When comparing Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King vs The Escapists 2, the Slant community recommends The Escapists 2 for most people. In the question“What are the best indie games for the Nintendo Switch?” The Escapists 2 is ranked 19th while Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King is ranked 39th. The most important reason people chose The Escapists 2 is:
There is no right or wrong way to do anything, and it's entirely a risk vs reward scenario for anything you want to try. You are only limited by your creativity in escaping, as each prison has almost endless possibilities and encourages the player to make the best use of their inventory and be creative in handling every situation. Bed sheets can be used to cover cell windows from the prying eyes of guards, desks can be moved to reach out of reach vents, crafted tools can be used for various purposes such as breaking through walls or doors, and shovels can be used to dig holes. You can try to sneak around guards, or opt to hide in vents until they're out of sight. If you're feeling especially brave, you can even attempt to fight the guards and take their keys allowing easier access around the prison.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Charming, lighthearted storytelling
The tale of Lily and her adventures in the Kingdom of Blossom are told from the point of view of a grandfather who is weaving the story for his grandchildren. Huddled around their grandfather by a roaring fire, they will often interrupt his storytelling to interject a bit of childlike humor or ask questions. While the story of Lily herself is an otherwise a generic fantasy tale, the delivery method of using the dynamic of grandfather and grandchildren is charming, filled with humor, and adds a whole lot of personality.
Pro Gameplay mechanics are presented clearly and are easy to learn
Blossom King gradually introduces puzzle and traps to you in an easy to understand way, and then slowly builds on them over time. This alleviates overly punishing mechanics that can cause frustration while learning the ropes. Whether it's a sliding block puzzle, fireballs you need to dodge, or a locked gate, chances are good that you've already been introduced to the simple version of the mechanic before you encounter the more challenging ones.
For example, there is a certain type of floor tile that will damage you if you stand on them for too long. The first time you encounter it, it will flash red. This alerts you to the danger and gives you time to move. Over the course of the dungeons, these trap tiles will become more and more numerous, but you're already aware of how the mechanic works, so you can overcome them with more confidence. All of the game's various puzzles and traps are handled in a similar way.
Pro Simple but enjoyable gameplay
This game was designed to be a Zelda clone, right down to the pixel art. Running around swinging your sword to smash barrels and hit enemies is simplistic, but gets the job done. You also get a boomerang and bow to attack from range, so there is a little depth to the combat. You can bomb walls to reveal secret passages, talk to NPCs in the overworld, and crawl through a handful of large dungeons. The story is told from the point of view of a grandfather talking to his grandkids, but every once in a while, a dialogue window will pop up which lets you choose the direction the story takes. Overall, the simple gameplay, retro pixel art, and rather large world contribute to a rather enjoyable adventure.
Pro Encourages experimentation and creativity
There is no right or wrong way to do anything, and it's entirely a risk vs reward scenario for anything you want to try. You are only limited by your creativity in escaping, as each prison has almost endless possibilities and encourages the player to make the best use of their inventory and be creative in handling every situation.
Bed sheets can be used to cover cell windows from the prying eyes of guards, desks can be moved to reach out of reach vents, crafted tools can be used for various purposes such as breaking through walls or doors, and shovels can be used to dig holes. You can try to sneak around guards, or opt to hide in vents until they're out of sight. If you're feeling especially brave, you can even attempt to fight the guards and take their keys allowing easier access around the prison.
Pro Good balance of game systems make for a rewarding simulation
Taking action in the game uses up your stamina, so you'll still have to make time for things like eating and sleeping if you want to have energy for things like digging through walls, fighting other inmates, or cutting through vents and gates.
Items such as shovels and cutters have limited durability, so they can't be used endlessly. Raw materials can be found around the prison to craft items, or you can buy items from fences using money earned by running fetch quests for other inmates. No matter how you acquire them, crafting materials and finished goods are limited so you'll have to use your items wisely.
Time is an important factor that has to be managed too, with certain activities having to be done at certain times. This limits the amount of time you have to roam the prison, since you have to show up for meal times and roll calls. Free time can be used to craft, roam the prison to determine the guard patterns, or finally put your ultimate escape plan into action.
