Finding Inspiration in Princess Tomato and the Salad Kingdom [NES]

Tue Jul 20 2021 12:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
  • blog
  • nintendo
  • nes
  • text-based-adventure
  • Weird first pick, I realize. I was surprised too, but it's been a game I've wanted to really play for a long time and it just jumped out at my browsing through the boxes and carts.

    What do you know about the game?

    Not much really.

    I bought it as a gift to my better half on eBay because she's vegetarian and thought it would be amusing.

    It was an high cost dad joke (even though I wasn't a dad at the time), and have no regrets.

    Outside of the weirdness that are sentient vegetables, I know it's a classic PC game port and text adventure. Gameplay seems light, but I always had a thing for these kinds of text adventures on the NES (I.E. Déjà Vu, from Kemco/ICOM Simulations) and want to see what, if anything, makes this one special.

    If I remember correctly, there is a battle system in the game, but it's very simple. As many older Japanese titles use, this game uses a Roshambo or Rock, Paper, Scissors sort of random battle. I'm hoping this doesn't limit my progress to the RNG gods, but I suppose I'll find out.

    What are you hoping for?

    I'm hoping for something more than a visual novel and some different sorts of interactivity with the characters in the world.

    My guess is that it's a "room based" navigation system, but I'm curious about the adventure and RPG elements in it, if any.

    With respect to inspiration, I am hoping to find a new or different to engage with a text driven game.

    TL;DR; / Conclusion

    My expectations aren't too high for this game, but I am hoping to find inspiration in the way a text-driven game engages with players.

    Stream starts tonight, July 20th at 9pm (UTC-5), on Twitch.

    This is the first one, so here's hoping the tech forces of the universe are with me.

    Thanks for playing (and watching).