Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King is not too shabby...at least that's what grandpa said

What if Sleeping Beauty was actually a sleeping king? And prince charming was a fiery young lady who just became a knight, desiring nothing but grand adventures? And instead of a kiss, four special ingredients were needed in order to wake the king from his eternal slumber? Well, that's what Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King is all about and I've had the pleasure of playing through an early build of the game, collecting the first special ingredient to the shock and surprise of everyone in the kingdom...or at least that's what grandpa told me.

The story of Blossom Tales isn't anything special, but the way it's told gives it a nice little charming kick in the butt as you hear the story through the words of Lily's grandfather, making things up as he goes along, telling his grandchildren about the story of a young knight, also named Lily, as she embarks on her very first adventure. Now, I've only played a small chunk of the game, but, like I said, the story isn't anything new, but it's fun to hear the grandfather chime in every now and again, throwing in a, "That's not how it happened," if you die, with occasional interruptions by Lily and her brother, sometimes allowing you to make decisions that change the game ever so slightly, like choosing what type of enemy you'll fight in a specific area. It's a story I doubt I'll remember in a week's time, but the way it's told was more than enough to keep me engaged as I, Lily, went in search of ingredients to save a king whose name I already forgot.

The game itself will look and feel very familiar to anyone who's played a classic over-the-top action-RPG like the The Legend of Zelda; you start with a sword and a shield and quickly receive bombs and a bow and arrow (as well as a shovel, which seemed useless, existing only so the developers could make a joke about Shovel Knight).You then use these items to hack 'n' slash your way through enemies, solving occasional puzzles along the way; nothing too fancy to see here. I played the game with an Xbox One controller and it felt good, simple, but good; however, it takes no chances and the few puzzles I came across during my time with the game were incredibly simple, requiring little thought, feeling more tedious than challenging.

While the gameplay left me wanting more, the visuals kept my hungry eyes satiated throughout, delivering a beautiful, vibrant world in a classic, if overused, style that I never stopped enjoying. If you're sick of the retro aesthetic, you're going to hate the way Blossom Tales looks, but, as someone who may never tire of said aesthetic, I absolutely loved the visuals from start to finish. Does Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King do anything particularly new? No, but it does what it does rather well and, when all was said and done, the little snippet I played left me excited enough to see more of the game as soon as more is available.