Slay the Princess — The Pristine Cut

Narrator: You're checking the reviews for this game. You shouldn't read anything, or you might be spoiled. If you do, it will be the end of the world.

I've slain the Princess. Many times. She deserved it. I find consolation in the fact that, judging by how often she has self-mutilated, she cannot feel physical pain. I've saved the Princess. Several times. She deserved it. It felt wonderful. I've been slain by the Princess. Many times. Stabbed, shred to pieces, burnt, drowned, digested and several other things besides. I'm grateful for the stylized graphics protecting me from most of the gore. I've heard voices in my head. Many voices. The Narrator, The Smitten, The Broken and several others. Sometimes even all of them at once. I ignored their advice. Most of the time. After about 3 runs, I've started using a walkthrough. I Need to get all the achievements and see all the content. I didn't regret it. The options you choose sound the same - it's the story and setting in-between that change. I've fought, ran, resisted and surrendered. Regardless of what I did, I found out more of the story. It turns out, literally Nobody is who they seem at first. Since my very first playthrough, I've been asking myself some deep philosophical questions I've never even considered before. My life will never be the same again. Thank you for making me a better person, Black Tabby Games!

[h2] 26/7/11白金 [/h2] [h3] 总评9/10 [/h3] 一款文字量和内容都很庞大的游戏 对于游戏来说它真的不算好玩 但还是100%推荐屏幕前的你来亲自构建出英雄与公主的故事 [b] 以下文本全部包含微量剧透 为了保持好观感就不全部隐藏了，有些剧透性强的我会隐藏掉 [/b] [hr][/hr] 这是一个[u] 爱情故事 [/u] 也是一个基于[u] 二元论与自由意志 [/u]展开的游戏 但其实并没有过度深讨哲学层面，更多的是来自爱情、亲密关系与自我理解中的个人沉思 关于我的个人理解，更觉得这是一款关于心理测试向的题目、是无数次与心理咨询师搭建的桥梁、是让做出选择的人认识到自己反思到自己行为后果的镜子。 在这段关系中 英雄与公主、答题人与题目、咨询人与被咨询人，做出选择的自己与内心的纠结，本质都是一面能投射出下意识情感需求的镜子，而镜子也是这款游戏贯彻全文的重要伏笔道具。 在与公主相见的路上必然会遇到镜子，但一靠近 镜子就会消失，取而代之的是永远与公主相连的道路。 在与公主相处的每一段故事后，镜子都会照映出“我们” 直至碎裂。镜子碎裂后，我们见到的人也依然是公主。 在我看来，英雄与公主是同一个镜子的两面，是两个相互干预的肉体与灵魂，相互依存又相互对立。 这也证明了为什么在我们做出不同选择后的公主会有各种变化 情绪上的、语气上的、身体形态上的。 换句话说，公主就是“我们”的情感投射，而我们因为投射程度的深入 会慢慢导致自己的情绪、心态发生改变。 游戏始终围绕着一个主题：[b] 死亡与新生 [/b] 正如英雄与公主的名字 长终之寂与千变之丘。 [spoiler] 长终之寂代表着恒定不变的死寂，代表着抹杀一切的变数，在这个故事中 那个唯一的变数是公主，就像旁白一开始为我们灌输的，不容置疑的命令：杀死公主 [/spoiler] [spoiler] 千变之丘则是承载着无限选择与混乱变化而变化出的新生，如同杀死公主杀死新生后的结局 失去了新生与对比便只留有死寂 [/spoiler] 这便是开头为什么说这是一个基于二元论来展开的游戏。世界向来无法只留存其中一方，永恒的稳定与不变的死寂只会让精神走向消亡。而无约束的变化也会摧毁原有的一切。 静态秩序与无限自由是否只能二选一？两种对立的实体要如何达成平衡？我认为这便是这款游戏的基调。 关于自由意识，从游戏刚开始就会听到旁白说：杀死公主才能拯救世界。本质其实就是剥夺我们的自由意识，而玩家的存在 是对旁白灌输的想法最有力的反驳 英雄的记忆会被抹除，所有人的记忆会被抹除，但屏幕面前的我们不会。我们完整的保留着与公主的每一次杀戮、针锋相对、和解、逃离和互相毁灭的记忆，这种记忆差就是让我们陷入个人沉思中的最有力的工具。 但这也是我玩下来非常折磨与难受的一点，在共同与公主经历过那么多之后，见过她的眼泪、愤怒、后悔、癫狂、分崩离析与少女心事后，我真的好累，我不忍心看下去了。 对于我来说公主早就已经是一个活生生的人，在我打完思考了一会之后发现这就是作者想要的，这款游戏本质就是一个带着哲学探讨的心理测试题。它从来不会像旁白那样强硬的灌输任何标准答案，而是借由每一段对话、每一次抉择、每一个答案都是在强迫玩家进行自我理解。 [h3] 你如何对待她，本质是你如何面对真实的自己。 [/h3] 如同开局所说： [u] 无论在黑暗的空间中发现何种恐怖，您都要勇敢面对，坚持到底。 没有敷衍的结局。也不存在错误的决定。 只有全新的视角和崭新的开始。 这是一段爱情故事。 [/u]

