PRINCESS

Replaying this after the dev basically tripled the length of the game for free with the new Chapter 2 DLC. I like it even more now. This is a kind of unique game that looks like an old Zelda clone but is actually equal parts light action RPG and Sierra-style deliberately unfair adventure game. The puzzles take a ton of figuring out but nearly all of them make sense once you connect the dots after finishing them. It is definitely an old school game for good and bad - you will need to level/money grind at points and the Sierra style adventure game aspect can make itself known when you need to restart after 10+ hours of gameplay. It is possible you will make mistakes in Chapter 1 that will render Chapter 2 unwinnable, but in the same sense as a Roguelike game this actually makes sense in the greater scale of things - each run contributing to your overall understanding of how to solve the puzzles of the game. Basically you could spend 100+ hours playing Chapter 1 alone and still have entire areas in the game that you've never seen. I particularly enjoyed that very few items are just vendor trash and all have secondary or exploratory uses that might not be clear at first. It is lar…

This game is a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of ♥♥♥♥! It's a crusty old fossil reanimated by a mad scientist to reveal it was nothing but a coprolite the whole time! No but seriously, the only thing I could think of while playing was that this is the kind of game the AVGN would get mad at. But unlike the nerd, I don't have to wonder what the developer was thinking; I know he intentionally designed the game to be frustrating, obscure and punishing. The game is clearly a sendup of old adventure games with light RPG elements, like a Sierra/Zelda 2 slurry. And man, it is wildly directionless and inscrutable. You're given almost no guidance, and after two hours of fumbling with the thing I'm still not sure where I was ever supposed to go. Combat is a frustrating mash fest that feels purely random whether you can kill an enemy without being hit in return. Healing is scarce and enemies respawn with each screen transition, so the game quickly becomes a dull slog running back to your bedroom to heal. Significant grinding seems almost mandatory with high item costs. The castle area is annoyingly large with few things to find, leading to most of your time being spent in transit. And God help you if you take a c…

EDIT: In response to the dev's comment, saying inaccurate things about the law is not a matter of "semantics" -- and speaking kindly to your customers and fans certainly isn't. Digging in like this, on a review that has both positive and negative things to say about the game, speaks for itself. This is a difficult game. Some of the difficulty is real difficulty, and some of it is just fighting with the UI. It was clearly a labor of love, and some of it is quite inspired, but some is a real slog. I might lean recommend, if it weren't for the labor of love including no love for QoL. There's also no love for paying customers, who like the game, asking questions, which has somehow prompted angry (and in at least one or two cases, legally misleading) official statements on the forums: "concepts are the intellectual property of myself", "Modding... is illegal", "an unauthorized use of my property", "a proprietary product", "a violation of my IP rights", "a direct violation of international copyright law", "immediate DMCA takedowns"... there are much kinder ways to speak to your fans who are just trying to navigate a very difficult part of the game. Unfortunately, being a fan of th…

[h1] PRINCESS [/h1] [h1] 9/10 [/h1] [h2]A great non-linear adventure RPG heavily inspired by classic graphic adventure games.[/h2] PRINCESS is an experience that captures a rare sense of exploration and wonder that’s hard to find in modern gaming — a feeling I only experienced when gaming was new to me and the last game that had come close to recapturing it was Zelda: Breath of the Wild back in 2017. While many games try to capture the spirit of classic titles while removing the frustrating elements, PRINCESS deliberately keeps some of those rough edges — but in smaller doses. As a result, it perfectly recreates the feel of a game released decades ago while still delivering an experience that feels more suited to modern times. The developer describes PRINCESS as a non-casual gaming experience, and it certainly has: no hand-holding, lack of QoL features, some seemingly unfair and frustrating ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, and even the possibility of having to restart your whole playthrough because of things you couldn’t have predicted without a guide. But at the same time the game is pretty forgiving, with plenty of save points, even right before bosses, and many of the annoying parts can be easily b…