Review: Blossom Tales II: The Minotaur Prince

Available on: Steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox

Cost: €12.49, £11.39 or $14.99

Genre: Casual Top Down, RPG, Adventure, Exploration

Developer: Castle Pixel LLC

Publisher: Playtonic Friends

Blossom Tales II: The Minotaur Prince is an enchanting follow-up to the 2017 RPG Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King. The sequel invites players back into the whimsical world of Blossom Kingdom. The game is set in a vibrant, pixel-art landscape full of charm and nostalgia for classic classic 16-bit adventures. As Lily, a courageous young knight, embark on a perilous journey to rescue your brother Chrys from the clutches of the Minotaur King. The game is an engaging combination of exploration, puzzle-solving and combat, all endearingly narrated by a grandfather to his grandchildren.

Story

Just like it’s predecessor Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King, you play Lily, a young girl who’s Grandfather is telling her a bedtime story. The game you play is narrated by the Grandfather, and occassionally you will have the oppurtunity to select your preference to the progression of the story, for example choosing certain monsters to fight or selecting your animal companion. The main difference is the introduction of your brother Chrys, and he plays a big part within the story.

After an argument with Chrys, Grandpa’s story is an attempt to demonstrate to the children the importance of their sibling to each other and to learn to care and share with each other. As a result, Chrys is kidnapped by the villain, The Minotaur King, where he is eventually convinced that his family do not miss him and that he should stay with the Minotaur King to become his Prince. It is up to Lily to rescue Chrys and show him that even though they may squabble, she still loves him.

The story is a little thin, although the message is relatable - as long as you have siblings! But the overall narration of the story being told by the Grandfather is something I enjoyed across both Blossom Tales games. I really enjoyed the interruptions to the story from Lily, Chrys or the Grandfather discussing or debating plot lines. I’d have liked a lot more of this as it really added originality and character, but it almost completely disappeared from the first third of the game onwards.

Gameplay

There are many weapons to find and use from lanterns to bombs, boomerangs to teleporters each with their own use for specific types of puzzles. Some can be upgraded to better versions of themselves, but overall they are easy and fun to use, they’re satisfying and you feel the impact. It can be a little annoying towards the end of the game having to switch between the various items to complete puzzles, but the variety is nice and adds an extra layer of challenge.

Travelling around the map you’ll encounter caves where you will need to battle monsters and solve puzzles to win chests, shrines to unlock heart pieces and energy crystals to improve your stamina and health. Each area has it’s own monsters to defeat for coins or materials to be used in potions or traded for items. There’s also spots to fish, holes to dig and chests to find.

There are a variety of different puzzle styles but they’re not overly challenging, I could usually solve them with a couple of attempts and the required item/weapon. I can find too many puzzles a little tedious but they’re usually quite fast moving and you can progress afterwards to a battle or a chest, making the game not feel drawn out.

Graphics and Visuals

The game has a bright and colourful pixelated style that is genuinely charming. Each area has a unique design and it’s own monsters, plants and characters that fit to the design of each area. It’s very satisfying to enter a new area and see all the little features of the area. The monsters aren’t anything hugely original, but as the game is visually a love letter to early top down Zelda games, it is mimicking the designs in homage. While it’s nice to feel the nostaligia of certain characters similarity to other top down RPGs, it does remove a certain level of originality for the game. The music is lovely though, I’m especially a fan of the music in the witches houses and each area has it’s own music to help submerge you.

Longevity

The story can be completed in around 8 hours but for completionists there is around 18 hours of gameplay to get out of Blossom Tales II. There are 5 songs to unlock, side quests delivering letters or helping villagers, collecting all fish and flowers, planting seeds and finding honeycombs, each giving you prizes to help you progress more easily in the game. I found it quite easy to find all items and I completed areas as I had the new items to unlock them so I completed as much as I could while playing the story, which personally I found benficial to the progression, but I was a little overpowered by the end.

Conclusion

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Blossom Tales II. I love the colourful pixel design, nods to top down early Zelda games, and really enjoyed the new weapons/items. There was plenty to battle, collect and search for, and the game had a good pace, feeling well carried throughout the story between each of the areas. However, as the game is paying homage to other top down RPGs it did leave the game with little originality. The story and dialogue from the NPCs is a little thin, and I really would have liked more from the Grandfather as the narrator and the breaking from the story to the real life Lily and Chrys. But all in all, I had a fun experience battling through temples, solving puzzles and searching for honeycombs. It may not be quite as strong as the first in the series, but I would definitely recommend it if you enjoy top down RPGs and are a fan of the Zelda franchise.