Juggling each and every one of the various aspects of the game results in a very deep and rewarding simulation experience.
Pro Solid progression of difficulty
The difficulty increases as you progress, with each prison becoming just a little more intricate and more challenging to escape from than the previous. The prisons themselves get more complex with more obstacles to overcome such as tougher guards which results in more ways things can go wrong. The progress feels good and natural, as you're always building on what you learned in previous prisons to escape from the newest one.
Pro Great pixel art style for retro fans
If you enjoy a more retro style, then this game is pure eye candy. Simple but charming, the pixel art is colorful, with the sprites having a nice variety in animations when they're shoveling, searching, running around, fighting, or partaking in any kind of activity that would require movement. The tile sets for the game world are nicely detailed, colored and shaded. You won't get tired of looking at the same tiles over and over due to the sheer amount and variety of the art assets created for the game.
Pro Lots of replayability
No two games will play out alike. Each prison is an open sandbox, so it's definitely not a linear experience with a defined escape blueprint. Prisons can be replayed over and over to beat your previous time, measured in how many in-game days it took you to escape, which leaves plenty of room for trying new things on each successive playthrough.
Pro Co-Op multiplayer mode adds a new depth to gameplay
Working together creates a whole new experience with loads of possibilities. In co-op mode, you play with up to 3 teammates either online or locally as you work towards escaping the prison together. This adds a whole new dynamic to gameplay as working together creates experiences that just aren't possible when playing solo. Someone could distract the guards, while another searches rooms for crafting materials. One player could run around collecting items, while another scopes out the guard's patrol patterns. Some can complete quests to collect money while others are working on digging tunnels.
Pro A couple of alternative prisons add a change of scenery
Tired of bricks, cold floors, and cement cells? For those who want a change of scenery, there is a prison set in the wild west, and even a futuristic space prison. This adds a little bit of variety to the look of the game while keeping the same gameplay mechanics. It's a nice touch and gives your eyes a break from staring at the same tilesets over and over.
Cons
Con The shield takes up a weapon slot
You can only have 3 active weapons at a time. Since the swords, bombs, and a bow are used so often, those will most likely be your preferred choices. However, for some baffling reason, the shield counts as a weapon and uses up one of your precious slots. Rather than giving the shield it's own button/hotkey, you have to go back into the menu system and swap in your shield every time it's needed. This means you'll be spending way more time in menus and micromanaging your weapon setup than you would reasonably want to.
Con Dungeons tend to drag on a bit too long
Dungeons are massive in size and are rather linear, usually only having one defined path to the boss. Encountering the same puzzles, traps, and enemies can make the dungeon feel stale after a while. By the time you've made it to the boss, the repetitive and linear nature combine into an experience that feels like it's definitely overstayed its welcome.
Con Loading screens can be annoying
The game world is grid based, and moving from one screen to the next requires a loading screen. While they aren't incredibly long loads, you will encounter them often enough to the point they can get annoying and mildly immersion breaking. Why a game with such a simple 8 bit style has loading screens at all is also quite puzzling.
Con Doesn't really bring any new gameplay ideas to the table
Everything in Blossom Tales has been seen before in other games. Puzzles mainly consist of dragging blocks onto pressure switches, dodging fireballs, or blocking arrows with your shield. Weapons consist of the standard sword, shield, and bow. Dungeons are fairly linear with traps and enemies being mostly generic transplanted ideas from other games. While the gameplay itself is good and executed well, you won't be encountering anything you haven't seen before.
Con Getting caught by guards can be overly punishing
It's frustrating when you spend several hours grinding quests for other inmates, collecting items, crafting, and carefully planning your escape, only to get caught by guards and lose all your items or killed. This effectively means you have to start over, wasting hours of your own time and days of in-game time.
Con Can feel grindy at times
Running around doing fetch quests for other inmates, or searching for crafting materials for hours on end can get stale after a while.
Con Tutorial doesn't cover much
The tutorial will only walk you through the barest of basics, resulting in the player having to learn the game's various mechanics on their own.