"I bought a game about slaying a princess. I got a mandatory philosophy seminar instead." While Slay the Princess boasts exceptional art and voice acting, its premise is incredibly misleading. You are led to believe you are buying a dark, subverted fairy tale driven by compelling player choices. Instead, it pulls a massive bait-and-switch, delivering an edgy, pretentious lecture disguised as a visual novel. Rather than letting you shape an engaging narrative, the game is entirely obsessed with proving its own abstract worldview. Your agency is just an illusion. Every time you try to carve out a meaningful path or find a logical resolution, the writing smugly deconstructs your decisions. It constantly talks down to the player, treating you as naive for expecting the actual story you thought you purchased. By prioritizing a cyclical, pseudo-intellectual trap over immersive storytelling, it strips away your impact entirely. If you want to be beaten over the head by a developer's rigid philosophy, you'll love this. If you wanted the amazing, choice-driven narrative you were sold, look elsewhere.

Great narration and art, but I did not connect with the story. It feels somewhat "I'm 14 and this is deep".

It's a very original game with great writing, nice drawings and no major flaws, I just want to mention that because of the overwhelmingly positive reviews and many people mentioning it's their favorite game ever on various platforms, I was expecting something more. It was an interesting experience but I thought the gameplay itself would be much more interesting while it's basically a visual novel. I'm reading many people replay it many times for different paths and endings but right now I feel satisfied with one gameplay and I have no desire to replay it because it would feel a bit boring/repetitive to be honest. So it's over in less than 3 hours for me. Some people say it left them devastated, I guess I'm a bit invulnerable to this kind of narrative because I would not say I am. Really, I liked the game, I'm happy I experienced it and that now I know what everyone's talking about, I appreciate the work behind it and the philosophical message it bears. But it's not a game that changed my life or that will enter the top 3 games of my life. I just wanted to leave a positive, but more moderate review to reflect how I feel about it. I have Scarlet Hollow on my backlog from the same authors and I'm curious to play it now.

This was gifted to me and I had it in my library for two years. I avoided it for so long because I don't like the visual novel genre. What a mistake... Thankfully the planets aligned and it called me and now I am enamored with the princess for ever! Absolute gem! It is of the utmost importance to go completely blind in it and enjoy the ride(s).

Didn't work for me. The intrigue wears off too fast and then it's quite linear and repetative -- even with fastforwarding the voices are of little variation and there are just too many of them. The whole mistery is too pretentious and solipsistic to my liking. The art is excelent, I really liked the idea but the story -- well, it did not grappled me and I wouldn't bother discovering more princesses.

"Perspectives meld together, and the breath of my experience stretches to new corners. There are contradictions, conflicts in my nature. And there are familiarities that bind everything together." An amazing story about the discovery of someone's identity though each facet of themselves. Although the humour feels kinda redundant with time, the scenes with the Shifting Mound all feel very carefully crafted, and the dialogues are peak each time

--Audience-- Adults+ Late Teens+ --Gameplay-- 3/5 This is a Visual Novel, but has very many intersecting paths that connect in the end. --Story-- 5/5 Amazing Story, very dark and full of suprises --Graphics-- 5/5 Perfect Art for the type of game.