Developer: Hanako Games
Publisher: Hanako Games
Platform: PC(Steam)
Price: $9.99 USD
Release Date: November 8th, 2013
Long Live The Queen is a character raising simulator, in which the player takes control of Princess Elodie, the Queen-to-be of a Kingdom whose previous monarch, her mother, has recently passed away. The goal is to finish the game and become Queen while avoiding being killed.
Story
Princess Elodie’s mother has recently passed away, leaving the throne unattended. Her daughter, the player’s character, will soon be of age to assume the throne. The story takes place in the days leading to your birthday and coronation. Assassination attempts, civil wars, coups from nobles, discovering magic, and much more.
Gameplay
A week will pass in Long Live The Queen in 2 parts. In the beginning of a week, you will choose 2 subjects for you to study: One in the morning, and one in the Afternoon. Studying subjects will raise your particular aptitude in that area. After that, scripted events will occur, in which the outcome and choices will depend heavily on the skills you’ve acquired.
During several points of the story, you’ll suffer attempts against your life. Failing a status check at any of those points will result in death and game over.
There is no RNG in Long Live The Queen. Nothing happens at random, and there are no percentage chances a status check might fail. Playing a game the exact same way will result in the same ending occurring every time. Furthermore, being a Ren’Py game, the player can rewind the game using the mouse-wheel, but only up to the start of a week.
Sound
No voice acting, no sound effects, just background music. There’s only a handful of songs, and none of it stands out too much. However, the actual songs fit the game pretty well, and the repetitiveness helps you concentrate on the Pick Classes -> Get Results -> Weekly Event cycle that rules the game.
Graphics
Anime-styled, with a western touch. Just backgrounds and character portraits. Simplistic, but well polished and cute-looking. The game has some visual aids for helping the player figure out status checks.
Downsides
Very, very frustrating. Will keep you playing for several hours the first few times, but after some 15~20 playthroughs it can get pretty boring as you skim by the events you’ve already seen.
Overall
An interesting game concept. The story’s writing and the world’s setting are very interesting, and hunting for new branching story-lines ended up being quite fun. However, all the deaths and starting-over can get pretty annoying.
Pros:
– No RNG
– Lots of branching storyline paths
– Lots of unlockables and endings
– Creators have added a few patches(free DLC) with new content since launch. Currently as 1.3 at the time of the writing of this review.
Cons:
– Musical score is rather simple and weak
– Repetitiveness might not be suit for everyone
The Reviewer has given this game a Final Grade of 6/10.
