The Princess' Heart

i wish the price of the mana dont keep going up each time you level is kind of spoil the game

ok

Tags: Topdown - RPGMaker & Party RPG Additional Tags: Delete Local Content & Remove from Library TLDR: Fairly demanding mazes and monsters and half decent world setting and writing. Plot comes slowly about entitled power fantasy of entitled princess gone wrong. The problem with this game is that the RPGMaker shell does not really allow for a detailed portrayal of the main protagonist, which would be necessary for us to get invested and relate with such an obviously flawed character. There is little else to distract from the main quest line with one-line flat npcs and rapidly introduced vast cast of sidekicks that are for the most part unwillling sidekicks. The underdevelopped characters aside the world felt somewhat credible as far as RPGMaker world goes. The towns and characters seemed appropriately named and it the illusion that this is in fact its own little fantasy world did stick with me. What helps creates this setting is that the game creates specific rosters of fantasy creatures for multiple ecosystems and the abilities and special traits of those creatures are consistent with the generally accepted lore that you would expect out of such things. There also seemed to be quite a few fluff areas that may or may not have a quest attached to them. Small side-castles, a wood nymph pond and so on. The mazes can be fairly intricate to navigate with a long of branching paths in forests, dungeons with square rooms and twisting corridors coming one after the other with the odd grate and leverpull. The ice caves further limit progression with movement restrictions by way of a sliding ice floor. The enemies do not constantly spawn unless an area is left and re-entered but are generously populated. Which means you will want to auto-resolve them to save on mental energy and tedium. However due to the long list of abilities of creatures it is common to have to pause the auto combat to assign potions to characters or trigger the odd special ability under threat of losing the entire party if neglected. It is quite possible to use abilities often and not use only the regular attack since the experience distribution ensure a fairly common level up system which replenishes energy while away from resting areas. Additionally with the possibility of purchasing skills some degree of customization and priority will matter in character development. There is also, due to the large cast, a tactical aspect in selecting the right party for the right environment. The itemization felt rather limited, while nearly all creatures willd drop flavor items, such as eyes, wings, and the like, they did not seem to serve any obvious purpose, although due to them being divided in quality it would seem to indicate that some NPC somewhere can craft those into consumable potions. The character equipment slots are limited to a single accessory slot and a single weapon slot and items are fairly uncommon to find in chests or as drops. On the whole the execution is there, what really holds the experience back is the drudgery of having to babysit the unlikeable protagonist through her adventures, while navigating mazes and going through yet another encounter, you just end up feeling like all the side characters. Strung-along for the ride. Eventually the quality of the combat is not enough to really motivate deeper commitment on its own and after completing an area, getting served a few more lines of dialogue, a new objective and being directed to the next maze filled with creatures it becomes very tempting to just abandon play. I would prefer enjoying tactical turn based combat in a different RPGMaker game where the characters matter to me, or better yet, play a proper pen and paper inspired rpg game with all the bells and whistles that comes along with that genre. The Princess's Heart is by nature of its engine but a pale imitation of such games. At the time of deleting the game my party was made of a brainwashed suitor made to love the princess against his will by demonic sorcery, a guard bound by duty to protect the princess, a nun whom had to track down a holy artifact that the princess selfishly stole, a farmer and dark mage that were seemingly brought along for little to no reason, a prostituted-captain that loaned her services in exchange for the rescue of her ship and the main protagonist. I do think there is an interesting setup here if the game had deeper more intricate writing, proper anime style animations and a richer world stage. The tale of the narcissism and demonic curses had at least some measure of intrigue to it. But that is not what is being served in this low ambitions RPGMaker title. Removing local content permanently and hiding from library for declutter.

All the cultural sensitivity of a bull in a china shop. Avoid at all costs.