ele nem consegue ser difícil porque ele joga na sua cara itens de reviver e poções. É só tudo extremamente inconveniente e irritante.

Tirando tudo isso, a coisa que eu menos entendo é porque caralhos eles decidiram usar 3 botões. O jogo saiu pra consoles modernos mas ainda tratam ele pior do que um jogo de GBA. Você tem 2 atalhos pra itens e 1 botão que é pra espada e interações. Então você quer quebrar potes mas sem querer pega eles na mão. Precisa trocar de itens constantemente mas precisa abrir o menu o tempo todo. A maior parte dos botões do controle são inúteis e poderiam ter sido usados para tornar o gameplay mais fluído. Esse tipo de "nostalgia forçada" é uma das coisas mais bestas que eu já vi.

Eu não gosto de fazer review negativo, principalmente de indie, porque fazer jogos é muito difícil. Eu esperava que esse jogo fosse um clonezinho honesto de Alttp mas eles se esforçam tanto pra errar numas coisas tão estúpidas que a impressão que dá é que ele é ruim de propósito. Infelizmente não recomendo.

Blossom Tales is a competent but generally uninteresting take on the Zelda formula. The same beats you would expect are here, but they rarely feel satisfying.

The most interesting part might be overworld exploration, that while pretty simple can still be engaging, and there are a few side activities to explore that can add a bit of variety.

Dungeons are long linear streaks of singular room challenges that take the form of traversal trials, enemy encounters or a puzzle. This linear take removes any satisfaction of getting a new item as they are not really used to explore hidden corners you just passed and couldn't wait to explore.

While particularly not a bad game, the dungeon design greatly impacted my perception of the game, and I left it feeling mostly disappointed in the whole experience.

Not a terrible Zelda clone, though it definitely falls short of its inspirations in just about every aspect without innovating. It's essentially a straight clone, and that is something that I appreciate because 2D Zelda is a fantastic archetype to emulate, but it mostly just reminded me that 2D Zelda is fantastic instead of leaving a remarkable impression. It controls a little worse, the puzzles aren't as well-designed, the story and humor are a little grating, and the music isn't anywhere close to as catchy as Zelda.

The game is heavily inspired on The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past and it does a good job being its own thing but I have my complaints with it.

This games has lore and the main hub area (the castle) plus NPCs scattered across the world provide with lore to add to the liveliness of the world which is a really good thing.

The story is straightforward in order to let you play straightaway, nice.

My problem with the game is the movement and the controls scheme. The way the main characters moves around is somewhat sluggish and, when she swings the sword, it feels like she's slipping on the floor which make me feel uncomfortable when attacking. She feels unsteady and slippery which has made me take damage at times that annoy me.

In addition to the slipperiness, the way you can arrange the controls is nice as an option but it doesn't work for me because it becomes a mess. Why is the attack button the same button to interact with your environment and NPCs? It's a nitpicky thing, I must admit.

The dungeons are cool and long, no complaints in the slightest, plus they feel so rewarding to complete and the bosses are challenging.

The soundtracks is fine, I don't have much to say about it.

I didn't finish the game because I personally got tired of the controls and replaying it again later over time to catch up where I left it isn't in my plans.

It is a nice game for those who will not have problems such as mine. Enjoy your time with it! I did until I didn't.

Pros:
+ a competent homage to classic 2D Zeldas
+ Lily is a memorable protagonist
+ colorful art style and impressive particle effects
+ a large overworld with lots of optional challenges
+ combat is snappy and satisfying
+ progress and pacing are swift and concise
+ difficulty curve is moderate enough
+ movement speed is quick enough
+ writing is quiant and flowery
+ meta-narrative elements offer surprising options...

Cons:
- ...but sadly appear to rarely
- item management is a bit cumbersome
- most NPCs have nothing interesting to say
- health replenishment system is a bit wonky
- the general design doesn't evolve much from the Zelda formula
- very little post-game content

Magic Moment: Chosing what enemies to fight on the overworld for the first time.

Playtime: 9 hours with most of the map explored and 13 hearts collected.

Verdict:
Blossom Tales is a competently made homage to the classic 2D Zeldas. It emulates the combat, overworld design, and exploratory nature of its forbearers well, but offers little in terms of innovation. While the meta-narrative is a unique twist, the different routes offered in specific situations only rarely affect the gameplay. Still, the colorful art style and flowery writing help in giving the game a distinct identity, and anyone interested in re-exploring the concise, streamlined action adventures of the 16-bit era will find plenty to enjoy here.

Play it and then play the sequel.

Blossom Tales is a charming Zelda-like with a lot of personality. The framing device is a grandpa telling his kids a bedtime story, and his narrative pops in and out of the story throughout. Even better, the kids will argue about what happens in the story - what kind of boss are you about to run into? What kind of puzzle is up next? And rather than be cosmetic, we get to choose which kids' idea grandpa goes with in the story - which shapes what we do next. It's not transformational, but it's a really neat way to integrate the story into the gameplay.

This is, unfortunately, one of the only really original ideas in the game. If you've played a 2D Zelda (or even another Zelda-like), then all of this will be familiar. Get four heart pieces to add a heart to the health meter; park bombs on cracked walls to break them open; get the bow and arrow for range combat and dungeon puzzle solving. It's all very familiar, but done well and with a lovely art style.

Wanted to mention the music in particular as a standout - Josie Brechner's score is a superb chiptune accompaniment to the game, often richly atmospheric (the frost zone them is incredible) and always setting a great mood for the dungeons and areas.

With some more original ideas I think this would have been more interesting, but it's a solid little game regardless.

A bite sized 2D Zelda-like with more emphasis on combat than puzzles. Enjoyed the first 4 hours of the 8 hours it took me to complete this game, however halfway through you get bored of the extremely linear dungeons with the same 2 repetitive puzzles, of which are block pushing puzzles and tile stepping puzzles.

Combat is fluid and fun, but there's only so much you can do with combat in these types of games. I do commend the items which are very useful for combat and you won't only be relying on the sword.

The pixel art is nice however it lacks a certain charm and identity the 2D Zelda games have. With a little more budget and creativity, this game has the potential to be extremely solid, which is why I look forward to playing the sequel.

I recommend playing this only if you are craving more 2D Zelda.